Mpumalanga Complex

HIV/AIDS Community clinic (Received global award in New York)
Thuthukani Brick Making project
Thuthukani Car wash
Silindukuhle Overall Factory (Manufactured winter jackets for less privileged children)
Black Wattle eradication project
Middelburg Care Village for HIV/AIDS orphans
Community outreach VCT project
Power belt HIV/AIDS project (in conjunction with PSA South Africa supporting various feeding schemes and crèche establishments)
Sustainable organic gardening project (2007)

Description

The Mpumalanga Complex of Xstrata Coal South Africa (XCSA) is situated near the town of Breyten, approximately 100km south of Middelburg and 35 km north of Ermelo in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. The Mpumalanga Complex consists of Spitzkop and Tselentis Collieries situated South and North of Breyten respectively. These Collieries are 100% Xstrata owned.

Each mine has opencast and underground sections dependant on the strip ratio of the portion of the reserve. B and C lower coal seams are economically mineable in the area. These low seams’ average thicknesses are 1.7m and 1.8m respectively.

Coal is mined underground by a low profile 14HM15 Joy remote control continuous miner per section, assisted by 10SC20A Joy 7-ton shuttle cars.

Truck and shovel mining for all the opencast sections is done by contractors. Mining and rehabilitation is carried out using the rollover method.

About 80% of the coal produced at Spitzkop is exported to Europe for power generation and the balance is sold on the inland market - mainly to sugar and paper mills in Swaziland and the North Coast of Kwazulu Natal. Tselentis Colliery’s product is also destined for Export markets.

Brief history of the operation

Coal has been mined on the “Spitzkop” farm since the early 1900’s, when coal was transported to Durban by ox wagons.

In more recent times, Kangra holdings commenced mining the ‘B’ and ‘C’ seams at Spitzkop (now mining on the farms Klipstapel and Waterval) in 1966. The coal deeper than 20 meters was mined from underground and the shallow fringe coal by opencast mini pits.

In 1989, AGIP acquired Spitzkop colliery from Kangra holdings. Duiker in turn acquired the mine in December 1993 from AGIP.

The Tselentis brothers started mining the ‘B’ and ‘C’ seams during 1989 at Tselentis Colliery. Coal was mostly mined with truck and shovel opencast mining methods, but small portions of the reserves have been mined from underground. Duiker acquired the mine in December 1995.

Duiker became part of Xstrata Coal SA in 2002.