Name of the Project
Impumelelo replacement coal project.

Location
Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Project Owner/s
Sasol.

Project Description
The move to develop the mine forms part of what Sasol has previously described as an “intense capital replacement” programme involving four significant projects – Thubelisha, Impumelelo, Shondoni and Tweedraai – which will replace the long-serving Twistdraai, Brandspruit, Middelbult and part of the Syferfontein operations respectively.

Impumelelo will replace the old Brandspruit mine and produce coal for the Sasol Synfuels plant.

The project involves the construction of a new 8.5-million-ton-a-year coal mine, upgradeable to 10.5-million tons a year.

The No 4 and No 2 coal seams will be mined simultaneously at the project, with the thinner and more complex No 2 seam lying below the No 4 seam. The final shaft depth will be about 225 m below the surface.

The project includes the development of service, ventilation and decline shafts, materials handling systems (including a 28 km overland conveyor, surface surge bunkers, underground conveyors and surge bins) and all the mine infrastructure needed to support operations.

The 11.7-m-diameter men-and-materials shaft will be 210 m deep, with a four-sided station on the No 4 seam.

The 6.7-m-diameter ventilation shaft will also be sunk to 210 m, with access through the four-sided station to the coal production sections.

The shaft complex has been designed to operate for a minimum period of 35 years.

The conveyor system will deliver coal to the Synfuels complex, becoming the longest conveyer system of its kind in the southern hemisphere.

Potential Job Creation
The mine currently employs about 1 760 people, the majority of whom live in nearby communities.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
Sasol has invested R5.6-billion in the project.

Impumelelo forms part of Sasol’s strategic R14-billion mine replacement programme, which will ensure uninterrupted coal supply to Secunda Synfuels operations to support Sasol's strategy to operate its Southern Africa facilities until 2050.

Planned Start /End Date
Phase 1 of the Brandspruit replacement project was completed in June 2016.

Phase 2 is expected to be completed in 2019.

Latest Developments
The Impumelelo mine was opened on April 12.

The mine is the last of three mines to be developed by Sasol as part of its multibillion-rand mine replacement programme.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
RSV Enco-Goba coal joint venture, or JV (engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) management implementation); Murray & Roberts Cementation (men-and-materials and ventilation shafts, as well as decline coal seam development on the No 2 and 4 seams); Concor Civils (subcontracted to provide temporary civil works for sinking and development); ELB Engineering Services (EPC – materials handling conveyor); Veyance Technologies (manufacture and delivery of steel cord conveyor belting); Cascade Logistics (transportation of belt rolls); Goodyear Engineered Products (cover compound); Flexco (manufacture and delivery of a new vertical belt reeler), and Redpath and Atlas Copco (reaming of ventilation shafts).

On Budget and on Time?
Yes.

Contact Details for Project Information
Sasol group media manager Alex Anderson, tel + +27 71 600 9605 or email alex.anderson@sasol.com.