R9bn capital on coal expansion, gold tailings mountain to rescue, mine-truck satellite maintenance

The board of Exxaro Resources has approved a R9-billion capital expenditure to expand the Grootegeluk coal mine and plant to meet the demand for energy coal from Eskom’s new Medupi power station, which is under construction in South Africa’s Limpopo province.

Read on page 22 of this edition of Mining Weekly of Exxaro currently negotiating coal for the second three Medupi units after having won the contract to supply coal to the first three. All are 800-MW units and the R9-billion expansion will cover all six. Coal will begin to be supplied to Eskom for Medupi from 2011 at a rate of 14,6-million tons a year.

Eskom is investing R78,6-billion into the new power station, whose first units should be operational by mid-2012 and the entire station commissioned by March 2016.

Precious-metal prices have been declining rapidly and the slumped gold price looked like settling below R200 000/kg at the time of going to press, which set one pondering gold’s response.

Harmony Gold was quick to come up with one – mining a billion tons of surface tailings in the Free State, which, according to the report on page 20 of this edition of Mining Weekly, can be turned to account at the low cost of R100 000/kg.

The St Helena tailings, Harmony says, can be processed at a rate of 12-million tons a year over a period of 20 years, which would be more than enough to put the halo back on the Free State ‘saint’ by providing a low cash-cost business while Harmony keeps its growth projects in full swing.

Indigenous South African mining equipment manufacturer Bell says it is “well ahead” of its global competitors in the business of satellite transmission of computerised truck-maintenance information. Read on page 6 of this edition of Mining Weekly of Bell’s ability to monitor detailed upkeep information from thousands of kilometres away.

Stringent global emission standards have also prompted Bell to develop a new series of trucks that will be launched between now and 2014.

You can also view a video clip of Gary Bell describing the technology by going to www.miningweekly.com and clicking on ‘Mulitmedia” and then on ‘Video Clips’.

The same can be done to view a video of Member of Parliament and former Opposition Leader Tony Leon criticising the Minerals Act as well as of Pamodzi’s Ndaba Ntsele criticising black economic empowerment.