With a global emphasis on sustainability, adopting sustainable beneficiation practices has become more prevalent among South African coal mining operations, owing to coal mining’s using and polluting large amounts of water, says research association Coaltech CEO Henk Lodewijks.

“Through implementing dry beneficiation technologies, coal mining companies can save water and reduce pollution, which is the prime motivating factor for trying out these technologies,” he notes.

As a result of an increasing emphasis on sustainability, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment has given State-owned utility Eskom until 2025 to lower its emissions and comply with relevant air-quality legislation.

This legislation comes after the utility has been shown to exceed the acceptable limit of sulphur dioxide emissions at its coal power plants, with Lodewijks saying that removing pyrite content could potentially help Eskom reach its emissions objectives.

Hence, Coaltech has erected a dry processing SepAir plant, which was imported from Russia in 2019, to upgrade fine coal and reduce sulphur at the source, thereby reducing the pyrite content in coal by treating smaller fractions of the commodity, which, in turn, allows for better liberation of pyrite in the feed of a SepAir plant.

Coaltech is also working with the utility to analyse some of its feed coals and is conducting tests at the SepAir pilot plant at diversified miner Glencore’s Tweefontein colliery, in Mpumalanga.

“We have completed the testing on other sources of coal in South Africa and we are now focusing on some of Eskom’s feedstock to see whether we can reduce the pyrite content,” says Lodewijks.

Delays caused by the Covid-19 lockdowns and Eskom’s changing management could, however, delay the completion of the project by another two to three years, while implementing the necessary technology could cost the utility billions of rands, he warns.

Moreover, the global move away from coal to more sustainable energy solutions has various implications for coal mines, including mine closures that could impact on mineworkers and the surrounding communities.

Mining companies, therefore, need to ensure that the outcome of the transition is positive by upskilling mineworkers to ensure that jobs are not affected as a result of the transition.

“For now, as an industry, we need to remain competitive and continue producing good-quality coal. There are underlying pillars that need to be considered before transitioning, such as water quality and mine rehabilitation, as well as health and safety concerns,” concludes Lodewijks.