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EX) Coal mining developed in South Africa:Coal of Africa

1.Description: CoAL of Africa Limited plans to build a five-million-tons-a-year opencast mine at its Vele coking coal project in the Limpopo Province. the has an estimated resource of 441-million tons, of which more than a 133-million tons are in the measured category. The estimated life-of-mine stretches beyond 2040. If it goes ahead the mine will include both underground and opencast operations. Phase 2 will produce 1 million tons a year. Phase 2 will increase output to five million ton per year. Estimated project value : Phase 1 : R450 million. Phase 2: R2.65 billion.

2.Value: R 100 million+
3.Status: Complete
4.Sector: Private
5.Class: Invited / Negotiated.
6.Type: Mining
7.Region: Limpopo
8.Timing: First coking coal to be produced in the first quarter of 2012.



2012/02/01 Coal of Africa Limited (CoAL) has completed construction and started mining at its Vele colliery, following the reinstatement of its integrated water use licence. The Vele coking coal mine in Limpopo, where construction activities were halted last year amid environmental concerns, started production in December, producing 188 000 m3 of overburden and 3 200 t of run-of-mine (ROM) coal to date. Wet commissioning of the plant was completed in December and hot commissioning was underway. This project is complete. This PPA will now be marked as Complete on our website.

2011/11/25 Coal of Africa has signed a deal with the environmental groups trying to stop operations at its Vele Colliery. Both parties are in agreement that the memorandum of understanding (MOU) is the first move towards outlining best practice in the industry. Next steps will be to conclude, by February, a detailed Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) outlining the management and mitigation of the impact of mining and related activities at the colliery on the environment. This is to include the impact on water and heritage resources. One of the conditions of the MOU is that the Save Mapungubwe Coalition(SMC) withdraw its application for a final and temporary interdict against CoAL.

2011/11/03 Coal of Africa Ltd plans to raise about $100 million in a placing mainly to bring the Vele project into production and to complete the acquisition of Rio Tinto's Chapudi Coal project. CoAL had also entered into a new $40 million revolving credit facility with JP Morgan Europe that is conditional on the miner raising a minimum of $75 million.

2011/10/20 Coal of Africa Limited (CoAL) has been given the go-ahead to resume full operations at its controversial Vele colliery, after Water and Environmental Affairs Minister lifted a suspension of an integrated water use licence. The lifting of the suspension would now enable the miner to produce first coking coal in the first quarter of 2012, ramping up to an initial target of one-million tons a year. The company would resume all remaining operational activities to complete the remaining construction at the Vele mine. The process to mobilise contractors and re-employ staff would start immediately.

2011/10/17 The Department of Enviromental Affairs, Coal of Africa Limited and South African National Parks have signed an agreement committing to the preservation of the Mapungubwe World Heritage Site. The agreement which relates to CoAL's Vele project which is situated in close proximity to the World Heritage Site, is believed to represent a milestone in striking a balance between government's objectives of economic development and environmental conservation.

2011/09/02 The Department of Environmental Affairs and CoAL have signed a confidential memorandum of agreement for CoAL to resume mining operations at the Vele Colliery and this has raised the ire of environmental groups opposed to the idea. The plant was originally destined to produce 1 million tons of coal a year in the first phase and up to 5 million tons a year in the second, but this is currently being reviewed.

2011/07/29 The coalition of civil society groups that opposed Coal of Africa's controversial Vele project have lodged an appeal with the Water Tribunal against the water-use licence granted to CoAL by the Department of Water Affairs on March 29 2011.

2011/07/07 CoAL is pleased to advise that with reference to the application for rectifications in terms of the Environmental Management Act, authorisation has been granted by the Department of Environmental Affairs. The construction phase at Vele was expected to be completed within six to nine months from the restart date.

2011/06/30 The company is awaiting full approval to proceed with construction. The schedule is to be revised following to delays owing to environmental concerns which halted construction in August 2010.

2011/05/12 CoAL has paid a R9,25-million penalty to the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) as part of a precondition relating to the environmental authorisation for the controversial Vele colliery, in Limpopo. The payment is a precondition for the DEA to consider and decide upon the rectification application relating to an environmental authorisation for Vele colliery. After payment of the fine, the Minister must either grant an environmental authorisation or direct CoAL to cease the operation and rehabilitate the site.

