Jubilant SGS COO Africa Fred Herren, left, and outgoing Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) CEO Nosipho Siwisa-Damasane at the opening of RBCT’s new R49-million coal sampling laboratory, which will ensure 25% faster turnaround times from a state-of-the-art facility built in partnership with leading sampling service provider SGS South Africa. The impressive facility supports efficient coal preparation, sampling and certification on 2 203 m2, a 60% size increase to cope with a sampling throughput capacity of 110-million tonnes of coal a year. Coal exporting companies present at the unveiling raved about the new laboratory, one describing it as “probably the best coal sampling lab in the world at the moment”. The core services of the Swiss-based SGS group are inspection, testing, certification and verification.