WITBANK (miningweekly.com) – A dual listing on South Africa’s JSE remained a goal for TSX-listed coal junior Homeland Energy, with CEO Stephen Coates saying that it was still seen as a “perfect fit” for the group.

Coates told journalists and analysts on a site visit to its Kendal colliery, in Mpumalanga province, that market conditions had not been conducive to allow for a dual listing in the past six to nine months.

However, the group was hoping that market conditions would become conducive to allow for this within the next year or two.

Meanwhile, the group was planning to increase output at its flagship mine, the Kendal colliery, near Ogies, to 180 000-t/m run-of-mine during 2010.

Homeland was in the process of opening up a third boxcut at the mine, where it expected it could already produce about 20 000-t/m run-of-mine in June.

This, along with production of between 90 000 t/m and 100 000 t/m from its two existing boxcuts, would provide for about 120 000-t/m run-of-mine in June.

The company announced in May that it would close its first boxcut by the end of June, while a third would be opened up.

Kendal GM of operations Hilton Papenfus noted that the entire third boxcut would be open by November, allowing the mine to increase its production at the colliery to 140 000 t/m by the end of the year.

It would start work on a fourth boxcut in the first half of next year, which would allow it to increase production to 180 000-t/m run-of-mine.

The increased production would, however, require that another module be installed at its processing plant.

The group had recently upgraded the processing plant, announcing in May that it had installed new screens that eliminated the need for rescreening material, as well as a mineral sizer.

Subsequently, the plant was running at more than 20% better than the original plant capacity, while plant yields were above the 50% range, the company reported at the time.

Homeland Energy had already spent about R100-million in capital expenditure (capex) at the mine, with a further R150-million in capex to be spent at the project.

OTHER PROJECTS

Meanwhile, the group continued to focus on the development of its 50%-owned Eloff project, for which it had received a mining licence in May.

The potential 500 000-t/m run-of-mine project, which was coowned by a black economic-empowerment partner, would allow it to become a midtier coal-miner in South Africa.

Homeland was hoping to complete a feasibility study at the project in the next three months, while a bankable feasibility study would be completed in the eight or nine months following that.

Further, Coates noted that the global economic crisis and its aftereffects had impacted on its exploration projects outside South Africa.

The company has, in the short term, put its exploration activities in countries like Botswana on hold.

However, Coates believed there was plenty of potential for it to develop coal projects in Botswana and Mozambique.

Coates noted that the group would also look at potential projects in Zimbabwe, should the political and economic conditions in that country improve.

Meanwhile, the group would also continue to advance its Onbekend and Vlakvarkfontein exploration projects in South Africa.

Homeland Energy announced last week that it was completing material for a mining licence application for the Onbekend exploration project, situated in Ermelo, in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province.

Its other high priority exploration project, Vlakvarkfontein, was situated near the Kendal colliery, with test drill holes indicating a similar quality to that of the Kendal colliery.

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