2011/04/ CoAL has been granted a water licence by the Department of Water Affairs for its Vele mining project. The only remaining hurdle to opening the coking coal mine is to address a compliance notice by the Department of Environmental Affairs. It is not known how long it would take for the Deparment to make its decision on lifting the notice. A coalition of parties opposed to the mine is actively working against the re-opening of the Vele mine.

2011/03/17 COAL of Africa (CoAL) has still not had an answer from government on when it can reopen the Vele coking coal mine in Limpopo Province. The mine has run into fierce opposition from environmentalists because of its proximity to the existing Mapungubwe National Park and the proposed international Mapungubwe Transfrontier Conservation Area, which will extend the area under conservation into Botswana and Zimbabwe. The company is confident that it has addressed the concerns and designed sufficient mitigation into the mining layout and processes to ensure coexistence with ecotourism and agriculture.

2011/02/16 The Draft Environmental Impact Report and Environmental Management Programme is currently available for public comment and review. DEA Ref 12/12/20/2008.

2011/01/25 CoAL could not say exactly when the company would resume operations at Vele, but said that they had ongoing interaction with the relevant departments.

2010/12/01 COAL of Africa does not expect operations to resume at the group’s Vele coking coal mine in Limpopo until sometime during the first quarter of 2011.

2010/11/17 A team of experts from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation arrives at Mapungubwe this week to assess the impact that the Vele mine might have on the famous Mapungubwe World Heritage Site. The Minister of Mineral Resources is expected to deliver a decision on CoAL's mining right at Vele next month.

2010/11/01 CoAL of Africa is expecting to resume work on its Vele Colliery this year after delays due to opposition to the development from the Department of Water and Enviromental Affairs. The development phase of Vele is almost complete, with the construction of the open-cast mining pit, processing plant and related mining infrastructure near completion.

2010/10/22 The government has not yet made a decision on the restarting of Coal of Africa's flagship Vele Colliery.

2010/09/15 CoAl has said that discussions with the government are going well and they are expecting a solution within a few weeks.The company has been waiting for the approval of the water licence since it applied for it with the Department of Water Affairs on November 10 last year.

2010/08/11 Development work at Coal of Africa’s Vele coking coal project has been put on hold while the company negotiates with the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA). The DEA confirmed that it had issued a compliance notice to CoAL on August 5 to “cease with activities that are in contravention of the National Environmental Management Act”. The root cause of the problem is that CoAL has gone ahead with development of the mine on the basis of being granted a new order mining right, but without having received the required integrated water licence from the DEA. The current situation is serious for the company because, if there is a further extended delay, CoAL may not be able to cover the costs of letting contractors and developers stand idle while it negotiates with the DEA.

2010/08/03 CoAL said that it was still awaiting the approval of its application for an integrated water-use licence for the Vele colliery, but added that the license was not required for the development activities which had been carried out to date. CoAL said that the development activities that had been undertaken at the colliery to date were allowed in accordance with the approved Environmental Management Programme and rights afforded to it under the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act.

2010/05/14 The construction is expected to be completed early in the third quarter of 2010, followed soon thereafter by sales of coking coal.
2010/04/23 The new-order mining rights have been executed and project development will now start. The EPCM contractor will start with earthworks and civil construction for the modular coal treatment plant and the mining contractor will start preparations for excavation of the initial boxcut.

2010/04/19 The Vele Coking project is on track to begin production in August 2010.
2010/03/10 The mining rights were issued despite the fact the EIA process on access and fuel storage for Vele was still underway and a water licence for the project had not been approved.

2010/02/22 South Africa's Water and Environmental Affairs Minister, Buyelwa Sonjica has voiced concern over the awarding of an "unconditional" new order mining right to emerging coal mining company Coal of Africa Limited (CoAL) for the Vele project. The Department of Environmental Affairs has requested the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) for a copy of the new order mining right before deciding on the way forward in this regard. The DMR awarded CoAL the mining right for the project on February 2.

2010/02/01 CoAL is still awaiting the granting of mining rights for its Vele coking-coal project, on which it could spend up to R3,2-billion in capital expenditure. CoAL was set to start phase one of the project, in Limpopo province, as soon as it was granted mining rights for the project area by South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources. The construction of supporting infrastructure was also on schedule.

