Modern Mining November 2018

COAL

recently. He adds that Isimilo also emphasises the use of modular and pre-engineered compo- nents, which delivers further cost savings. The opencast mining at Khanye is controlled by Phambili Contract Mining (in which Canyon has a stake), with the company undertaking the mining being Koza Mining. Phambili spe- cialises in supplying turnkey contract mining services from bush clearing to ROM stockpile using an outsourcing model. The product from Khanye is currently being railed from the Forfar siding located about 26 km from the colliery but Canyon is well advanced with the upgrading of the Bronkhorstspruit siding, just 8 km from the mine, which will be commissioned in the first quarter of next year. Khanye is Canyon’s latest mine but it cer- tainly is not going to be the last. Two projects in the pipeline are Ukufisa Phase 2 and De Wittekrans, south of Hendrina, which will be an underground operation. It is envisaged that both Ukufisa Phase 2 and De Wittekrans could enter production in 2019. Once Khanye is in full production, Canyon’s yearly ROM production will be approximately

10 million tons. Ukufisa Phase 2 and De Wittekrans, along with other projects in the Canyon portfolio (such as Witfontein near Bethal and Springfield near Vereeniging) could see this doubling within the next two years, reinforcing Canyon’s status as one of South Africa’s biggest mid-tier coal miners. 

Coal being delivered from the interim plant.

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