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Mmamabula Coal Mine is a proposed coal mine in Francistown, North-East, Botswana.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Mine Name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Mmamabula Coal Mine | Francistown, North-East, Botswana[1] | -23.609295, 26.774952 (approximate) |
The map below shows the approximate location of the coal mine:
Project Details
Table 2: Project status
| Status | Status Detail | Project Type | Opening Year | Closing Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proposed[1] | Construction[1] | New[1] | 2024[1] | – |
Table 3: Operation details
| Capacity (Mtpa) | Production (Mtpa) | Year of Production | Mine Type | Mining Method | Mine Size (km2) | Mine Depth (m) | Workforce Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1[2] | – | – | Underground & Surface[2] | Mixed[2] | 43 | 60* | * |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 82[1] | 2019[1] | 2400[2] | Mmamabula[3] | Bituminous | Thermal[1] | Mmamabula Energy Project[2] |
Table 5: Ownership and parent company
| Owner | Parent Company | Headquarters |
|---|---|---|
| Maatla Resources[4][1] | Maatla Resources [100%] | Botswana, India |
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 Mmamabula coal mine is a proposed mine, owned by Maatla Resources, designed to produce 1.2 million tonnes per annum, near Gaborone and Francistown, Botswana.[5]
The coalfield is the site of a number of proposed coal-fired power stations that would be fuelled by the coal: CIC Coal to Hydrocarbons Project, CIC Domestic Power Project, and Mmamabula Energy Project.
Construction of the project was scheduled to begin in 2022.[6] The Mmamabula coalfield is considered to be a western extension of the Waterberg Coalfield in the Ellisras Basin in South Africa, which contains about 40% of South Africa's coal resources. The portions of the coalfield for which CIC Energy held licences are estimated to have 2.4 billion tonnes of thermal coal. Deposits were roughly 360 million tonnes in the Central block, 643 million tonnes in the Western block, and 1,392 million tonnes in the Eastern block. The South block, which lies on both sides of the road and rail corridor, is estimated to hold another 311 tonnes of coal.[7]
The Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources put up the Mmamabula South and Central blocks for tender in June 2012, once CIC's license was up for renewal. The blocks held about 670 million tonnes of coal. Bids would be evaluated in part on how quickly the bidder would be able to start exploiting the coal field.
However, in August 2012 the government decided to renew CIC's retention license for the central block, with about 361 million tonnes of coal. A week later the Competition Authority approved a proposed takeover of CIC Energy by Jindal Steel and Power of the Jindal Group, which wants large supplies of coal for its Indian steel plants.
In September 2012 it was announced that Jindal Steel and Power was completing a US$116 million purchase of CIC Energy, acquiring its rights in the Mmamabula coalfield. Jindal said it planned to develop a coal mine and a 300-MW power plant, the CIC Domestic Power Project, as well as coal-to-liquids through the CIC Coal to Hydrocarbons Project. It would also develop coal exports from the field, possibly via rail to Mozambique. The deal was conditional on approval by the Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources.[8]
In June 2014 global mining company Anglo American bid for the prospecting licenses of Mmamabula South and Central blocks, which have an estimated 700 million tonnes of coal. The two blocks sit adjacent to the 2.4 billion tonne Mmamabula East coalfields, which was bought by the Jindal group from CIC Energy in 2014 in a P860 million deal.[9]
In April 2015 Jindal said it planned to offload 74 percent of the energy and coal mine project to South Africa’s Glendal Trading. The companies say there are potentially nine mines on the 2.7 million Mmamabula Energy Project (MEP) resources, with six of them earmarked to be underground and three open casts.[10][11]
In April 2017 it was reported that Jindal had shelved initial plans to offload 74% of its company to South Africa’s Glendal Trading.[12]
In April 2018, Maatla Resources submitted an Environmental Impact Assessment for the Mmamabula coal mine.[13] It took some time for the project to be fully permitted, but in February 2021, the Botswana government awarded Maatla with a 25-year license to mine three coal rich areas at its Mmamabula project.[14][15] One reason for the delay was that the company had not yet attained an equity capability of 30% of the project’s development costs, which has to be demonstrated by the developer in accordance with Section 30 of the Mines and Minerals Act of Botswana.[16] Another was the COVID-19 pandemic.
In its first phase, Maatla hopes to produce 100,000 tonnes of saleable product from Mmamabula per month with the intention to sell into the inland sized coal market in neighboring South Africa. In the second phase, production is planned to increase to 300-400,000 tonnes per month.[17] Maatla expects to begin construction by mid-2021, begin production 12 months after breaking ground, and to ramp up to full production within six months thereafter.[14] According to Maatla, this timeline places production commencement in Q2/3 of 2023.[18]
- Operator: Maatla Energy[5]
- Owner: Maatla Resources[5]
- Location: near Gaborone and Francistown, Botswana[5]
- GPS Coordinates: -23.609295, 26.774952 (approximate)
- Mine Status: Proposed[5]
- Production: 1.2 million tonnes per annum[5]
- Total Resource:
- Mineable Reserves: 90 million tonnes[5]
- Coal Type: Thermal "high grade"[5]
- Mine Size: 43 km2<ref name=miningweekly /ref>
- Mine Type:
- Start Year: 2023[14]
- Source of Funding:
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.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 https://web.archive.org/web/20240229042835/https://www.maatlaresources.com/mmamabula-coal. Archived from the original on 29 February 2024.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 https://web.archive.org/web/20231202180428/https://www.jindalafrica.com/operations/mmamabula/. Archived from the original on 02 December 2023.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|archive-date=(help); Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://www.linkedin.com/posts/the-projects-magazine_%3F%3F%3F%3F%3F%3F%3F%3F%3F-%3F%3F%3F%3F%3F%3F%3F-%3F%3F%3F%3F%3F-activity-7066056384898826240-zwm9.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20240302062136/https://africanminingmarket.com/maatla-energy-acquires-p1-6-billion-mmamabula-energy-coal-mining/4551/. Archived from the original on 02 March 2024.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|archive-date=(help); Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Laurence Stevens, Maatla Energy Acquires P1.6 Billion Mmamabula Energy Coal Mining, African Mining Market, August 19, 2019.
- ↑ India's Jindal plans to start building Botswana coal mine in 2022, Reuters, November 19, 2021
- ↑ CIC Energy, "Mmamabula Coalfield," Archived from the original on 2010-11-06. Retrieved 2012-02-19.
- ↑ "Takeover hopes brighten for Mmamabula, Mmamantswe," Mmegi Online, January 20, 2012.
- ↑ "Anglo wins Mmamabula coal licences tender," Mmegi Online, July 29, 2015
- ↑ See more at: http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?aid=50408#sthash.RTTGmxcA.dpuf "Mmamabula project acquisition gets nod," Mmegi Online, Apr 9, 2015
- ↑ "Sese power plant to cost P15bn," Mmegi, June 12, 2015
- ↑ "Sese power project granted tax breaks," Mmegi, April 28, 2017
- ↑ "Mmamabula Coal Project," Maatla Energy, accessed May 2018
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 "Maatla Resources obtains mining license for Botswana project", Southern African Coal Report via Maatla Resources website, February 9, 2021.
- ↑ "Maatla to start on $45m Mmamabula coal project in June after Botswana gives nod", Mining Mx, February 9, 2021
- ↑ "Coal project to Benefit Botswana", Mining Weekly, March 26, 2021.
- ↑ Development Strategy, Maatla Resources website, accessed July 2022.
- ↑ Mmambula Coal Project, Maatla Resources website, accessed July 2022.
