Somkhele Coal Mine
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Somkhele Mine is an open-cast mine in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, that produces 1.2 million tonnes of anthracite coal per year.[1]
It is South Africa’s largest producer of high-quality metallurgical anthracite.[2]
Location
The map below shows the exact location of the mine.
Background
According to Petmin, operations at Somkhele will take place in three phases: phase 1 includes current mining operations, which are almost depleted; phase 2 includes expansion into the Emalahleni and Ophondweni mining areas; and the third and final phase will include a proposed expansion into the Amajonjoni coal field.[1]
Approximately 50% of Somkhele’s anthracite production is exported via Richards Bay to iron ore pelletising and sintering markets primarily in Brazil. The rest of the mine's anthracite production is sold to the South African ferro-alloy industry.[1]
In 2015, Petmin announced an agreement for a R350m BBBEE transaction giving the local community and employees a 20% stake in Somkhele.[2]
Expansion
As of 2022, Tendele Mining is embroiled in a legal battle with environmentalists and community members in the surrounding villages of Ophondweni and Emalahleni over plans to expand by 21.8 million hectares (54 million acres). In May 2022, the Pretoria High Court sent Tendele Mining’s application for an extended mining right and environmental management program for its KwaZulu-Natal-based Somkhele mine back to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) for reconsideration.
Tendele seeks to extend the life of the mine for another ten years. (After mining in the Emalahleni and Ophondweni areas for up to 4 years, it will then seek to mine in the Mahujini area for another 6 years.) If the company cannot expand the operation, the Somkhele mine is due to reach the end of its life by July 2022.[3]
Opposition
According to Aljazeera News, the expansion would displace roughly 200 families, many of whom earn a living by subsistence farming.[4][5]
Mine Details
- Operator: Tendele Coal Mining Pty Ltd[1]
- Owner: Petmin Pty Ltd
- Location: 85km north of Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
- Coordinates: -28.31081091, 32.0661844 (Exact)
- Status: Operating
- Capacity: 1.2 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa)
- Total Reserves:
- Mineable Reserves:
- Coal Type: Anthrocite (Metallurgical)
- Mine Type: Surface
- Start Year: 2006
- Source of Financing:
Project Expansion Details
- Status: Proposed
- Capacity:
- Mineable Reserves:
- Start Year:
- Source of Financing:
Articles and resources
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Somkhele Fact Sheet", Petmin website, Accessed June 2022.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Operations and Projects: Somkhele, Petmin website, accessed June 2022.
- ↑ "Court redirects Somkhele mining right expansion application back to the DMRE", Mining Weekly, May 16, 2022.
- ↑ "South Africa: Kwa-Zulu Natal community fights coal mine expansion", Aljazeera News, April 4, 2022.
- ↑ Patrick Bond, Lessons from the assassination of Fikile Ntshangase: Climate violence, the “Right to say No!”: Uncompensated resource extraction, financial profiteering and unpaid ecological debt in South Africa’s coal mining belt, Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt, October 22, 2021.
