PERTH (miningweekly.com) – South Africa-focused coal miner Universal Coal said on Wednesday that it was on track to deliver the Roodekop mine and the New Clydesdale colliery, by 2015.
The combined operations would have an installed capacity of more than 6.25-million tonne a year, and an expected run-of-mine production of around five-million tonnes a year.
Universal purchased the New Clydesdale colliery from miner Exxaro Resources in February this year, which was located adjacent to its existing Roodekop deposit.
The Roodekop deposit is estimated to contain some 84-million tonnes of coal.
The acquisition of the New Clydesdale colliery would likely be completed early in 2015, with Universal still awaiting an approval from the Department of Mines and Resources.
Meanwhile, the tendering process for the opencast operation at the Roodekop mine was under way, along with discussions with underground mining contractors, in order to restart operations once the colliery was started up.