R16bn planned for Waterberg

In what can only be seen as a much-needed injection into the country’s economic vein, coal company Exxaro Resources is aiming a R16.1-billion in growth capital investment at its Grootegeluk mine near Lephalale in the Waterberg.
The aim is to increase its supply of coal from Limpopo to 35 million tons per year (mtpy) and the project includes the development of the new Thabametsi open-pit coal mine and beneficiation complex.
Grootegeluk supplies coal to Eskom’s 20-year-old Matimba power station and Medupi power station, which is under construction and is three years behind schedule.
Exxaro’s plans also appear to have the support of Transnet which is making pro-gress to improve rail volumes on its line from the Waterberg to 27 mtpa from the current 2 mtpa. It is estimated that this will cost Transnet some R5-billion and is reportedly targeted to be in use by 2016-2017.
Previous reports from Transnet indicate that the new line will run from Lephalale, Thabazimbi through to Mpumalanga.
Apart from the expansion of Grootegeluk and the development of Thabametsi, Exxaro also plans for a semi-coke plant, the production of market coke and a possible 600MW coal-fired power station bid under the department of energy’s independent producer programme (IPP).
Some analysts question Exxaro’s ability to finance these projects, but the company has not provided a detailed break down of capital expenditure as it is still working on the numbers, says CFO Wim De Klerk (source: www.miningmx.com).
XMP Consulting’s senior coal analyst, Xavier Prevorst told Northern News in March that Thabametsi will be the biggest opencast coal mine in the world when it is completed.