Modern Mining May 2018

COAL

a fully permitted and operational facility. It is continually being upgraded to meet customers’ product quality and quantity requirements and recently a radial stacker conveyor designed to stockpile finished product destined for Eskom was installed. Total feed capacity of the plant is in the region of 200 000 tonnes per month. The complex consists of a crushing section and drum/cyclone and fines treatment plants that can produce a range of products to meet the demands of Eskom, other domestic con- sumers and the export market. The main drum/ cyclone plant is operated on behalf of Wescoal by Pentalin Processing under the direction of Jaap Kruger, Wescoal’s Processing Manager. With Elandspruit’s production now close to exceeding the processing plant’s capacity, Wescoal has entered into an agreement with one of Elandspruit’s neighbours which will see some of Elandsfontein’s coal being treated on a toll basis. Essentially, the arrangement has boosted Wescoal’s treatment capacity without the need for any capital expenditure. In step with its emergence as a mid-tier coal miner, Wescoal has put in place vigorous enterprise and infrastructure development pro- grammes designed to cement its ties with local communities, as Bongani Hlope explained to the journalists visiting Elandspruit and the processing complex. These include a sewing/ textile project, in which Wescoal has already invested R1 million and which is already sup- plying PPE clothing to Elandspruit and other mines; a bakery, scheduled for start-up later this year; a housing project for pensioners and disabled community members which is ongo- ing and which has already seen 15 houses

constructed since 2015; and the upgrading of ablution blocks at four schools. A major infrastructure project has been the diversion and upgrading of the D20 road near Elandspruit. This was completed in May last year and involved an investment by Wescoal of over R30 million. The company has taken over responsibility for the maintenance of the road till mine closure, at which point it will be donated to local government. These efforts are all part of Wescoal’s goal of achieving sustainability. As Sulaiman says, “Sustainability is about more than just ensuring that we have the coal resources and a pipeline of projects to sustain operations well into the future. It’s also about ensuring that our host communities benefit from our activities. This is a cornerstone of our strategy and we believe we have already achieved a great deal with much more to come.” 

The Wescoal Processing Complex was acquired by Wescoal in 2014 but is being continuously upgraded to meet customers’ product quality and quantity requirements.

May 2018  MODERN MINING  27