* More coal technology news *Crawler-track excavator successes *SEW Eurodrive expands in Nelspruit *Larox signs groundbreaking agreement *IMS Engineering saves with HPGR technology

The Department of Minerals and Energy's Xavier Prevost is one of South Africa's acknowledged experts in the field of coal. In this edition of CEN, he gives us an overview of what the current stage of play is regarding this valuable carbon resource, as well as an insight into the demands that coal will face in the future

Opencast coal mining uses some of the largest mining equipment in the industry. And yet, large as this equipment is, its effectiveness ultimately is in the hands of the operator. Landau Colliery's Gerhard Stenzel, in the face of a spate of equipment accidents, evolved a shift system that greatly enhanced productivity and safety

A high proportion of the easily mined, higher quality coal in the Witbank Basin has been mined. Now, the challenge facing coal mines is to contain operating costs to make the remaining resource economically viable. In this, miners are finding an ally in Joy Equipment, which has inspanned a range of advanced technologies to ensure the flow of affordable coal does not cease

For many decades, the Royal Bafokeng nation has distinguished itself by showing a strong entrepreneurial bent. The Royal Bafokeng Administration (RBA) maintains the infrastructure on which the people depend. This organisation relies on dependable equipment, and faced with the need to upgrade its earthmoving equipment

Sandvik Mining and Construction has, over time, purchased many of the near-legendary names in the field of mining manufacture. Voest Alpine is one of these. Now, Sandvik Mining and Construction will be brranding all these various companies under one name. In future, Voest Alpine will be known simply as Sandvik's underground soft rock mining division. However, this opens up new possibilities for the Delmas-based company