[miningmx.com] — TRANSNET’S plans to service the strategic Waterberg coalfields hinge on whether it would succeed in moving general freight off the coal line, running from Ermelo in Mpumalanga to the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT).
Presenting the transport and logistical utility’s financial results for the year to end-March on Monday, CEO Brian Molefe confirmed the group’s intention to move up to 15 million tonnes (mt) of non-coal goods to a proposed link via Swaziland.
The proposed loop is likely to run from Ermelo into Swaziland towards Mbabane and then to Matata, before ending in Richards Bay.
“Swaziland is very keen on the railway line and would be prepared to do it themselves,’ said Molefe. “If we can achieve this, (and) increase capacity on Ermelo to Richards Bay, we may get to a point where we exceed RBCT’s capacity (about 91 mt/year).’
He said the existing railway linking the Waterberg to Ermelo wouldn’t need significant investment to service the medium-term needs of existing and proposed coal mines in the area.
“It is there, it exists,’ Molefe said. “The artery does need major adjustment but the real problem for now is the bottleneck at Ermelo.’ The “major adjustment’ includes upgrading the line to heavy haul capacity for the 450km-odd stretch from the Waterberg to Ogies.
Molefe didn’t want to commit to a timeline for the Swaziland loop, saying it would take two to three years to build following the conclusion of a deal with the country.
While this solution might be adequate as a first step for Waterberg coal miners, Transnet said the region would require capacity of between 80 mt and 135 mt for both local and export markets over the long term.
The Waterberg features the biggest untapped coal source in South Africa, with various junior miners – including Sekoko Resources, Resource Generation and Namane Energy – involved in development projects in the region.
Transnet has also affirmed its strategy to increase coal export capacity on the existing line to 81 mt (excluding capacity freed up by the Swaziland loop) by 2016, from the revised 70 mt target for the current financial year.
Asked whether the 70 mt for 2011 was feasible given that an annualised rate for exports so far amounted to 58 mt, Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) CEO Siyabonga Gama said the annualised figure was skewed by the 20-day maintenance shutdown in May.
Molefe said Transnet was working hard to improve efficiencies and productivity on all its rail operations, which would include falling back to a scheduled timetable. Gama said TFR moved away from an operational schedule during the height of the financial crisis when export demand for commodities was low.
“Scheduled means the train would be leaving whether anything has been loaded or not,’ said Molefe. “(It) means you can set your watch when the train passes by,’ said Gama, adding that 60% of all TFR’s services would be operating according to a schedule by the end of the year.
Gama said TFR would apply strategies at the coal line similar to its trains running along the Maputo development corridor, which recently reduced its turnaround time from 200 hours to 90 hours.
Apart from coal exports, Transnet plans to increase its domestic coal supply capacity from 24,8 mt to 32,5mt by 2016. It would reach its iron ore target capacity (to Saldanha) of 60,7 mt by 2014, while manganese exports would increase to 8,5 mt by 2016, from the current 7 mt.
