PERTH (miningweekly.com) – South Africa-focused coal miner Universal Coal has delivered the first product from its New Clydesdale Colliery (NCC) to power utility Eskom.
Universal returned the NCC to operation in September 2016 and, in November 2016, inked an agreement with Eskom for the supply of 1.2-million tonnes a year of coal over a seven-year period.
Underground operations at NCC are now progressing, with two underground sections delivering 67 000 t of coal for the month of February, with the addition of a third underground section to start production in March.
On the processing side, the two operational units of the coal handling and processing plant processed 200 000 t of coal for the month of February, including the recommissioning of the third processing unit during the current month.
Meanwhile, the boxcut development, which started in January, remains on schedule with the first overburden blast successfully completed, with first run-of-mine coal scheduled for the end of March, and the opencast coal to be processed in April, ensuring contractual sales dates are exceeded.