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Botswana: Morupule Coal
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The Voice (Francistown)
25 March 2008
Posted to the web 25 March 2008
Zeph Kajevu
Francistown
The Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Affairs, Pontshego Kedikilwe, has said that the beneficiation of the country's coal resources adds value, increases its revenue earning capacities, promotes industrial development and creates job opportunities.
During the commissioning of the Morupule Colliery Coal Washing Plant in Palapye last week, Kedikilkwe said that if Botswana is able to export sufficient stocks to meet the high global demand of beneficiated coal, it will maximize the inflow of much-needed foreign currency in line with Vision 2016 goal of 'An Innovative and Productive Nation'. An added benefit is that the Morupule Colliery has been engineered to recycle the water used in the beneficiation of coal and help to conserve the country's scarce water resources.
Paying tribute and homage to the P84 million project coordinators DRA, Charlton Electrical, Capricorn Construction and Gear Mining for a task well accomplished, Kedikilwe said: "The commissioning of the wash plant coincides with the world's high demand for energy sources such as beneficiated high-energy-coal. I am informed that already you are inundated with enquiries for your washed coal from prospective local and regional customers. The anticipated high prices from the coal exports have therefore been timed to maximize the inflow of foreign currency. The project also demonstrates that in general beneficiation will add value to our local resources and the revenue before exportation, in line with the country's other emerging brainchildren such as diamond sorting and polishing.
The Morupule project "is going to improve the value of our coal by reducing the ash and sulphur content and the increase of its calorific value or energy content. Beneficiation is not only time and cost effective but also symbolizes Botswana's mining industry response to the challenges of ensuring environmental protection similar to other developed countries' strict regulations regarding offensive gas emissions into the atmosphere from pollutants such as sulphur dioxide."
He added that the project would significantly reduce expenses required in the screening of pollutant gases leading to greenhouse effects or acid rain from the combustion of run-of-the-mine-coal. "Small industries and individual consumers who cannot afford such cleaning technologies and, therefore, run the risk of passing the pollutants into the atmosphere will also benefit from the beneficiated coal."
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The colliery, which has been under construction since 2007, has the capacity to produce 900 tonnes of beneficiated coal and create an additional 270 jobs.
Debswana Deputy managing director, Sean Brennan said that Morupule Colliery Limited (MCL) and an integral part of Morupule Colliery Coal Washing Plant began producing and supplying coal for BCL and the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) coal-fired power station in 1973. MCL, which became a wholly subsidiary of Debswana in 2000, now sells close to a million tonnes of coal, a far cry from the 15 532 tonnes produced in its first year of operation.
Brennan said: "Since the mine and plant place great emphasis on safety, we will hold meetings to prevent injuries or deaths on site. We take every step to protect the people on the mine, the local community and the environment in which we operate. As a safeguard, the plant is permanently cordoned off to limit unauthorized entry and allow only employees in their safety gear."
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