the same time that unv made their ann cil also

In August of last year, it became known that yet another coal mining company, other than Coal of Africa Limited (CoAL), is showing interest in the Limpopo Valley’s coal fields. Universal Coal, an emerging thermal coal-production and -development company, earmarked thousands of hectares for exploration drilling.

Universal has two projects, namely Berenice and Somerville. The Berenice coking coal project is situated 90km southwest of Musina, close to CoAL’s Vele mine and Mapungubwe World Heritage Site. Somerville, on the other hand, is located near the northern border of Botswana, stretching over six farms. Some of these farms are situated in the Vhembe Game Reserve.

On 10 August, Universal announced in their Cash Flow Report that an environmental risk assessment, geotechnical study and geohydrological survey have been commissioned. According to this report, drilling as part of a pre-feasibility study is currently underway.

The report further indicates that the Berenice project has 1.3 billion tonnes in coal-deposit resources. Universal said that their concept study had confirmed that the project “can support a 10 million tonne per annum open-cut operation in excess of 25 years.”

Somerville’s first exploration drilling is expected to start towards the last quarter of this year. According to Universal, they are looking at an excess of 1 billion tonnes of coking coal resource that is mainly stretched over three coal seams. If Universal is granted mining right licences, they have proposed open-cast mining to extract the coal.

At about the same time that Universal Coal made their announcement, Coal of India Limited (CIL) also announced their intention to acquire mines in the Limpopo Valley by forming a subsidiary company in South Africa.

Business LIVE reported last week that CIL announced in a bid document that they were busy signing an agreement with the Limpopo Province to “identify and develop coal mines.” CIL, which is state-owned, is one of the world’s largest coal miners.

According to Business LIVE, the government of Limpopo approached CIL to set up a joint venture. For this venture, CIL has earmarked 60 billion rupees (U$1.1 billion). Where this proposed mine would be situated, could not be determined by the time of going to press. However, India is suffering from massive power outages, with some of its electricity plants that are idle as a result of fuel shortages.

http://www.zoutpansberger.co.za/details/20-08-2012/the_future_is_black/14492