Rietvlei Colliery

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Rietvlei Colliery is an operating coal mine in Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Rietvlei Colliery	Mpumalanga, South Africa	-25.666781, 29.653379 (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	–	2019	–

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
–	2.2	–	Surface	Open Pit	–	60*	450*

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
10	2022	22.7	–	Bituminous	Thermal	Eskom

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Rietvlei Mining Company	Emalangeni Mining Resources Pty Ltd [34.0%]; Thungela Resources Ltd [30.3%]; Vunani Mining Proprietary Ltd [16.8%]; Mwelase Group of Companies Pty Ltd [15.0%]; Nkulo Community Partnership Trust [1.7%]; Sisonke Employee Empowerment Scheme [1.7%]	UK

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

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
ROM	–	–	–	–	2	2	2

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

Rietvlei Colliery is a surface coal mine near the town of Middelburg in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. The Rietvlei mine is located 27 km northeast of the town of Middelburg in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa. It is 51%-owned by Butsanani Energy, 34%-owned by broad-based black economic-empowerment partner Emalangeni Mining, and 15%-owned by black-owned mine managing partner Mwelase Group of Companies.

Construction of the Rietvlei Colliery commenced in November 2018 with its first coal sales delivered in March 2019. It is an opencast, strip truck and shovel operation consisting of three designed pits, with mining activity taking place in pit 1 and 2. Rietvlei is the only operation within the Group to supply thermal coal exclusively to the domestic Eskom market — the national electricity supplier in South Africa,.

Based on the current LOM plan, mining operations at the colliery are expected to cease by 2032. However, the mine is only contracted to supply coal to the end of 2023 at which point it will seek a contract extension or provide coal into different markets.

• Operator: Rietvlei Mining Company
• Owners: Butsanani Energy Investment Holdings Proprietary Limited (51%), Emalangeni Mining Resources Proprietary Limited (34%), and Mwelase Group of Companies Proprietary Limited (15%)
• Location: Between Stofberg and Middelburg, in the Mpumalanga Province, South Africa
• Coordinates: -25.6668, 29.6534 (exact)
• Mine Status: Operating
• Start Year: 2019
• Production: 2.2 million tonnes per annum (2021)
• Total Reserves: 4.4 million tonnes
• Mineable Resource: 28.7 million tonnes
• Coal Type: Bituminous (Thermal)
• Mine Type: Surface, opencast
• Workforce Size:
• Source of Financing:

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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.