Photo by: Bloomberg
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – JSE-listed Wescoal has signed a short-term contract to supply State-owned Eskom with 221 000 t of coal from its Elandspruit mine.
This followed on contracts signed in May for the supply of 190 000 t of coal from Wescoal’s Khanyisa and Intibane mines to the power utility.
“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 said in a statement.
The mine’s processing plant was 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.
“Getting to this point is a major milestone and has been achieved through hard work and perseverance. Longer-than-expected delays earlier this year, resulted in us having to enter into suboptimal coal sale arrangements with other customers while we engaged with Eskom.
“Signing the long-term Eskom contract for Elandspruit is now at the top of our priority list, after which we will focus on Intibane and Khanyisa.
“Wescoal has traditionally delivered stronger results in the first half of its financial year, but this year will see a reversal of that trend as we close out our current Eskom negotiations and continue to grow the business,” Wescoal acting CEO Waheed Sulaiman said.