Name: Kiepersol colliery.

Location: Kiepersol colliery is located within the boundaries of the Mkhondo local municipality, adjacent to the R543 route between Piet Retief and Wakkerstroom, within the jurisdiction of the Gert Sibande district, in Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Brief History: Jindal Steel & Power (JSPL) is part of the $60-billion OP Jindal Group, the fourth-largest business group in India. JSPL is a $3-billion-turnover company. It is a leading player globally in the steel, power, mining, coal-to-liquids, oil and gas, and infrastructure sectors. JSPL has extensive presence in Africa through Jindal Africa, under which Jindal Mining-Kiepersol has been operating since 2008. African operations span across South Africa (coal), Mozambique (coal), Madagascar (limestone), Tanzania (copper), Zambia (copper) and Botswana (coal and power).

Brief Description: The Kiepersol colliery employs 800 people, including contractors. The mine produces high-quality anthracite coal, sold both locally and internationally. It is among the largest producers of anthracite coal in South Africa as well as a preferred supplier of metallurgical anthracite coal to leading ferroalloy manufacturers in the country. The colliery has a private railway siding and a dedicated storage and loading facility at the Richards Bay dry bulk terminal. The railway siding has been designed and constructed to accommodate 100 truck Jumbo trains.

Products: Anthracite, lean bituminous coal.

Mining Method: Bord-and-pillar (mechanised sections, and drill and blast).

Reserves: Kiepersol has indicated reserves of 46-million tons (Alfred and Dundas seams combined). Additional seams – Gus and Coking – are expected to be mined in the foreseeable future. Exploration drilling is currently under way to further quantify the reserves.

Geology and Mineralisation: Based on historical drilling and the geomodel, the reserve in the Alfred seam has been measured to about 25-million tons, with the seam ranging from 1.4 m to 2.3 m.

Five coal seams were intersected during drilling, namely:
• Elands – average of 0.50 m to 1.00 m.
• Alfred – average of 1.4 m to 2.3 m.
• Gus – average of 0.50 m to 1.2 m.
• Dundas – average of 1.5 to 2.3 m.
• Coking – average of 0.30 m – 0.80 m.

The current product is anthracite with average fixed carbon content of between 70% and 75% and ash content of 12% to 18%. The form-ation comprises sandstone (micaceous); shale; dolerite (dyke, sills and gabbro); coal; mudstone; and sometimes limestone.

Seam thickness shows a general decrease from north to south (2.3 m to 1.4 m). Contouring of the Alfred seam floor shows a general dip to the north in blocks created by dolerite dyke intrusions. The ash content decreases from east to west. Volatiles range between 7% and 12%.

Major Infrastructure and Equipment: There are three adits to the Alfred seam (including stockpile conveyors) – East, Central and West. Mining equipment includes shuttle cars, loaders, coal cutters and battery scoops. The colliery also hosts a 1.4-million-ton-a-year wash plant, which includes a discard module and belt filter press. About 13% discard coal is produced and stored at the discard dump. Pollution control dams, including slurry dams, form part of the water/slurry management system. Electrical reticulation is through a 3.5 MVA main substation.

Prospects: Prospects include the commissioning of the Dundus East and later the Dundus West adits. Further expansion plans include the construction of Alfred West 2.

Controlling Company: Jindal Africa.

Contact Person: Head of corporate affairs Nthabiseng Motsepe.

Contact Details:
Jindal Africa, tel +27 11 706 8420,
fax +27 86 86 768 9657, and
web www.jindalafrica.com.