Sterkfontein Coal Mine

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Sterkfontein Coal Mine is a proposed coal mine in Bethal, Gert Sibande, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Sterkfontein Coal Mine Bethal, Gert Sibande, Mpumalanga, South Africa -26.5443525, 29.3543868 (approximate)

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

Loading map...

Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status Status Detail Project Type Opening Year Closing Year
Proposed[1] Pre-Permit New

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
1 Underground Bord and Pillar 79.26 80* *

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
90.93[2] Highveld Bituminous Thermal

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner Parent Company Headquarters
Salungano Group Ltd Salungano Group Ltd [100%] South Africa

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 Sterkfontein coal project is a proposed coal mine 5 kilometers southwest of Bethal, in Mpumalanga, South Africa. Records show the Sterkfontein coal project has been proposed since at least 2011. It was originally proposed by Keaton Energy Holdings, which was bought by Wescoal (now known as the Salungano Group) in 2017.[3]

Sterkfontein is an underground bord and pillar prospect that targets No. 4 Lower and No. 4 Upper of the Highveld Coalfield. It is planned for Sterkfontein to be a fully mechanized operation using continuous miners.

The coal is intended to be processed using a double-stage circuit to produce a primary export thermal product and a middlings product for potential sale to Eskom, however, Salungano currently does not have an offtake agreement for saleable product at Sterkfontein.[4]

As of 2022, a mining right application has been submitted to South Africa's Department of Mineral Resources and Energy.[4]

  • Operator: Keaton Group
  • Owner: Salungano Group
  • Location: Near Bethal, Municipality of Govan Mbeki, District of Gert Sibande, in Mpumalanga Province.
  • GPS Coordinates: -26.5443525, 29.3543868 (approximate)
  • Status: Proposed
  • Production Capacity: 1.57 Mtpa[5]
  • Total Resource: 90.93 Mt[6]
  • Mineable Reserves: 23.6 Mt[5]
  • Coal Type: Thermal[7]
  • Mine Size: 7,926 ha[6]
  • Mine Type: Underground, bord and pillar
  • Start Year: TBD
  • 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.

References

  1. https://www.sustainable-carbon.org/top-5-prospective-underground-coal-gasification-projects-in-africa/. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20240718175134/https://salunganogroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/salungano-group-integrated-annual-report-2022.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. "2011 Minerals Yearbook: South Africa," "USGS," 2011.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Salungano Group Integrated Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2022, Salungano website, accessed October 2022.
  5. 5.0 5.1 "Keaton Energy withdraws Sterkfontein project coal reserve estimate," "Mining Review Africa," October 8, 2015.
  6. 6.0 6.1 "Integrated annual report for the year ended 31 March 2019," "Wescoal," 2019.
  7. "Wescoal: solid operations grow production profile," "Mining Review Africa," January 24, 2019.