In this article, we take a look at the coal mines of South Africa, as we highlight the very texture and makeup of the South African mining industry. Without wasting any more time we give you below the list of coal mines in South Africa.

But what is coal and where does it come from? Coal is a fossil fuel, and it comes from deposits under the ground, that can be extracted by a process called mining. Fossil fuels are fuels that come from bio-matter that became decomposed under pressure for many years. they could be plant or animal matter.

List Of Coal Mines In South Africa

• Grootegeluk mine

The Grootegeluk Coal Mine is a coal mine (referred to as an open cast coal mine) that is located within the Waterberg Coalfield which is in the Limpopo province of South Africa. It is operated by Exxaro Resources. The mine is 25 kilometres from Lephalale and employs a total of about 2,000 people.

Administrative Office Address: Nelson Mandela Dr, Lephalale, 0555, South Africa.

The mine is owned and operated by Exxaro Resources.

• Leeuwpan Mine

The Leeuwpan Coal Mine is a coal mine that is situated in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. The mine has coal reserves estimated to be in excess of 160 million tonnes of coking coal. This coal mine is said to be one of the largest coal reserves in Africa and the world. The mine produces around 3 million tonnes of coal every year. The operations are as follows: a conventional open-pit mine that uses the modified terrace, and truck and shovel mechanism to excavate.

Address: Delmas, South Africa.

For enquiries call: +27 13 665 7600

• Tshikondeni Mine

The Tshikondeni coal mine is a hard coking coal producing mine in the north-eastern corner of Limpopo province of South Africa. The Tshikondeni mine started operating in 1984 as an underground high-quality hard mine. The mine is located 100km east of Tshipise and 17km south-east of Masisi, adjacent to the Levuvhu River and in the vicinity of the Kruger National Park.

Address: Tshikondeni Mine, Thohoyandou, 0950, South Africa

Phone: +27 15 966 5097

The Mine is operated by the Exxaro Corporation.

• Mafube Coal

The Mafube coal mine is a coal mine that was established as a joint venture between Exxaro Resources and Anglo American. The mine is located in Witbank Coalfield which is in the province of Nkangala, in South Africa. It is situated 30 km east of Middelburg, Mpumalanga, and 20. The Mafube mining complex is a 50/50 joint venture operation between Exxaro and Anglo American Coal. The mine is an open-pit mine and the process of mining is described below: The overburden is removed by blasting and/or using enormous earth moving equipment. The overburden is stockpiled so that after the coal seam has been extracted, the earth can be returned to the pit.

Address: Nkangala, 1050, South Africa.

For enquiries call: +27 13 246 9410

• Mafube joint venture (JV)2

Mafube Coal has, to date, sold only small volumes of briquettes, but remains committed to marketing and selling such products in order to reduce its stockpile of ultrafine and generate additional revenue for the remainder of the mine’s life. Once successful,

The Mafube Joint Venture (JV)2 is another mine that has been recently added to the existing one at Mafube. It is an ambitious project which is expected to raise the production capacity and output at Mafube by R137m. Upon completion of the project, the plant will produce primarily A-grade, export-quality coal products at a rate of approximately 3.8m tonnes per year. The mine is fitted with a 7km overland conveyor to move the Removed matter from the Nooitgedacht reserve block to the current washing plant at Springboklaagte. Of course, such a distance would need roads, and so the company has built haul roads, access roads, dams, and offices to facilitate efficient work.

The mine is owned and operated by Exxaro.

• Iyanda Mine

Inyanda is a Coal Mine in South Africa is a joint venture owned by Lurco Group, Burgh Group. It is a typical open-pit mine that produces a sizable quantity of coal per annum. The mine is located in the Mpumalanga district of South Africa.

• Exxaro Reductants

The Exarro Redundant mine is a coal mine that is located in the Limpopo province of South Africa. A mixture of reductants is used in melting furnaces along with coal, char, coke, and anthracite. The mine produces Coal and char. It is located in Limpopo and owned/operated by Exxaro.

• Arnot Mine

The Arnot Coal Mine is an open-pit coal mine which is located in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. The mine has coal reserves that are estimated to 192 million tonnes of coking coal, and that is one of the largest coal reserves in Africa and the world. {{{The mine produces around 5 million tonnes of coal per year.}} The output from the mine goes directly to the Arnot Power Station.

The mine is located in the Mpumalanga Province. The mine is owned and operated by Exxaro.

• Matla Mine

The Matla Coal Mine is an open-pit coal mine located in the Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. This particular mine has coal reserves amounting to 297.3 million tonnes of coking coal, which is one of the largest coal reserves in Africa and anywhere in the world. This mining complex produces 14Metric tonnes per year. {{Situated some 20 km west of Kriel in Mpumalanga, South Africa.}}

The mine is owned and operated by Exxaro.

• North Block Complex

The North Block Complex (NBC) is an Open Pit Mine which is located 4 km W from Belfast, in Mpumalanga province of South Africa. The coal mine was established by the Exxaro corporation, but in March 2018 Universal acquired North Block Complex from Exxaro.

Address: Unnamed Rd, Belfast, 1102, South Africa.

For enquiries contact: +27 13 253 7360

• New Clydesdale Mine

The New Clydesdale mine is a coal mine which is located in the Kriel province of Mpumalanga, in South Africa. The coal mine is part of the New Clydesdale Colliery, (NCC) which is an integrated thermal coal mine that includes Roodekop and Diepspruit Projects.

Address: Unnamed, Newlands, Pretoria, 0049, South Africa.

Conclusion

For many years coal has been an important fuel, which has powered man’s development from the stone age, into an advanced civilization. Coal has been the power behind man’s earliest engines. Trains and ships of the industrial age were all powered by coal. Without the steam engines and ships of the recent past, there is no doubt that man could not have reached the height of civilization that it has now attained.