Coal still a hot topic for South Africa – Chamber of Mines

With debates on energy supply constantly heating up, South Africa’s predominant energy source cannot be ignored. Contributing to more than 80% of power generation in the country, coal production and mining is a hot topic.

“Overall, the market for coal at present looks very buoyant, where demand somewhat exceeds supply,” Chamber of Mines (CoM) assistant adviser for technoeconomics, Dick Kruger tells Mining Weekly. This is evidenced by Eskom’s buying coal in the open market on top of its captive collieries purchases, because it is burning more coal than these collieries can supply. Sasol is also buying in coal for its fuel production – South Africa is unique in that about 40% of its liquid fuel supply comes from coal.
South Africa is bound to coal as the main source of power generation for at least the next 50 years, and the future of South African coal lies in the Waterberg basin, a relatively small area near the Botswana border. This area contains about 50% of South Africa’s remaining reserves, but the market for the coal produced here, with the exception of the Matimba power station and its upgrades, lies outside this area. It is for this reason that infrastructure in the area is in dire need of upgrading. The CoM is currently advocating the upgrade of rail transport infrastructure into the Waterberg, because, if production in the area increases with export to other regions in South Africa, the current railway line will be unable to support the supply.

Mining Weekly