Sasol has announced that the ZAR 15.3bn ($1.27bn) coal mine replacement project in Secunda, Mpumalanga, South Africa will be completed by next year.
The work is being done for three of the company’s aging coal mines in the region which includes the construction of a 10.5-million-ton-a-year Thubelisha mine, Impumelelo mine, and the Shondoni mine which is a replacement to the company’s existing Middlebult operation.
The project is part of company’s plan to replace the ageing mines that were built in the 1980s which will help the company maintain production at 40 million tons a year, reported iol.co.za.
Sasol Mining senior vice president Peter Steenkamp said that the cost of maintaining old mines is higher due to expensive conveyer belt systems
Sasol aims to reinvent the Secunda area into one of the largest underground coal complexes, and the Thubelisha mine will be replaced by the Twistdraai mine.
The company is also planning to replace the Middelbult operation by constructing the Shondoni mine.
Sasol highlighted that the entire project will eventually see the construction of three 2 700 t/h incline shaft systems, 65t payload mining shafts, along with coal-handling facilities and 66 km of conveyer systems.