Thursday, January 28, 2010.

From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I'm Shannon de Ryhove.

Making headlines today:

A railway line to transport coal from Botswana to a port in Namibia could be built within five years from now, in time to allow Canada-listed CIC Energy to export part of its coal.

CIC is developing the Mmamabula coal project in Botswana, which is meant to supply power to South Africa and also coal for exports.

CIC's chief operating officer for mining, Eddie Scholtz, says that, once the project is granted government approval, a feasibility study for the 1 500-km Trans-Kalahari line will be launched within the next six months.

Scholtz says that the line is expected to be completed about a year after the Mmamabula energy project comes on stream.

The Council for Geoscience (CGS) is searching for specialists to assist it in compiling an updated assessment of South Africa's coal resources, as part of the CGS' Coal Resource and Reserve project.

Project manager Louis Kirstein said that it was aiming to appoint a consultant for each of South Africa's coalfields, but emphasised that the appointed persons had to be specialists on a particular coalfield.

Given that the last successful assessment of the country's coal resources had been undertaken in the 1970s, the CGS was aiming to provide updated information on South Africa's coal resources and reserves.

Kirstein said that the Coal Resource and Reserve project was being undertaken in conjunction with the South African Coal Roadmap (SACRM).

The SACRM aims to assess options for the future development of the country's coal industry and how to enhance the economic opportunities for coal. ,The project is jointly funded by power utility Eskom and the Department of Mineral Resources.

Also making headlines:

A proposal in Australia to force mining companies to pay more tax threatens future profits.
Around 800 mine workers are evacuated from East Rand Mines' operations because of flooding.
Legislation that will benefit near-mine communities is on the way.
And, Chinese metals group Jinchuan Mining will participate in a Tanzanian nickel prospect.

That's a round up of news making headlines today. For more on these and other stories please visit miningweekly.com.