[miningmx.com] – COAL of Africa (CoAL), the JSE- and London-listed coal
producer and exploration firm, said it expected to restart thermal coal exports from
May following the re-opening of the Matola railway.
The railway, which is operated by Transnet Freight Rail, runs from CoAL’s Vele
thermal and metallurgical coal mine in Limpopo province through to the Matola
terminal in southern Mozambique.
A derailment caused by flooding interrupted operations for more than a month leading
to CoAL declaring a force majeure, a development compounded by flooding at Vele
which was already fully stocked with coal and was therefore forced to stop mining.
“Transnet Freight Rail confirmed that the Matola railway line was re-opened on 19
April 2013 and the company expects to re-commence the export of coal in May 2013,”
CoAL’s outgoing CEO, John Wallington, said in comments to CoAL’s March quarter
operating results published today. Wallington is to be replaced by David Brown, CoAL’s
current chairperson, and a former CEO of Impala Platinum.
However, there was still uncertainty regarding the future of CoAL’s South African
thermal coal operations in Mpumalanga province, including the Woestalleen processing
complex which is supplied with coal from the now depleted Vuna colliery.
Wallington said employees affected by the closure of Vuna, including Woestalleen, had
been notified of restructuring plans. However, it was considering operating
Woestalleen as a processing facility for other coal miners, or a sale of the asset.
CoAL said it was also continuing to assess the long-term viability of Mooiplaats which
has struggled to produce a profit.
Run-of-mine (ROM) coal production in the March quarter fell to 911,563 tonnes from
1.15 million tonnes in the previous quarter. Export coal sales from the Matola terminal
fell 34% to 271,069 tonnes.
