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By: Tim and Sharon Salmon
Elitheni coal mine, situated 14 km outside of Indwe in the Eastern Cape, has installed a R22 million separating and washing machine plant. The installation is 95 % complete. All that remains before the commissioning and trial run is Eskom’s connection for electrical power.
The manufacturing and installation was done by PJ Technologies based in Witbank. The site coordinator, Morne Willemse, commented; "this machine is a South African design. It was manufactured at our base in Witbank where we assembled it for a trial run before trucking and reassembling here in Indwe. This machine has a minim capacity of 250 tons per hour". While the plant runs, there is a dual action producing the export quality coal and the local market quality coal for the Eskom furnaces.
A nuclear source is used to control the whole plant once it starts running, sending information to the control room where every action of the plant is visually recorded on the touch screen computer. The water used for washing the coal is recovered and recycled through a Lamela tank purifier. Initially the coal will be trucked for the export market via East London.
In a recent press release Elitheni Coal Mine said; "The recent delivery of the Liebherr mobile crane at Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) East London solidified government’s commitment through the Transnet Group to inject in our economy the most needed resources in the creation of a favourable and globally competitive export mining sector.
Following President Jacob Zuma’s 2012 state of the nation address where he announced the Market Demand Strategy of
Transnet, which entails an investment, over the next seven years, of three hundred billion rand in capital projects. Of this amount, 200 billion rand being allocated to rail projects and the majority of the balance, to projects in the ports.
Elitheni Coal is particularly excited with the arrival of the Liebherr mobile crane because within a month, the Port of East London will demonstrate the use of the Liebherr mobile crane, when loading and off-loading 1500 mild steel rolling stock containers filled with coal into a vessel for export.
With this needed infrastructure Elitheni Coal is encouraged with its choice to use the Port of East London for the departure of its first vessel to Brazil. To Elitheni Coal this represents TPT’s the unwavering support and shared goal to revive and make use of all resources within the Eastern Cape in the transportation of its coal and the economic development Transnet will make in the private sector and in creating jobs in the province.
With the Market Demand Strategy, South Africa, more particularly in the Eastern Cape, alongside Elitheni Coal will decisively shift from road to rail in the transportation of coal within the near future. This too will be a clear demonstration to the global society of South Africa’s capability to effectively meet the needs of the exporting of minerals more particularly the exporting of coal”.
Transnet’s investment in infrastructure such as the Liebherr crane, will promote the capability and competence of the East London Port as an efficient alternative port of choice to the national and international importing and exporting industry. This will no doubt attract international investment and achieve both industrial growth and much-needed transformation in all economic sectors of South Africa.
Elitheni Coal is delighted at this significant occasion as it will be the first mining company in the private sector to make use of the 100T Liebherr mobile crane.
(Image supplied: The new R22 million separating and washing plant that has been assembled at Elitheni Coal Mine near Indwe. This is in preperation for coal to be exported to Brazil.)
