Lessons from the past
Botswana’s coal
industry finds its feet
Botswana’s
second coal
mine has been
awarded a
license to mine.
Edited by Leon
Louw
B
otswana Stock Exchange (BSE)-listed
Minergy has recently been granted
a mining license by the Botswana
Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green
Technology, and Energy Security to develop
a mine in the Mmamabula Coalfield of
Botswana. Although Botswana is known for its
large deposits of coal, this would be the second
coal mine only to operate in the country.
The awarding of a mining license marks a
significant milestone for Minergy, which listed
on the BSE in April 2017. Minergy intends
delivering high-quality coal to the regional
market, including Botswana and South Africa,
and enter into the international seaborne
thermal coal export market.
The company owns 100% of the 390-million
tonne (Mt) Masama coal project in the
Mmamabula Coalfield, in south-west
Botswana, 50km north of Gaborone. The
opencast, low-strip ratio mine has the potential
to produce about 2.4 metric tonnes per annum
(Mtpa)) of coal within a year after opening.
The granting of the mining license follows
the completion of a feasibility study and
the authorisation of the Environmental
Impact Statement by the Department of
Environmental Affairs (DEA) in Botswana.
Following dispensation from the DEA,
certain pre-construction work has already
commenced on site at Masama, allowing
Minergy to have the final mine commissioning
in January 2019, and producing its first saleable
coal the following month.
According to CEO Andre Bojé, the award,
while delayed, is a significant milestone in
Minergy’s journey. “The license is critical for
Minergy to continue as a business. This will be
the first opencast coal mining license granted
by the Government of Botswana, so the
process was not without its challenges for both
parties. However, government was so confident
in our economic model that we were never in
doubt that these could be overcome,” says Bojé.
“In 2016, 4Mt of coal were exported from
South Africa to the African continent; this
is forecast to rise to 38Mt by 2030. Botswana
and Minergy both have a significant role to
play in fulfilling that increase in demand.
Investors looking to invest in coal have lots of
opportunity at the moment; the price of coal is
rising, there is a deficit in supply, and a strong
[36] MINING MIRROR NOVEMBER 2018
demand, especially in the developing world,
which is driving up the prices and keeping
them high. In my experience, there’s never been
a better time to invest in coal,” he adds.
First and only coal mine
According to an article by PJ Hancox, titled
“The Coalfields of South-Central Africa: A
current perspective” (the article appeared in
Episodes — Journal of International Geoscience),
coal has been known in Botswana since
the early 1930s. Although there has been
a lot of exploration activity in the country
recently, Botswana has only one operating
and producing coal mine, namely Morupule
Colliery. Morupule is owned by Debswana and
supplies coal to the Morupule B Power Station,
as well as to mining operations at Selebwi
Phikwe and to the Sua Pan soda ash plants. b
The following is an extract from Hancox’s article:
“Systematic exploration began in 1948 when
reconnaissance investigations were conducted by the
newly founded Geological Survey in the then known
coal areas of Morupule and Mnamabula.
Prospecting in the Morupule Coalfield area
was continued by the Geological Survey in 1959,
when a small area along the eastern boundary of
the coalfield was investigated. The Anglo American
Corporation explored the eastern part of the
Morupule area in detail in the late 1960s and
confirmed the presence of coal of sufficient quantity
and quality to support a mine.
A mining lease was granted in 1966, leading
to the development of the Morupule Colliery,
which opened in 1973 and has been active ever
since. Production was fairly limited until 1986,
when the 132MW mine-mouth Morupule Power
Station was opened. In June of 2012, the Morupule
Colliery Limited (MCL1) expansion project was
commissioned to supply coal to the new 600MW
Morupule B Power Station, the first two units of
which came online in 2013. The mine’s capacity
increased from 1Mt per annum (Mtpa) to 3.2Mtpa
following the expansion.
Geologically, the Kalahari Basin underlies at least
60% of the country. Potentially exploitable areas
for coal in Botswana are centred on the eastern and
south-western flanks of the Kalahari-Karoo basin.
Currently, 12 coalfields are recognised, including the
fairly well-known Morupule, Mmamabula, Dukwe,
Foley, and Serule coalfields. b
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