Weltevreden coal project
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The Weltevreden coal project is a South African coal project, located by Phola in the Ogies District of the Mpumalanga Province, that will serve to extend the life of the Klipspruit mine another 20 years.[1] It is also known as the Klipspruit Mine Life Extension Project (KPSX).[2]
Contents
Location
The map below shows the location of the project.
Background
In BHP Billiton's 2009 Annual Report, the company listed it as a possible open cut mine producing thermal coal. It listed its total resource as being 543 million tonnes. (Previously the company had considered developing the deposit via both an open cut and an underground mine but now shows it only as an open cut resource.)[3] BHP Billiton Energy Coal South Africa is BHP Billiton's wholly owned subsidiary which develops coal projects in South Africa.
In its 2014 annual report, BHP Billiton reported Weltevreden is an open cut and underground mine with "measured resources" of 192 million tonnes and "total resources" of 565 million tonnes.[4]
BHP Billiton announced in its 2015 annual report that they were discontinuing this project, demerging it and, with a handful of other coal projects, rolling it into a new company called South32.[5] A Deutsche Bank Markets Research report indicated this project is an extension of the Klipspruit mine, writing that Weltevreden coal project "could extend the life of Klipspruit mine by 25 years to 2045".[6]
South32 announced the Klipspruit mine Life Extension Project in November 2017,[2] which they expected would create 4,000 jobs during construction.[1] When the extension will start producing coal is unclear. World Coal reported a start date of February 2019[7], but in April 2019, a Klipspruit spokesperson said, “The Klipspruit Extension is under construction and not yet operational ...”[8]
Business Day reported in 2017 that the mine might provide coal for the Kusile power station.[9]
Project Details
- Owner: South Africa Energy Coal
- Parent company: South32
- Location: Phola, Ogies District, Emalahleni, Mpumalanga Province, northeast of Klipspruit mine
- GPS coordinates: -25.991333, 29.061537 (exact)
- Mine status: Proposed
- Start year: 2019-2020
- Mineable reserves:
- Coal type: Thermal
- Mine size:
- Mine type: Open cut, underground
- Production: 8.0 million tonnes "marketable"; 9.6 million tonnes per annum "run of the mine" expected[2]
- Additional proposed production:
- Equipment:
- Number of employees: 740[2]
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 South 32: Committed to a long-term sustainable coal business, Mining Review, 29 May 2018.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 SOUTH32 APPROVES KLIPSPRUIT LIFE EXTENSION PROJECT, 27 Nov. 2017, South32 website, accessed Oct. 2019.
- ↑ BHP Billiton, 2009 BHP Billiton Annual Report, BHP Billiton, September 2009, page 90.
- ↑ BHP Billiton Annual Report 2014, pp. 122-123, BHP Billiton website, accessed Oct. 2019.
- ↑ BHP Billiton Annual Report 2015, BHP Billiton website, accessed Oct. 2019.
- ↑ Africa: The next frontier, Deutsche Bank Markets Research, page 85, Fuller Treacy Money Global Strategy Service website, accessed Oct. 2019.
- ↑ Development to begin at Klipspruit Life Extension coal project, World Coal, 27 Nov. 2017.
- ↑ Disease haunts Mpumalanga coal town, Ground Up, 11 Apr. 2019.
- ↑ South32 mine could solve Kusile hurdle, Business Day, 7 Sep. 2017.
