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Coal Mining

Steam 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
Coal on Rail

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