Mine operations at Indian multinational conglomerate Jindal Africa’s underground Kiepersol colliery in Mkhondo local municipality, Mpumalanga, are stabilising production levels at the mine, Kiepersol colliery GM Jock Nel tells Mining Weekly.

“We have opened four adits – west, east, central and dundas – and are aiming to produce in excess of 100 000 t/m from the Alfred and Dundas coal seams,” says Nel.

He adds that the company has also embarked on several project upgrades in the last year, including tarring the road to the West mine. Some of the major developments include the completion of the washplant expansion design and the laying of concrete for the underground road at the West mine.

However, he mentions that Kiepersol colliery has not yet reached the levels required, but believes Kiepersol will achieve its target through the introduction of a second continuous miner unit in December, at the dundas adit, by Ermelo-based underground contract coal mining company STA Coal Mining.

Nel adds that Kiepersol colliery can produce 1.5-million tons run-of-mine (RoM) a year. “The life-of-mine is expected to be 16 years, but we have recently added the adjacent farm of Goodehoop to the mine, which has a further six-million tons of coal,” he notes.

Nel tells Mining Weekly that one challenge the company has faced is ensuring that it develops an advanced mine plan and layouts to produce coal that is in line with market requirements.

He further notes that Jindal is tarring the road from the mine to the main road to assist with the movement of its trucks, which is of particular importance to mining operations in the rainy season.

“We have our own rail siding at Piet Retief to assist in transporting the coal on rail to the Richards Bay port, in KwaZulu-Natal, for export,” he states.

Health and Safety Focus

“As an emerging mining group, we aspire to achieve the benchmark health and safety norms in the mining industry. This is seen amid the challenges that small mines face in terms of resources required to achieve those standards,” says Nel.

However, he points out that the mine’s training centre and clinic are fully operational, adding that progress is being made to reduce on-site injuries and increase the competency levels of all its mine operations.

Community Upliftment

The Kiepersol colliery employs about 800 people, including contractors, of which about 80% are community residents from villages and towns surrounding the mine.

Nel further highlights that the company’s mining social labour plan programmes benefit the local community significantly, as they provide community members with developmental farming initiatives, school and university bursaries, as well as mentorship and learnership programmes,” he highlights.

According to Jindal Africa’s website, the company’s Kiepersol colliery is actively involved in improving infrastructure at local schools in the surrounding area.

The company has built two classrooms at Inkululeko Primary School to help alleviate overcrowding. Classrooms were also renovated at the Emathalaza Primary School and the Injabulo Combined School.

Future Prospects

Nel reports that Jindal intends to expand its operations by mining additional adits once market conditions improve. However, it first wants to achieve its production target of 150 000 t/m by June 2014.

“Jindal Africa is now an established anthracite producer and has achieved this status within three years. We plan to consolidate and expand our position in the coming years,” he concludes.