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.

Mine scheduling simulations also indicate that the grade of as-mined coal should be relatively consistent over the life-of-mine (LoM), with raw qualities averaging 21.14 MJ/kg calorific value, 30.0% ash, 21.5% volatile matter and 1.08% sulphur content on an air-dried, uncontaminated basis.

The desktop study findings suggest that the most attractive option, from 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.

Laboratory exercises indicated that processing all the mined coal for a 26 MJ/kg product could achieve an average theoretical yield of 50%. A range of processing alternatives, designed to deliver various sales options to the export, inland and Eskom markets, are being assessed by Wescoal. These may involve toll-treating the run-of-mine (RoM) coal off site or upgrading the coal through a dedicated on-site facility.

At this stage of project evaluation, no coal reserves have been declared, as further work is required to develop a final LoM plan, which is required by the South African Mineral Resource Committee code.

Net present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Value
Not stated.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Wescoal has appointed Diesel Power Open Cast Mining as the mining contractor for the Elandspruit mine.

Mining activities have started, with the mine expected to produce its first RoM this month.

“The mining division is on track to produce 335 000 t/m in the final quarter of the current financial year,” the company has said.

This equates to about four-million tons of RoM output on an annualised basis.

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.