Modern Mining August 2018

COAL

Rising coal prices open opportunity for MmamabulaWest

I n an update on its coal and power proj- ects in Botswana, African Energy notes that there has been a sustained in- crease in global coal prices over the last twelve months, with current prices being ap- proximately US$102/t for RB1 spec coal and US$85/t for RB3 spec coal (FOB Richards Bay). African Energy, listed on the ASX, says the higher coal price may provide renewed export opportunities for its Mmamabula West coal project which contains 2 443 Mt of indicated and inferred resources of thermal coal. Prefeasibility studies undertaken for the company in 2014 indicated that this deposit could be extracted using conventional under- ground mining methods to produce ROM coal suitable for South African power stations for approximately US$15 per tonne at the mine gate (costs as per Q1 2014 using local currency FX rates at the time). The study also indicated that RB3 spec coal could be produced for US$25 per tonne at the mine gate. Given current pricing, African Energy believes that the Mmamabula West project may be an attractive source of coal for South African markets and has commenced a process

This map, taken from an African Energy presentation, shows the location of the Sese and Mmamabula West projects and existing and proposed rail routes linking Botswana and Eskom’s power stations near Grootegeluk (Waterberg) and in the Witbank area (red ellipse).

Mobility becomes mainstream at Zibulo colliery The advent of the digital era means that people are empowered to perform what were previously regarded as ‘desk duties’ anytime, anywhere.

able to view all tasks scheduled for the day on the screen, tick them off once they have been completed and provide status updates on work in progress. At the same time, the supervisor on the sur- face has an accurate picture of how work is progressing,”Meyer explains. The Power BI app provides live data that could previously only be retrieved via the control room. This means that key personnel have round-the-clock access to critical information which can either prevent or immediately address unnec- essary downtime. Smartphones will increasingly play a role in safety and are already being used to capture underground visible felt leadership interactions on Enablon, software the company uses to man- age and track environmental and social performance. Moreover, the colliery will soon be trialling a checklist app to provide assurance on the quality of the pre-start check. The app, to be trialled on behalf of Anglo American, will be fully customis- able and can be adopted by a variety of departments for multiple functions. The innovation will rolled out at Goedehoop and Greenside collieries later this year. 

They enable instant communication from underground to the surface, from the surface to underground and from one underground location to the other, but – at their core – they are tools that can be used for so much more.” Two hundred frontline employees are equipped with devices that look and work the same way as an ordinary smart- phone. They are, however, intrinsically safe and designed to withstand harsh conditions. Apart from being able to make voice calls via an app called CSIP Simple, employees can use Cisco Spark to send text messages and photographs. They can send and received documents such as policies, procedures and section plans. “In the past, foremen would some- times only get around to reporting a machine fault at the end of a shift – now they can get in touch with the respon- sible people on the spot. And send an accompanying photograph of the issue!” says Meyer. Work management has also been made more efficient with an app called Fewzion. “Underground personnel are

In a first for Anglo American South Africa, its Zibulo colliery has intro- duced outbye Wi-Fi infrastructure and smartphones to revolutionise communication underground. This development has rapidly evolved with the introduction of a series of mobile apps that optimise productivity, speed up decision making and give employ- ees the information they need, when and where they need it. The technology was first trialled in 2016 and the full outbye implementation was concluded in June 2017. “The fixed underground telephones previously in use were unreliable and reaching them would often require a long walk. Employees would frequently need to return to the surface to get a message to a colleague, report a problem or access production critical information,” says Business Improvement Manager Zanne- Mari Meyer. “Smartphones have changed all this.

42  MODERN MINING  August 2018