The 400% growth rate of Witbank-based coal analysis company Umzamo Analytical Services (UAS) last year has prompted the company to broaden its reach into Africa despite the current challenging mining market.

According to UAS CEO Audrey Ndlovu, this sudden surge in business is attributed to the company’s hands-on approach, passion for the industry and extensive knowledge of coal mining and sampling.

“We have become synonymous with providing uncompromised, accurate, analytical results, which bodes well for the expansion of UAS, as we have the opportunity to build on a solid reputation.”

Coal analysis is also extremely important in the current depressed operating environment, Ndlovu adds, as it determines the coal quality and, therefore, the price producers can expect for their product. Coal sampling is also critical to a mine’s production process, as it allows for parameters to be adjusted to produce the required coal specification.

The company, which has satellite laboratories in Ermelo, Mpumalanga, and in Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal, hopes to expand into Mozambique, Botswana and Zimbabwe, which have burgeoning coal mining industries. A report on African mining, released in 2013 by audit, tax and advisory services firm KPMG, forecasts that up to 41.8-million tons of coal will be mined in Mozambique, contributing $735-million to the country’s mining sector by 2017. The report also states that Botswana houses more than 200-billion tons of coal reserves and that the development of this sector has become a key priority.

“The biggest challenges to entering new African markets involve the different regulatory requirements that companies need to comply with. We are establishing infrastructure and a local workforce in the different regions and hope to become active in the [above-mentioned] countries by the end of the business year.”

The ISO17025-accredited and broad-based black economic-empowerment Level 1 company can also establish laboratories on site for mining companies.

“We have the expertise and capacity to offer mechanical, manual, train and face sampling, along with services such as ash content, volatile-matter, screening, fixed-carbon analysis, calorific value and total sulphur content.

Ndlovu notes that UAS’s quick turnaround time has further prompted its market success and she believes that using the latest high-quality equipment enables the company to be flexible and efficient in its service offering.

UAS’s record of reliable coal analysis has also enabled it to retain the recent contracts it secured with clients, such as cement manufacturer Sephaku Cement, paper and plastic packaging business Mpact, and Amatala Mining Services. The company also continues to serve State-owned power utility Eskom and coal miners Just Coal, Sumo Coal, Wescoal and Keaton Energy.