Industry intelligence
New classrooms to assist learners
Sasol opens Impumelelo
In addition to
sustaining about
4 000 jobs, the new
mines are critical to
securing coal supply to
Sasol Secunda Synfuels
Operations to at least
2050.
[6] MINING MIRROR JUNE 2019
“Our vision is for all children in our host
communities to have access to good education and
training. This project will support our objective
of our schools performing within the top 30% of
state schools by 2025,” says Masala Mutangwa,
general manager at Kolomela mine.
Kumba Iron Ore’s Kolomela mine
made a considerable contribution to
local education by donating more than
11 pre-fabricated class rooms to five
different schools facing infrastructure
challenges in the Tsantsabane area.
Mantashe welcomes mining investment
Sasol has officially opened its Impumelelo
Colliery in Mpumalanga, where it
beneficiates coal into high value fuel and
chemical products at world scale.
Meaning ‘success’ in Nguni, Impumelelo
is one of three world-class mines Sasol has
constructed in the last decade as part of its
R14-billion mine replacement programme
and includes Thubelisha and Shondoni.
The inauguration was attended by Mineral
Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe.
With an investment of R5.6-billion,
Impumelelo will have the capacity to
produce about 10.5 million tons per annum.
The mine employs close to 1760 people,
most of them from nearby communities in
Mpumalanga.
“In addition to sustaining about
4 000 jobs, the new mines are critical to
securing coal supply to Sasol Secunda
Synfuels Operations to at least 2050,” says
Sasol’s joint president and CEO Bongani
Nqwababa.
A unique feature of the mines is the
investment in technologically-advanced
measures that Sasol has made to ensure
the safety of its employees as well as the
environment.
“These include Proximity Detection
Systems on our production electrical
trackless machines, which warn and
eventually stop the machine from operating
when a person is too close,” says Nqwababa.
Another technology measure is an
electronic trigger LED flickering light
system to enhance underground safety
precautions. This system visually draws
miners’ attention when there is movement
in the roof. Other investments are in a
variety of noise reduction technologies.
Sasol’s mining business, which falls
under its upstream portfolio, is the third
largest producer of coal in South Africa
with an output of some 40 million tons per
annum. The business contributes 13% to
Sasol’s earnings and is integral to the global
integrated chemicals and energy company’s
long-term sustainability.
Minister of Mineral Resources, Gwede Mantashe, has
welcomed the announcement by global mining company
Rio Tinto of the USD463-million investment in the
expansion of its Richards Bay Minerals operation in South
Africa.
Mantashe says that the investment is an affirmation of
South Africa’s attractiveness as an investment destination.
“It confirms South Africa’s stable and predictable policy
and regulatory environment,” says Mantashe.
Mantashe adds that the announcement follows – among
others – the recent USD400-million investment by
Vedanta in Gamsberg in the Northern Cape.
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