Zimpande Coal Mine

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Zimpande Coal Mine is a shelved coal mine in Amajuba, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Zimpande Coal Mine Amajuba, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa -27.7138429, 29.9927995 (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 Project Type Opening Year Closing Year
Shelved 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 & Surface Bord and Pillar[1] 19.51 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
60.06 Klipriver Subbituminous 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 Zimpande coal project (also known as the Leeuw Braakfontein Colliery or LBC) is a proposed opencast and underground coal project near Newcastle in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province.[2] The Zimpande coal project (also known as the Leeuw Braakfontein coal project), has been a proposed coal mine since at least 2011. It started out under the ownership of Keaton Energy Holdings, which was subsequently bought by Wescoal in 2017.[3]

In 2013, Keaton planned to increase output to about 5 Mt/yr by 2017 by developing the Braakfontein project, which was expected to produce 1.1 Mt/yr.[4] In 2015, Keaton reported that the Braakfontein project was on hold because of low coal prices.[5]

In 2018, multiple articles reported that Sitatunga Resources bought Braakfontein coal project, and renamed it Zimpande coal project.[6] [7] However, a 2019 article reported that "A third transaction also turned negative for Wescoal when it cancelled the sale of its non-core asset, the Leeuw Braakfontein Colliery. The potential buyer of Leeuw Braakfontein Colliery failed to fulfil certain regulatory approvals." [8]

According to Salungano, the Leeuw Braakfontein's coal resource is suitable for power stations in close proximity to the resource. They also state that "the asset is non-core, but remains available for future development." In light of this statement and the lack of publicity in recent years, the project appears to be shelved.

  • Operator: Wescoal
  • Owner: Salungano Group[2]
  • Location: Near Newcastle, in Amajuba district, KwaZulu-Natal Province.
  • GPS Coordinates: -27.7138429, 29.9927995 (exact)
  • Mine Status: Proposed (Shelved)
  • Production Capacity: 1.6 Mtpa[5]
  • Total Resource: 60.06 million tonnes[2]
  • Mineable Reserves: 0 Mt[9]
  • Coal Type: Thermal
  • Mine Size: 1,951 hectares[2]
  • Mine Type: Surface & underground
  • Start Year: TBD
  • Source of Financing:

Resources and articles

Related GEM.wiki articles

References

  1. (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)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Salungano Group Integrated Annual Report for the year ended 31 March 2022, Salungano website, accessed October 2022.
  3. "2011 Minerals Yearbook: South Africa," "USGS," 2011.
  4. "2013 Minerals Yearbook: South Africa," "USGS," 2013.
  5. 5.0 5.1 "2015 Minerals Yearbook: South Africa," "USGS," 2015.
  6. "Sitatunga diversifies into manganese in deal with Southern Ambition," "Mining Mx," September 19, 2018.
  7. "Wescoal offloads Leeuw Braakfontein," "Ince Connect," August 8, 2018.
  8. "Wescoal coal output wobbles in first half marked by corporate M&A failures," "Mining MX," November 11, 2019.
  9. "Wescoal disposes of Leeuw Braakfontein Colliery," "Mining Review Africa," August 8, 2018.

External articles

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