Name of the Project
Makhado coking coal project.

Location
The Makhado project is located in the Makhado municipality, in South Africa’s Limpopo province, on five adjacent farms covering the properties Lukin 643 MS, Fripp 645 MS, Tanga 849 MS, Daru 848 MS, Mutamba 668 MS, Windhoek 847 MS and Salaita 188 MT. 

These farms are all situated parallel to the Soutpansberg mountain range.

Client
Baobab Mining and Exploration, a subsidiary of Coal of Africa Limited (CoAL), will be the operating entity of the project. 

Project Description
The project will produce hard coking and thermal coal through opencast mining.

There are currently 172.73-million tonnes run-of-mine (RoM) reserves in situ, which will be mined over the life-of-mine of 16 years. Makhado is expected to be mined at an average rate of 12.6-million tonnes a year RoM, with potential for underground expansion.

At steady-state production, 2.3-million tonnes a year of hard coking coal and 3.2-million tonnes a year of thermal coal will be produced for domestic and export markets.

The project has been divided into the East, Central and West pits for technical, logistical and practical reasons.

Mining will be staggered, starting with the East pit, followed by the Central and West pits. The development of the East pit will include plant and infrastructure components, which will cater for the production volumes from the other pits.

 The process plant will comprise: 
• a single-stage dense-medium separation (DMS) plant to beneficiate the -50 +6 mm for the production of a thermal product using high-gravity wash, 
• a double-stage DMS plant to beneficiate the -6 +1 mm for the production of hard coking coal and thermal products (high-gravity followed by low-gravity wash), 
• a double-stage up-current classifier to beneficiate the -1 +0.15 mm fines for the production of hard coking coal and thermal products (high-gravity followed by low-gravity wash), and 
• a flotation circuit to beneficiate the ultrafines (-0.15 mm) to produce hard coking coal and a potential thermal product. 

Jobs to be Created
About 2 000 jobs are expected to be created during construction and 1 100 permanent positions thereafter. 

About 60% of jobs will be sourced from communities, based on results from a skills audit. 

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a net present value, at an 8.5% discount rate of $544-million and an internal rate of return of 37.4%.

Value
A front-end engineering design (FEED) completed by DRA in May 2016 resulted in a revision of the total project capital estimate from $406-million quoted in the definitive feasibility study to $280-million, a 38% reduction of $126-million.

Duration
Makhado’s 26-month construction phase is expected to start in the first half of 2017, followed by a further four-month ramp-up phase.

Latest Developments
Water and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane has lifted the suspension of the integrated water use licence (IWUL) for the Makhado project.

The IWUL for Makhado was suspended in April 2016, after the Vhembe Mineral Resources Forum and other parties lodged an appeal with the Department of Water and Sanitation.

Following representation by CoAL in May 2016, and February this year, the Minister exercised her discretion and lifted the suspension.

The granting of the IWUL is a significant milestone for CoAL, bringing the Makhado project closer to production.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
DRA Project South Africa (optimisation study and FEED).

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
CoAL head of engineering Nico Pretorius, email nico.pretorius@coalofafrica.com; or investor relations and business development manager Celeste van Tonder, email Celeste.vanTonder@coalofafrica.com