2009/12/08 Discussions regarding the mining contract have continued with MCC Contracts, the selected opencast mining contractor, and the mining contract is due to be signed by the end of 2009.

2009/10/30 The Company expects the granting of a New Order Mining Right for its Vele coking coal project before the end of 2009 and production is expected to follow within four months of receiving the required legislative approval.

2009/09/16 The company will launch Phase 1 of the Vele project once it receives its new order mining rights. A significant amount of preparation has already been completed for the first phase of the project and capital expenditure has been committed to the modular plant, which will shorten the production lead time.

2009/08/24 In May 2009, CoAL released a scoping report and EMP for the proposed Vele Colliery. Significant weaknesses were identified in these documents, mainly arising from inadequate public participation in their development. The University of Venda was approached to undertake a further independent scoping study with special emphasis on public participation. Public Meetings will take place on 22 and 23 September 2009. Interested parties are to contact Prof J. Francis at the University of Venda before 17 September 2009.

2009/07/13 CoAL stated that it was ready to “immediately” launch the first phase of its Vele coking coal project, upon the granting of a new order mining licence from the South African government. The first phase would initially comprise the establishment of a modular coal treatment plant, which would have the ability to deliver about one-million saleable tons of coking coal a year, expected to be delivered to steel major ArcelorMittal South Africa for use at it steelworks in Vanderbijlpark. Phase two would deliver the planned full capacity of five-million tons of coking coal a year. The timing of the second-phase expansion to deliver five-million tons a year of saleable coking coal would be dictated by market conditions.

2009/07/ The company remains hopeful that it will be granted a new order mining right by September this year. The mine will have the potential to produce 5 million tons a year of coking coal.

2009/06/02 CoAl has said that is has committed to spending R500 million over 30 years to ensure the highest levels of environmental and social performance. This will include rehabilitation and revegetation, biodiversity programmes, dust suppression, rescue and relocation operations for protected fauna and flora and the hiring of specialists to assist in environmental monitoring and auditing. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Management Plan (EMP) have been submitted to the DME who will then be responsible for forwarding them to the relevant Government Departments such as the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs, for comment.

2009/05/12 CoAL expects that mining will start during the third quarter of 2009, producing between one million tons a year and 1.5 million tons a year. This will be ramped up to a production rate of 5 million tons a year of coking coal in future.
2009/05/06 The DME is still considering CoAL's application and the DME is fully aware of the issues surrounding this specific mining lience application.

2009/04/24 The specialist studies required for the environmental impact assessment and environmental-management plan were completed. The Company remains hopeful of receiving a granted new order mining right by September of this year. CoAL has also appointed the preferred partner to conduct opencast mining operations at Vele, and the formalisation of the agreements with the partner was expected to be finalised by the end of the June 2009 quarter. GRD Minproc has been mandated to complete the project feasibility study on the project, the results of which were expected by August 2009. This study will include both the underground and opencast sections of the project.

2009/04/02 South Africa’s Environmental Affairs and Tourism Department has raised “significant concerns” with CoAL’s proposed Vele Colliery, in Limpopo province, and did not support the project. CoAL has applied for a new order mining right from the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) in October last year, but was still awaiting an outcome. The DEAT feels at this time, that it could not, with the information available, support the awarding of the mining right in this area for this proposed project, owing to detrimental environmental considerations.

2009/03/16 Mining Contractor, MCC has been selected as the preferred partner to conduct opencast mining operations for CoAL's Vele Colliery.

2009/02/03 CoAL has secured a rail allocation with Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) for one-million tons a year of coking coal to the Matola dry-bulk terminal, in Maputo, in Mozambique. The allocation matched its port allocation of one-million tons a year for the export of coking coal from its Vele and Makhado projects through the Matola terminal, which it had secured in an earlier agreement with Terminal De Carvao Da Matola Limitada.

2009/01/19 Subject to the granting of the the mining rights by the ministry, the company expects mining at Vele to start in the second half of 2009.

2008/10/29 CoAl has filed a new order mining right application with the authorities for its Vele coking coal project.

2008/10/27 Lana Ignjatovic A number of scenarios of mine scheduling have been completed. Rail logistics designs are also in progress, in order to link the project to the South African rail system, as well as to the Matola terminal in Mozambique.



It took a long way with so many huddles to overcome...
That is South Africa...