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Grootegeluk production dampened by rain

BROWNFIELD EXPLORATION
The Grootegeluk Medupi Expansion Project is a brownfield expansion whereby the existing opencast pit will be mined at an accelerated rate

BROWNFIELD EXPLORATION The Grootegeluk Medupi Expansion Project is a brownfield expansion whereby the existing opencast pit will be mined at an accelerated rate

27th June 2014

  

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Operations at the Limpopo-based Grootegeluk coal mine, owned by coal and heavy minerals mining company Exxaro Resources, experienced a setback following heavy rainfall in March.

During the worst instance of rainfall on March 14, normal production levels at the mine dropped by 30%.

However, production has since steadily increased, and returned to normal levels within a few days of the setbacks.

Sufficient stockpiles ensured that there was no material impact on the supply of coal to the Matimba power station or to other customers, including the export market, reports Exxaro.

After production reached full capacity that month, the lowest benches of the pit remained flooded, which Exxaro treated as the mine’s pit sump. Full production sub- sequently resumed at Grootegeluk from higher benches of the mine.

The company reports that the remaining water in the pit was used as processing water in the beneficiation plant, eliminating the need for the mine to draw raw water from its regular source, the Mokolo dam.

Rare Event
The Grootegeluk mine is situated in a low- rainfall region of South Africa and accumulating some water in the pit sump is part of the mine’s normal operating practice, which reduces Exxaro’s raw water consumption from the Mokolo dam.

However, the amount of rain received in March, with a peak downpour of 230 mm in a single day, exceeded the 1:50 year flood designs, which subsequently led to flooding at the pit bottom.

Exxaro states that sound water and flood controls enabled the operation to return to 70% of the mine’s peak production levels days after the rain had ended. The mine is currently operating at normal production levels.

Expansion Project
Meanwhile, construction at the Grootegeluk Medupi Expansion Project (GMEP) is nearing completion.

The GMEP is a brownfield expansion whereby the existing opencast pit will be mined at an accelerated rate, with the mine’s production increasing from 19-million sales tons a year to 34-million sales tons a year.

The expansion is part of Exxaro’s 40-year coal supply agreement with State-owned power utility Eskom. At an average of 14.6-million tons a year, Exxaro secured the contract with Eskom to supply the utility’s new Medupi power station, which is currently under construction near Lephalale, in Limpopo.

Environmental Consideration
When water has made contact with coal, Exxaro will not allow the water to be released back into the environment, thereby ensuring that polluted water is kept in the loop circulation process for reuse at the plant.

The stockyard at the GMEP will accommodate about 430 000 t of coal, which will be stacked and reclaimed with two stackers and one reclaimer. The run-of-mine stockpiles will be intro- duced into the mine, the plant and the discard stackers to support continuous production.

Value
Exxaro’s total project expenditure for the GMEP is expected to be about R10.2-billion.

The revised budget has increased by R700-million, owing to a combination of factors, including additional escalations, labour unrest, steel shortages and further scope that has been added to the project.

Duration
The coal supply ramp-up at the GMEP started during the first half of 2013 and is expected to continue to the second half of 2016.

In 2013, 1.3-million tons was expected to be produced from the mine, of which 0.9- million tons was dispatched to the Matimba power station after industrial action affected the mine’s production in the first quarter of 2013.

Further ramp-up and performance testing will be conducted in the first half of 2014 in accordance with the revised contractual arrangement.

The commissioning of outstanding mining equipment, which was delayed after the revised ramp-up schedule, has been provided for in Phase 3, in accordance with the agreement between Exxaro and Eskom.

Edited by Samantha Herbst
Creamer Media Deputy Editor

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