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MODERN MINING
November 2015
COAL
C
ommissioned in 2010 and now
working at steady-state, Vang-
gatfontein delivered 2,28 Mt of
washed 2- and 4-Seam thermal
coal to its primary customer, Es-
kom, in its 2015 financial year (to 31 March
2015), up 4 % on the previous year and its
biggest yearly output yet. It also produced just
over 126 000 tonnes of 5-Seam coal for the do-
mestic metallurgical market, a full 29 % up on
the figure for FY 2014. The continuing good
performance of the mine was confirmed in
Keaton’s recently released first half (to 30 Sep-
tember 2015) production update, which saw
the mine producing 1,19 Mt of thermal coal for
Eskom over the six-month period.
“Vanggatfontein is a superb operation,” says
Glad. “Our two wash plants – we have a 500 t/h
plant for the thermal coal and a 100 t/h facil-
ity for the 5-Seam product – are both working
extremely well while the mining operation,
which is being undertaken by Liviero Mining, is
running very efficiently. I must in fact compli-
ment Livierio. They took over from a previous
contractor roughly three years ago and that, in
retrospect, was probably the turning point for
the mine.”
She adds that Vanggatfontein also has a
highly competent Mine Manager, Isak Nkosi,
who has been with the operation since it started
up. Nkosi learnt his mining at Glisa colliery
(part of Exxaro’s North Bank Complex) and Glad
rates him as one of the top men in the country
in terms of the management of open-pit mining
operations. Under his direction, Vanggatfontein
has enjoyed an excellent safety record and (as
JSE-listed Keaton Energy (Keaton) has not been without challenges over
the past year, most notably the widespread corruption it uncovered at
its Vaalkrantz colliery in KZN, but CEO Mandi Glad is upbeat about
the company’s current performance, saying that its flagship opera-
tion, the Vanggatfontein open-pit coal mine 15 km east of Delmas,
is “running like a dream”. She told
Modern Mining
recently that it
was delivering consistent volumes and qualities and – with at least a
17-year life ahead – would underpin Keaton for years to come.
Dusk at the main DMS circuit of the 500 t/h 4- and 2-Seam coal handling and processing plant (CHPP) at Vanggatfontein.
Mandi Glad, CEO of Keaton Energy.
Keaton Energy’s flagship mine