Name and location
Belfast coal project, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Client
Diversified resources company Exxaro Resources.

Project description
The proposed coal project entails the development of an openpit and underground mine to produce an estimated 2.2-million tonnes a year of A-grade thermal coal and 500 000 t/y of Eskom coal.

The mine will produce coal for export and supply one of State-owned power utility Eskom’s plants.

Value
Exxaro plans to spend R3.8-billion on building the mine.

Duration
The mine is forecast to start output in the second half of 2017 and ramp up in 2018.

Latest developments
Multidisciplinary professional services firm Arup has been appointed by Exxaro to complete the design, tender and construction monitoring of the infrastructure and site development of the Belfast coal project.

Arup notes that the project will entail establishing water management, pollution control dams, on- and off-site road networks, and sewer reticulation, including a sewage treatment plant and potable-water storage, as well as the structural design of the workshops and relevant structural items.

The company will also be responsible for construction monitoring of all the buildings on site, including offices, ablution facilities and the electrical reticulation of the entire site, as well as provincial roads – which have to meet provincial standards – around the mine site.

Arup will not be involved in further development at the mine beyond the scheduled 2017 completion date.

However, the company will be responsible for developing management and maintenance manuals for the mine, which will assist the operators in maintaining and managing the mine beyond infrastructure completion.

Key Contractors and Suppliers
DRA (detailed design and engineering of a 500 t/h coal processing project, including a two-stage dense-medium beneficiation plant, a fine coal dense-medium section for fines treatment, a system for the filtration of slimes, as well as associated product handling systems); Arup (design, tender and construction monitoring); MMD Africa (detailed design and engineering of run-of-mine sizing station); EPOCH Resources (detailed design and engineering of the discard disposal facility) and GroundTruth (detailed design and engineering of wetland rehabilitation interventions).

On budget and on time?
Too early to state.

Contact details for project information
Belfast project manager Johan van der Bijl, tel +27 12 307 7468 or email johan.vanderbijl@exxaro.com
DRA, tel +27 11 202 8600 or email info@DRAglobal.com
Arup, Joe Strydom, tel +27 11 218 7600 or email johannesburg@arup.com.
MMD Africa, tel +27 11 608 4801/2/3/4/5, fax +27 11 608 4848 or email sizers@mmdafrica.co.za.
EPOCH Resources, tel +27 11 656 0380 or +27 11 802 3657, fax +27 11 802 3654 or email projects@epochresources.co.za.