With South Africa’s mining industry having been in the doldrums for several years now, new mines of any note coming on stream have been few and far between. Nevertheless, 2019 saw two significant newcomers entering production – Vedanta’s Gamsberg zinc project and Exxaro’s Belfast coal mine. Both are notable for their high-tech features, particularly Belfast which Exxaro says is South Africa’s first mine to have a ‘digital twin’. Modern Mining recently visited the mine as part of a media group.
Although the Belfast mine is Exxaro’s first ‘greenfield’ project since 2007 when the Inyanda mine was built, the company executed the project immaculately, announcing in September last year that the mine had produced its first high-grade thermal coal six months earlier than scheduled and well within the R3,3 billion budget. What’s more, the project was delivered without a single injury to any worker, with 4,6 million LTI-free hours being worked from the start of construction in late 2017 through to first coal.
The two 7 500-t capacity, 42-m high coal silos.
Commenting at the time, Exxaro’s Executive Head of Projects, Johan Meyer, said: “The seamless teamwork from the company’s value chain has resulted in the delivery of the first RB1 product from Exxaro’s new greenfield Belfast coal mine. The project and operations teams have managed to successfully accelerate and produce the first RB1 product ahead of schedule and well within budget and with no lost time due to injuries.”
An opencast operation, Belfast occupies a total mining right area of 7 198 ha and is located 55 km east of Middelburg and 10 km south-west of the town of Belfast on the southern side of the N4 highway. It exploits what Exxaro says is the last good quality, A-grade, high-yield coal deposit in Mpumalanga. It will primarily produce A-grade, export quality coal (typically 6 000 kcal/kg) at a projected rate of 2,2 Mt/a and a secondary-quality product (typically 21,5 MJ/kg) for local use or export at a rate of approximately 0,5 Mt/a.
The mine life is 17 years but there is potential for a second phase of development (which could include an underground operation), depending on market conditions, which could extend the life of mine to 30 years. The total resources are 83,2 Mt in the measured category, 23,24 Mt in the indicated, and 25,9 Mt in the inferred.
The mine will make an enormous contribution to the local economy. Over 6 000 direct and indirect jobs were created during the construction phase, seeing almost 20 000 people benefitting, mostly from the local Nkangala District Municipality community. An estimated 4 706 jobs will be created over the life of mine which (allowing for the multiplier effect) will result in more than 15 500 beneficiaries. The targeted local spend during construction was R293 million.
Two mining contractors are undertaking mining operations and have committed 30 % towards local procurement while three black-women-owned companies have been appointed to transport coal by road from the mine to the Rietkuil siding, which has been constructed near the Arnot Power Station.
Exxaro managed the development of the project using its own in-house team. The major contractors contributing to the project were DRA, the EPCM contractor for the coal handling and preparation plant (CHPP), Concor Infrastructure, responsible for earthworks and civils, and SMEI, appointed as the structural, mechanical, platework & piping (SMPP) contractor.
The CHPP consists of primary and secondary sizing stations (with MMD Mineral Sizers Africa supplying the mineral sizers), an overland conveyor, two 7 500-t capacity, 42-m high silos, low gravity and high gravity DMS modules, a thickener circuit, a filter plant and a stacker conveyor. The capacity is 500 t/h and the plant is able to produce both a domestic and an export product.
The scope of Concor Infrastructure’s work included the construction of four major dams (lined with both a geosynethetic clay liner and HDP sheets), 26 concrete platforms and terraces, 37 internal roads totalling 16 km in length, and the upgrade of almost 13 km of provincial roads. The provincial roads upgraded are the D1770 and the D1110 with the work including eight major culverts and the installation of 9,5 km of subsoil drains.
By any standards, Belfast is a big project. During construction, 556 piles were installed, concrete equivalent to 5 568 concrete truck loads was placed, 16 312 tonnes of structural steel was erected and 117 000 m2 of asphalt laid. Brickwork totalled 7 882 m2 and roof sheeting 6 028 m2. The total volume of excavated material was 1,46 million m3. The total cabling on site amounts to 127 km.
As mentioned, what sets Belfast apart is the high degree of digitalisation that has been built into its design and its operations. Particularly interesting is the digital twin concept, which has involved the creation of a digital replica of the mine that allows Exxaro managers – and, where appropriate, consultants and contractors – to connect into the mine and manage it from anywhere. Digitalisation makes it possible to remotely monitor and track all the devices and access performance data; maintenance teams will be connected to specific equipment and machinery, allowing problems to be picked up early and addressed.
Exxaro’s innovation at Belfast and its other mines has not gone unnoticed and the company was recently awarded the top prize at the 19th annual SA National Business Awards in the Innovation category. It was also recognised in the recent MTN IoT (Internet of Things) awards in the Best Industry Solution category for the IoT-based production system – earlyROM Mining Production System – that manages the mining fleet in real-time at the Belfast mine.
The Belfast project forms part of a R20 billion investment programme that Exxaro is undertaking spanning the years 2018 to 2023. Other projects in the programme include the R4,8 billion expansion of the GG6 plant at its flagship Grootegeluk coal mine; the R1,3 billion Grootegeluk Load Out Station upgrade project; the Leeuwpan Life Extension project, a R522 million optimisation project at the Leeuwpan coal mine; the R1,9 billion Mafube Life Extension project; the R3,5 billion Matla Life of Mine project, which – among other things – involves the relocation of Matla Mine 1; and the R3,2 billion Thabametsi Phase 1 coal project.
Grootegeluk and Thabametsi are both located in the Waterberg coalfield in Limpopo Province while all the other projects are in Mpumalanga. It should also be noted that Mafube is a joint venture with Anglo American. The Belfast, Leeuwpan and Mafube projects are complete, as is the first phase of GG6. Thabametsi forms part of an IPP project. All the licensing is in place and the project is now in the financing phase.
Speaking at the 2nd South African Investment Conference held in November last year at the Sandton Convention Centre, Exxaro CEO Mxolisi Mgojo re-affirmed the company’s commitment to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s investment drive for the country. “I’m pleased to confirm that we are on target to fully spend the remaining R9 billion balance of the R20 billion up to the year 2023 to complete our projects,” he said. He concluded by saying that Exxaro remained “driven as a South African company to realise the President’s vision and participate in the collective effort of all gathered here to achieve the country’s mission of inclusive growth.”
Exxaro produced just short of 48 Mt of coal in 2018 (with 8 Mt of this total being exported) and is aiming to increase this to 60 Mt by 2023. The company is South Africa’s largest coal producer and its Grootegeluk mine is one of the largest coal mines in the southern hemisphere.
Photos courtesy of Exxaro