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Quantum leap for Botswana coal
David McKay
Posted: Fri, 14 Jul 2006
[miningmx.com] -- DEBSWANA-backed coal producer, Morupule, is considering proposals to increase annual output about three times as Botswana attempts to meet a power shortfall from about 2007.
Frank Wookey, chief financial officer for Morupule, said that the mine’s production was expected to increase to a minimum of 2.7 million tons/year by 2010. This was in terms of plans by the state-owned Botswana Power Corp. (BPC) to build a 400MW power set.
“We believe we can provide the coal without any trouble at all,” said Wookey. Estimates provided by Barlow Jonker, an Australian consulting engineer, are that Morupule’s coal resources stand at about 10 billion tons, he said.
However BPC is also investigating more ambitious plans to install 1,200MW of power which, if approved, would require Morupule to produce 3.38 million tons of coal/year by 2009, increasing to 5.38 million
tons/year by 2010, Wookey said.
Botswana imports power from South African power utility, Eskom. However, an ambitious 6% growth plan by the South African government, and the development of the platinum industry in the country’s bushveld region had placed capacity constraints on Eskom. In future, it’s likely Eskom will become the importer of power, said Wookey.
The development of the Mmamabula coal field, a venture being promoted by Toronto listed firm, CIC Energy, would see a further 12 millon tons/year of new coal production from Botswana.
Wookey said that Botswana would become the principle source of coal production for southern Africa. “The majority of coal in southern Africa is under Botswanan soil. It is the future Witbank of southern Africa with about 80% of the region’s coal resources found there,” he said.
Witbank is an integral part of production from South Africa which exports about 82 million tons/year of coal.
There was a
total of 212 billion tons of coal in southern Botswana. The South African portion of this geology was known as the Waterberg which was being explored by Exxaro, a coal producer due to be listed in Johannesburg.
Assuming a coal price of about $50/t, Botswana’s coal fields could produce revenue of some $10 trillion if it were all saleable, Wookey said.
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