  | |
| |
 |
|
| ||
Sentula announces new Koornfontein project Posted: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 [miningmx.com] -- SENTULA Mining and its partner Siyanda will invest R820m on developing a new mining operation at their Koornfontein colliery. This will extend the life of Koornfontein from two years to 15 years. Announcing this today Sentula CEO Robin Berry said the new operation would be on the Number 4 coal seam and will produce 1.5 million tonnes (mt) annually of “B” grade thermal coal for the export market. He added that the mine could produce additional tonnages of lower-grade coal which could be sold to Eskom, but these volumes would depend on negotiations with Eskom. Koornfontein is mining the Number 2 coal seam and Berry said the switch to the 4 seam would be completed during 2009. The mine would be an underground operation using bord and pillar extraction methods. He said the development would be “self-funding” because the mine is generating profits from its existing operations, but added “conservative debt funding will be sought from the financial sector to increase cash flow returns to the shareholders of Siyanda Coal”. Siyanda is the major shareholder; it holds 50.1% of Koornfontein through the Siyanda Coal joint venture, with Sentula owning the balance. Koornfontein is managed jointly by the two partners. Sentula financial director Deon Louw said the Koornfontein development was “ideal” for project financing, and the intention was for Siyanda Coal to raise between R150m to R250m. “We have already had approaches from banks interested in lending us this money,” he said. Berry said Sentula had established a strategic foothold using its Benicon subsidiary at Moatize in northern Mozambique to develop its equipment hire business in the region. This was in anticipation of the large-scale coal mining operations planned to come on stream from 2010. At least four mining groups - Vale, Riversdale, Camec and AMCI - are looking at establishing coal mining operations in that region. Berry said: “At this stage it’s just plant and equipment hire mainly for the township being developed by Vale, but we are establishing relationships with Vale and Riversdale in particular. Click Here to subscribe to our daily newsletter
| |||||||||
0% 
