South Africa-based coal exploration, development and mining company Coal of Africa announced on Tuesday, January 31, that it had received the go-ahead to begin operations at its Vele coking coal colliery in the Tulli coalfield in the Limpopo province, Platts reports.
According to the news source, the mining company stated that the suspension of its integrated water use license was lifted by the minister of Water and Environmental Affairs, which will allow the miner to complete construction of the new mine and plant. The company expects construction to be complete by the end of the current quarter.
At the company’s Woestalleen thermal coal complex and its Mooiplaats thermal coal colliery, the miner produced 1.08 million metric tons of coal during the second quarter of the last fiscal year, an increase from 954,915 metric tons in the same period of 2010.
The company noted that toward the end of December 2011, demand for South African coal ticked upward, a trend that is expected to continue through at least March 2012.
“[Declining] South African export coal spot prices…were offset during the period in South African rand terms by the decline in the value of the currency against the US dollar,” the company said in a release.
According to Reuters, southern Africa is becoming a hot spot for growing coal mining companies. In Mozambique, several exporters have started using ports in the country’s capital to export large amounts of the mineral necessary in heating and electricity generation.
Latest posts by GEOVIA (see all)
- Join the GEOVIA User community - July 13, 2021
- GEMS Software Update - June 21, 2021
- Reducing Impacts on Water - May 25, 2021
