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Coal MiningSteam coal is one of South Africa’s main export
commodities, 65 million tons being exported annually
through the port of Richards Bay. Most of this tonnage is
transported by rail on the CoalLink line from the Witbank
area to Richards Bay.
The coal mining industry in KwaZulu-Natal is located
primarily in the northern areas of the province and in
Zululand. The main inland mines are located near Dundee
(anthracite), Newcastle, Utrecht and Hlobane (bituminous
coal) in Northern KZN.
The anthracite mines at Mahlabatini and Somkele in
Zululand are near to the Coallink line, and therefore load
their products onto rail at sidings on the line.
Some mines in the Glencoe, Durnacol,
Ballengeich and Newcastle areas have been closed down or
mothballed, and in some cases the rail lines have also been
abandoned or uplifted. In recent years there has been some
re-development of old mines such as Hlobane, and there has
been further exploration in the Utrecht and Vryheid areas.
Most of the coal produced in KwaZulu-Natal is used by
industries in the province or exported via the port of
Durban, with very little distribution into other provinces
to the north.
The coal mining industry has in the past used rail
transport wherever possible, and where necessary newer
mines transport coal by road to a point where it can be
rail railed. However, due to railway policy regarding
minimum
consignment size, it has become necessary to divert most of
the production of the KZN mines to road transport to meet
the needs of customers all over the province. As a result, large fleets of articulated tippers with 28-32
ton loads are currently running on KZN roads, delivering
coal from the local mines and from as far afield as the
Mpumalanga coal producing area, to industries all over the
province.
In addition to local production, imports of speciality
coals for the steel industry amounted to 1,661,533 tons
through Richards Bay in 2006. The coal terminal at the
port of Durban handled 206,891 tons of imported coal and
1,199,128 of export coal in 2006. The export coal was
received primarily on rail from the general vicinity of
Ballengeich and Newcastle.
At present the volumes of KZN coal being transported
amounts to 300,000 tons per annum on road and about 1.9
million tons on rail, mainly to the ports.
Coal on Rail
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