S.Africa puts Quattro coal in RBCT's hands: sources

Saturday, Feb19,2011

South Africa's Department of Mineral Resources has told junior coal exporter members of the Quattro scheme that its administration will be handled by Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) instead of current operator Mhlatuze, sources at Mhlatuze and junior exporters said.

A total of 4 million tonnes a year of thermal coal is exported under Quattro through RBCT's facilities, but the administration - including the running of stockpiles, loadings and trains - has been handled by Mhlatuze, which is owned by the Quattro member companies.

Quattro member companies who attended a regular meeting earlier this week were given a letter from the department (DMR), which explained that the move would take place as soon as possible, sources at the meeting said.

It makes sense for RBCT to be handling Quattro's operations on the terminal side, and Transnet have already offered to arrange trains, etc., said a junior mining source present at the meeting.

Neither the DMR nor RBCT were immediately available for comment.

(sourced:Reuters)

Tags: South Africa, thermal coal, DMR, RBCT, Transnet,

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