February 2014
MODERN MINING
25
COAL
can be produced for the metallurgical market
from the No 1 and 1A seams.
The big news with respect to Roodekop,
announced early in February, is that Universal
has entered into an agreement with Exxaro
Resources to buy the neighbouring New
Clydesdale Colliery (NCC), which has a
resource of 54,5 Mt.
NCC is one of the oldest coal mines in South
Africa – the earliest operations on site date back
to the late 1940s – and historically has pro-
duced just over 700 kt/a of thermal coal from
both open-pit and underground operations,
primarily for the export market. The mine was
contracted to produce export thermal coal with
the following specifications: 28 MJ/kg calorific
value, 25,8 per cent volatile matter content and
13-14 per cent ash. Exxaro established that
NCC was no longer strategically aligned with
its growth strategy and embarked on a public
disposal process in April 2013 before plac-
ing the operation on care and maintenance in
December 2013.
The mine is fully equipped with mining
machinery and infrastructure able to oper-
ate three underground mining sections and
has a run-of-mine beneficiation facility with a
capacity of approximately 2 Mt/a. It also has
a private rail connection with Transnet Freight
Rail, allowing for direct export of its coal. The
remaining life of mine based on the current
reserve estimate is approximately 3,3 years at a
production rate of 70 000 t/month ROM.
Weber says the NCC acquisition will allow
Universal to incorporate Roodekop into the
NCC infrastructure and allow the extension of
NCC’s life of mine to 2030, as Roodekop has
an estimated LoM of 15 years, eight of which
will be open pit. “The synergies are obvious,”
he says. “Integrating the two properties as a
single integrated mining complex will reduce
capital, operating costs and overheads and
improve profitability.” He adds that Roodekop
has a mining right and NEMA (environmental
authorisation) granted for a 1,5 Mt/a ROM oper-
ation and is currently awaiting its water licence,
which is expected by mid-year (or earlier).
While Universal’s current focus is very much
on its thermal coal properties in the Witbank
coalfield, it also has two coking coal properties
– Berenice-Cygnus and Somerville-Donkin – in
Limpopo Province. Berenice-Cygnus, adjacent
to Coal of Africa’s Makhado project, is the more
advanced being at feasibility stage whereas
Somerville-Donkin is still in exploration. With
a resource of 1,35 billion tonnes, Berenice-
Cygnus has the potential to be an extremely
big project. Says Weber: “The project would
require a considerable capex commitment and
this, in combination with current conditions
in the coking coal market, means that it is not
our immediate priority. But it is an outstand-
ing project – indeed, one of the best coking coal
projects around.”
Weber, a mining engineer whose has pre-
viously been with Nkwe Platinum (where
he was an Executive Director) and Anglo
Platinum (where he was Operations Manager at
Mogalakwena), worked extensively in coal ear-
lier in his career, including at New Clydesdale
and Greenside. He is assisted in running the
company by a management team that includes
(apart from Kevin Donaldson) Chief Financial
Officer Daryl Edwards, a CA with a long back-
ground in mining, Chief Geologist Jaco Malan,
who has a Masters in Exploration Geology and
who has played a major role in assembling
Universal’s coal portfolio, and Minah Moabi,
Chief Environmental Manager, who has a
Masters degree in Environmental Science from
Wits and who previously worked for Exxaro
and the Department of Water Affairs.
Says Weber: “Our strengths lie in our highly
experienced in-country management team
and, of course, the quality of our assets. We’re
still a junior but well on our way to mid-tier
status as a thermal coal producer and, ulti-
mately, a coking coal producer as well. In short,
Universal is poised to start delivering value to
its shareholders.”
Report and photos (unless otherwise acknowledged) by
Arthur Tassell
Kangala managers with
members of the mining
team (photo: Universal
Coal).
