Canyon opens Bronkhorstspruit mine

2nd November 2018 By: Marleny Arnoldi - Deputy Editor Online

Canyon opens Bronkhorstspruit mine

Photo by: Dylan Slater

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe on Friday officiated at the opening of coal miner Canyon Coal’s new Khanye mine, in Bronkhorstspruit, Gauteng.

Khanye has a 39-million-tonne coal reserve and is expected to produce 2.8-million tonnes a year of coal over a 16-year mine life.

Canyon is in the process of increasing its production to 10-million tonnes a year, with five new opencast mines and two underground mines earmarked for commissioning within the next few years.

Director Rudzani Mudogwa that noted the company’s De Wittekrans coal mine, which will produce 4.8-million tonnes a year of coal, is due to open in the fourth quarter.

The company is also developing the five-million-tonne-a-year Ukufisa mine, near Springs, in Gauteng, while the company’s six-million-tonne-a-year Springfield coal mine is anticipated to start production in the third quarter 2019.

Canyon will open its Witfontein and Extension mines, in Balfour, during the fourth quarter of this year.

The company is earmarking 2.6-million tonnes of coal a year for export.