Name and Location
Elandspruit multiproduct coal project, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Client
Wescoal.

Project Description
The Elandspruit mining right contains five potentially mineable coal seams, which occur from suboutcrop to a maximum depth of about 70 m below surface.

All seams are near horizontal in formation and appear to be devoid of geological complexities, such as faulting or dolerite intrusions and, as a result, the mining approach is expected to be manageable within the parameters being planned.

A Phase 1 desktop planning study completed on the resource has indicated that production of about two-million tonnes a year is targetable over a 15-year mine life, at an average strip ratio of 2.3:1.0 (bank cubic metres waste:tonnes coal) for the combined seams.

The desktop study findings suggest that the most attractive option, among several alternative production scenarios, envisaged the marketing of partially processed coal from the No 1 and No 2 lower seams as an Eskom-type product, with raw coal from the No 3 Seam and washed coal from the No 2 upper and No 4 lower seams sold to the export and/or inland markets. Further work is required to test the feasibility of this scenario.

The project has reserves of about 27-million tonnes and an estimated mine life of up to 15 years. .

Net present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Value
Not stated.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Wescoal has signed a short-term contract to supply State-owned power utility Eskom with 221 000 t of coal from its Elandspruit mine.

This follows contracts signed in May for the supply of 190 000 t of coal from Wescoal’s Khanyisa and Intibane mines to Eskom.

“The conclusion of an Eskom contract for Elandspruit heralds an upturn in mining activity and revenues going forward after delays in finalising Eskom coal supply agreements,” the mining company has said in a statement.

The mine’s processing plant is primed and ready to operate at a capacity of more than 150 000 t/m, with Elandspruit’s run-of-mine coal to be trucked 20 km to the processing plant, where it would be beneficiated to meet Eskom’s quality requirements.

Elandspruit delivered its first batch of coal to customers in July this year, after it was processed at Wescoal’s nearby beneficiation plant.

“The beneficiated product was in line with expectations, and sales to customers in the domestic and export markets have started,” the company has noted.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Wescoal, tel +27 11 954 2721 or fax +27 86 688 2009.