MC Mining is pushing ahead with development of the Makhado hard coking coal mine in Limpopo and expects to begin hot commissioning activities and the start-up of the Coal Plant during May this year.
This follows the purchase of MC Mining by Hong Kong-listed Kinetic Development Group in August 2024 after the coal junior had stumbled along for years unable to raised the finance to pay for construction of the mine.
According to MC Mining CEO Christine He, the Makhado colliery will be South Africa’s largest hard coking coal producer designed to produce 800,000t annually once steady-state operations are reached. Makhado has an estimated life-of-mine of 28 years.
MC Mining has also temporarily suspended mining and processing operations at the group’s Uitkomst Colliery near Utrecht in Kwa-Zulu Natal citing “operational underperformance and cash losses experienced at the operation.”
He said the suspension is “intended to be a care and maintenance measure and does not represent a permanent closure of the mine; a relinquishment of the mining right nor a decision to place the operation in liquidation or business rescue”.
MC Mining intends evaluating strategic options for Uitkomst including engagement with interested third parties regarding potential partnerships, joint operations or other strategic arrangements.
He noted that, “the company continues to review its asset base with a view to disposing of redundant or non-core items where appropriate.”
Amongst MC Mining’s other assets is the Vele soft-coking coal mine in Limpopo which is currently shut down “pending the conclusion of a re-engineered business plan.”
He added that, “comprehensive evaluations of geological and mine-planning information relating to Vele are still on-going.”
