In line with State-owned power utility Eskom’s Coal Supply Strategy and Black Emerging Miner Strategy, the utility will integrate emerging black coal junior miners into its coal supply base.

This was highlighted by Eskom primary energy division senior manager Ayanda Ntshanga at the Fossil Fuel Foundation’s ninth Junior Coal Mining Ventures Work-shop, held in Johannesburg last month.

She said that Eskom bought about 125-million-tons of coal a year – an amount that the utility expected to remain constant in future.

To fulfil its coal needs, Eskom has already contracted 1.37-billion tons of the coal it needs over the next 35 years, but another 2.1-billion tons remains uncontracted. “It is with regard to this uncontracted amount that Eskom intends to bring in emerging black miners to fulfil its supply needs,” says Ntshanga.

Eskom has identified five focus areas in its Coal Supply Strategy – coal supplies from the Waterberg coalfields, driving policy changes in the coal supply sector, progressing new technologies as an opportunity for emerging black coal miners to be active in supplying Eskom’s needs, advancing black ownership of 50% plus one share black-owned sup- pliers, and partnering with the State-owned mining company African Exploration Mining & Finance Corporation.

Eskom devised the Black Emerging Miner Strategy as a way of working with emerging coal miners while advancing its black-empowerment ownership strategy, which requires its suppliers to be 50% plus one share black-owned.

The main pillar of this strategy addresses emerging black miners’ concern with funding.

To address the lack of funding, Eskom is leading a R1-billion mining development fund to finance black emerging coal miners in resource development. While the fund is independent of Eskom, it is influenced by the utility’s coal and limestone requirements going forward.

The fund, which is expected to have a 15-year horizon and is likely to be launched in the fourth quarter of this year, is being established to encourage black emerging coal miners to help Eskom eliminate the coal supply shortfall that will arise from 2018.