First privately owned mine set to produce coal- for-sale in March
Botswana’s first privately owned coal mine will produce its first saleable coal in March 2019
According to the chief executive of Minergy; the company overseeing the project, Andre Boje, the Masama Coal Mine aims to produce 1.2 million tonnes per annum of coal and will target the South African market as well as other countries in the region.
“We should ramp up to the nameplate volume of 300,000 tonnes per month by June/July 2019. Our target market is the southern African region at 1.2 million tons per annum, using a combination of road and rail transport,”
The open cast mine and associated coal wash plant is located 60 km (37 miles) northwest of Botswana’s capital Gaborone and is being developed at a cost of 400 million pula ($39 million).
The Masama mine is estimated to hold 390 million tonnes of coal reserves and is estimated to have 100 years of life . Minergy aims to produce 2.4 metric tonnes of caol a year from the Masama mine
Botswana’s economy is dependent on proceeds from diamonds but the country is estimated to have 212 billion tons of coal.
