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First production at Brakfontein colliery extension slated for September

31st July 2015

By: Ilan Solomons

Creamer Media Staff Writer

  

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Junior coal mining company Tegeta Resources & Exploration is on schedule to start production at its Brakfontein colliery extension project in September and begin supplying coal to State-owned power utility Eskom from the new site by October 1, special adviser Jacques Roux tells Mining Weekly.

The Brakfontein colliery is 20 km from Delmas, in Mpumalanga, and the extension project is located directly opposite the existing operation.

The mine is an openpit operation, mining No 4 upper, No 4 lower and No 2 seam coal. Brakfontein has a single pit, which is about 450 m wide and 300 m long.

Roux says the existing Brakfontein operation has an estimated five to seven-year life span remaining, while the extension project, with a proven resource of 15-million tons, is estimated to have a life-of-mine (LoM) of 12 to 14 years.

He points out that these estimates are highly variable, as extraction rates can be increased and decreased over the LoM, which can result in the orebody being mined out sooner or longer than expected.

Brakfontein has a contract to supply Eskom with 100 000 t/m of coal, which will also be the case with the extension project once it comes on stream.

Roux highlights that Brakfontein has been supplying coal to Eskom since March and, as at July 19, had not had a single complete coal stockpile rejected by the power utility.

He attributes this to the company’s high degree of quality monitoring on all the coal it produces.

Mining and processing services provider Shiva Uranium is the mining contractor responsible for undertaking the mining operations at Brakfontein, while Tegeta itself undertakes the crushing, and is also responsible for the management of the coal transport logistics.

However, Eskom is responsible for the actual transportation of the coal, using its own fleet of contractors to deliver coal to the Majuba power station, which is about 200 km away from the mine.

Roux points out that about 50% of the mine’s coal is railed to Majuba by Eskom using the power utility’s Hawerklip coal rail siding, which is about 2 km from the mine and the other 50% is trucked directly to the power station.

Brakfontein has assets to the value of R100-million, consisting of a large fleet of Caterpillar mine trucks, including two excavators, eight 40 t articulated dump trucks, four front-end loaders, one bulldozer and one grader.

The mine also commissioned a new R10-million crushing and screening plant this month. This plant has the capacity to produce 500 t of material an hour.

Previously, the mine used three smaller crushers, which it was using on a temporary basis until Tegeta was able to commission the new plant.

Roux explains that the mine is highly mechanised and uses a truck and shovel mining method. At the existing Brakfontein operation, the mine does not wash the coal but it will have a washing plant in place at the extension project.

“This R100-million asset base will be mirrored at the extension project site,” he states.

Further, Roux highlights that Brakfontein has a workforce of about 100 people, including mining contractors, 95% of whom have been sourced from the local Brakfontein community.

The extension project will employ about 75 people and the company is confident that it can maintain its very high local community employment figure for the new operation.

Additional Projects

Tegeta’s project portfolio also includes the Vierfontein colliery, which is near the town of Ogies, and the De Roodepoort project, located in Ermelo, both in Mpumalanga.

Tegeta further holds prospecting licences for the Syferfontein project and the Welgezegend project, in Standerton, Mpumalanga.

The Vierfontein colliery is currently under care and maintenance; however, Tegeta plans to bring the mine back into operation in the near future.

Tegeta also has prospecting rights for the De Roodepoort project and prospecting is at an advanced stage. The mining right will be applied for once prospecting is completed.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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