Grootegeluk Coal Mine

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Grootegeluk Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Waterberg, Limpopo, South Africa.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Grootegeluk Coal Mine	Waterberg, Limpopo, South Africa	-23.657141, 27.566687 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the coal mine:

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Opening Year	Closing Year
Operating	–	1980	–

Table 3: Operation details

Note: The asterisk (*) signifies that the value is a GEM estimated figure.

Capacity (Mtpa)	Production (Mtpa)	Year of Production	Mine Type	Mining Method	Mine Size (km2)	Mine Depth (m)	Workforce Size
–	56.52	2022	Surface	Open Pit	263.25	60*	3200

Table 4: Coal resources and destination

Total Reserves (Mt)	Year of Total Reserves Recorded	Total Resources (Mt)	Coalfield	Coal Type	Coal Grade	Primary Consumer/ Destination
2584	2022	4006	Waterberg	Bituminous	Thermal & Met	Medupi Power Station

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Exxaro Coal Pty Ltd	Exxaro Resources Ltd [100.0%]	South Africa

Table 6: Historical production (unit: million tonnes per annum)

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
ROM	51	57	56	54	51	56	56

Note: The above section was automatically generated and is based on data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker April 2024 release and the September supplement.

Background

The Grootegeluk coal mine is a surface mine complex near Lephalale, Limpopo Province, South Africa. The mine is owned by Exxaro Coal, a wholly owned subsidiary of the South African mining company Exxaro.

Grootegeluk is Exxaro's largest coal mining operation and reportedly holds 50% of South Africa's remaining coal reserves and as much as 80% of Exxaro's reserves.

The mine has multiple plants, including Grootegeluk 1 (GG1), GG2, GG3, GG4, GG5, GG6 (which was recently converted to a double-stage plant), GG7, GG8, and GG10. The Grootegeluk coal mine began operation in 1980. It produces roughly 26 million tons of coal per year (Mtpa), with some 22 Mtpa being consumed by two of Eksom's mine-mouth coal power plants — Medupi Power Station and Matimba Power Station.

In September 2008, Exxaro signed the Medupi Coal Supply and Off-Take Agreement (CSA) with Eskom. Under the agreement, Exxaro would supply "an average of 14.6 million tonnes per annum of power station grade coal" over 40 years for the project from an expansion of the Grootegeluk mine. "At the time, Exxaro’s capital expenditure for the Grootegeluk Medupi Expansion Project was estimated at R9 billion and delivery of first coal was planned to commence in the fourth quarter of 2011 with a ramp-up to full production by 2014," Exxaro stated.

In late March 2010, Exxaro stated the company had signed a definitive agreement on 26 March 2010. In terms of the revised agreement, the delivery of first coal is planned for the second quarter of 2012 with a ramp-up to full production by 2015. This ramp-up is now in line with the commissioning and commercial operation date of the first unit of the power station."

• Operator: Exxaro Coal
• Owner: Exxaro
• Location: 20 kilometers west of Lephalale, Lephalale municipality, Waterberg district, Limpopo province, South Africa.
• GPS Coordinates: -23.671667, 27.528889 (exact)
• Status: Operating
• Production: 28.8 Mtpa (2020)
• Total Resource: 3,902 million tonnes
• Mineable Reserves: 2,580 million tons
• Coal Type: Bituminous (Thermal and Metallurgical)
• Mine Type: Surface, open pit
• Mine Size: 8.5 km2
• Start Year: 1980
• Workforce Size: 3200
• Source of Financing:

Expansion

In 2016, Exxaro announced plans to ramp up export coal production by expanding its Grootegeluk operations. Through the GG6 expansion project, Exxaro would increase its production of semi-soft coking coal by converting its existing Grootegeluk 2 (GG2) single-stage beneficiation plant into a double-stage beneficiation complex — Grootegeluk 6 (GG6).

Construction on the project began in 2016 and was concluded in Q4 of 2021. According to Exxaro's 2021 annual report, the project is expected to close by the second half of 2022.

Project Expansion Details

• Status: Operating
• Capacity: 1.7 Mtpa
• Mineable Reserves:
• Start Year: 2022
• Source of Financing:

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of world coal mines, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Mine Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.