LEPHALALE (miningweekly.com) –  JSE-listed top-forty company Exxaro is involved with coal-based development plans in the Waterberg coalfield worth at least R30-billion, the company told journalists on Wednesday.

“You are standing on the future of coal-mining in South Africa,” Exxaro CEO Sipho Nkosi told Mining Weekly Online, which was part of a visiting contingent of media and analyst representatives.

The development plans embrace three new coal mines – two of them greenfield projects and the third a brownfield project – and downstream activities including: the planned second phase of a char plant, a possible market coke plant and a cogeneration plant, all between 2009 and 2018.

These developments in the fast-growing Lephalale are over-and-above the R120-billion Medupi power station,being built by Eskom.

Some R10-billion-plus is being estimated as likely cost of the new greenfield Thabametsi openpit coal mine and beneficiation complex.

This proposed mine is expected to supply 16-million tons a year to new independent power producers (IPPs) between 2014 and 2017. These IPPs are expected collectively to generate some 5 000 MW.

A total of R9-billion is being invested in the Grootegeluk Medupi brownfield expansion to supply 14,6-million tons a year to the Medupi power station. This is being built from now to 2015.

A ten-million tons a year coal mine, is being considered in joint venture with Sasol to supply the proposed new fuel-from-coal Mafutha plant being studied by Sasol.

There are 75-billion tons of coal in the Waterberg coalfield, which extends 88 km from east to west and 40 km from south to north, Exxaro project manager Joe Meyer tells Mining Weekly Online.

The Waterberg coalfield has both shallow and deep coal.

More than 40% of the remaining coal in South Africa is in the Waterberg coalfield.

Exxaro has mining rights over six farms in the Waterberg and exploration rights over another five farms, where an IPP project is being planned in an area known as Grootegeluk West and a project referred to as Thabametsi.

The first Grootegeluk coal mine was established in 1980 and supplies coal to the State-owned Eskom’s 3 900-MW dry-cooled Matimba power station, which has been South Africa’s best-performing power station for the last four years.

Its openpit is 3,3 km long and 3,2 km wide and part of it is already being backfilled.

The first coal plant, known as GG 1, was also established in 1980, mainly to supply metallurgical coal to the then State-owned steelmaker, Iscor, and was followed by further plants known as GG2 and GG3 plants, to provide 13,3-million tons of coal to Matimba.

Later, the two additional GG 4 and GG5 plants were established to extract high-value metallurgical and steam coal products and in 2006 the GG 6 plant was built, where with the help of GG 2 capacity, 700 000 t of additional semisoft coking coal is produced.

Exxaro Grootegeluk produces 19-million tons of coal a year and aims to increase that volume to 36-million tons a year by 2014/15, with the main focus to supply consistent volumes.

Exxaro is now expanding the new R9-billion Grootegeluk Medupi coal mine in the Waterberg to provide coal to Eskom’s new 4 800-MW six-unit power station that is being built near Lephalale.

Medupi power station’s unit six, which is being built first, will require coal from Exxaro from November of 2011 for full commissioning in the first quarter of 2012.

Exxaro will be supplying coal from its Grootegeluk Medupi coal mine to Eskom’s Medupi power station at a rate of 14,6-million tons through the GG 7 and GG 8 brownfileld mine expansion.

The full ramp-up of all six Medupi power station units will take that 14,6-million tons a year when Exxaro will effectively be supplying coal that will provide some 300 gigajoules of heating capacity a year from 2013.

The estimated nominal cost of building Grootegeluk Medupi is R9-billion.

Meyer says that the project technical solution is based on the best available technology and that an in-house project methodology is being rolled out, involving the use of the best consultant mix and specialist contractors.

Large portions of the detailed design for the Grootegeluk Medupi project will be completed by December, with other aspects rolling over into 2010.

Major procurement is under way for the brownfield project.