Lephalale will grow says coal expert

Someone who knows a lot about coal and has done a lot of research on the Waterberg coalfields is Xavier Prevost, a senior coal analyst for XMP Consulting. Northern News spoke to him this week to find out if coal will keep Lephalale’s lights burning.
“Many make the mistake to think that the Waterberg coalfield is the same as the coalfields in the Central Basin,” he says. “The truth is that it is a lot more difficult to mine coal in the Waterberg.
“We talk about bar code coal, a term which refers to the intercalation of coal with rock or shale,” he explains. “When mining coal in the Waterberg all of what is mined needs to be washed. This makes the process a lot more costly. You also need to mine a huge amount of coal to make mining in the area profitable.”
According to Prevost coal mining company, Exxaro Resources, has perfected the mining of coal in the Waterberg. With the expansion of the Grootegeluk mine and plans to build the new Thabametsi Mine, Exxaro will be able to mine around 70-million tons per annum of which 50% will be sellable. According to Prevost, Thabametsi will be the biggest opencast coal mine in the world when it is completed.
Another project which will sustain growth Lephalale is Sasol’s Limpopo West Project in which it has partnered with Exxaro. “This will start out as a small coal mine, which I believe will barely break even. With Exxaro’s expertise the mine will grow and eventually, when the time is right Sasol could establish a coal-to liquids plant in the Waterberg.”
Prevost is concerned that smaller mining companies who do not have the expertise in the Waterberg will not be able to be economically viable. Some of these companies who have mining rights have partnered with Australians and will find out that small collieries are not feasible in the Waterberg. “You have to mine big to be profitable,” he says.
In answer to whether he thinks Lephalale will become a ghost town, Prevost says: “By no means, you have, for instance, Anglo who are looking to start up a coal-bed-methane (CBM) project in the area. With Exxaro’s expansion of the Grootegeluk mine and the start up of the Thabametsi mine, as well as Sasol’s future developments, Lephalale will certainly continue to grow.”