CoAL project ‘less controversial’

Coal of Africa lodge mining right application at its Makhado coking coal project.

ALLAN SECCOMBE Published: 25 Janurary, 2011
COAL of Africa (CoAL) has lodged a mining right application for its Makhado coking coal project, which could supply ArcelorMittal SA with a vital ingredient for making steel, CEO John Wallington said yesterday.
CoAL has run into headwinds from environmentalists at its Vele project on the edge of the Mapungubwe World Heritage Site, which could be part of a large transfrontier park with Zimbabwe and Botswana.

Mr Wallington said much more detailed work was being done at Makhado than at Vele, both of which are in Limpopo. While Makhado is near game reserves, it should not attract as much opposition as Vele has, Mr Wallington said.
The Department of Mineral Resources could take a year to process the mining right application. CoAL is also working with the Department of Environmental Affairs to avoid a repetition of problems at its Mooiplaats mine in Mpumalanga where it ran foul of overlapping regulations between the two departments.

CoAL has consulted interested and affected parties around its Makhado project, which is contiguous to coal properties it bought from Rio Tinto, Mr Wallington said.
"Once the application is accepted by the department, extensive economic, social and environmental impact studies will be prepared as part of the process in formulating an extensive environmental management programme," he said.

Floods in Australia’s coal state, Queensland, and disruptions to the world’s leading supplier of coal would make the diversity offered by CoAL’s Makhado project a boon for shareholders and the province, he said. Source: www.businessday.co.za