- Two new washing plants are set to be commissioned in 2HY’2023
- The company is putting more emphasis on high value coal
- Coal production increased by 63%
Harare- Mining giant, Hwange Colliery Company Limited says it will commission new two washing plants in the second half of 2023, according to the company’s latest FY’2022 financial results.
The coal directly mined from the mine is called raw coal. The raw coal is mixed with many impurities in the mining process, and the coal quality is also different. The coal washing process is an industrial process to eliminate impurities in raw coal or classify high-quality coal and low-quality coal. It is a part of the coal beneficiation process.
Raw coal is of low quality, hence, fetches a low price on the market while washed coal is of high quality and it fetches a higher price on the market.
The plants will reduce hauling and processing costs, thus, increasing high returns.
During the period to December 31 2022, the company’s coal production increased by 63% while sales volumes registered an uptick of 45% compared to the prior year.
“The focus during the period under review was on increasing production and sales of high-value coking coal,” the company said in a statement accompanying the full-year financials.
Raw coking coal and clean coking coal sales increased by 36%, from 594,482 tonnes in 2021 to 808,315 tonnes in 2022. The total coal produced by opencast operations was 3,128,884 tonnes, a 73% increase in production from the previous year.
A total of 1,198,539 tonnes of coal were delivered to Hwange Power Station during the year, which was an increase of 63% from the previous year.
“Deliveries into the power station were, however, negatively affected by challenges at the power station and limited stock holding space at the same,” added the company.
Underground mine coal production declined by 24% compared to the previous year mainly due to delays in commissioning the new underground mining equipment due to COVID-19 restrictions that affected the movement of the engineers from the Original Equipment Manufacturers.
The Company has also engaged new mining contractors to open three new opencast pits to guarantee coking coal annual production of 772,000 tonnes per year.
As a part of efforts to increase production, the company entered into an equipment mobilisation and coal offtake agreement through which it will receive new underground mining equipment valued at US$15 million over two years.
The company said a consignment of the equipment worth USD6 million has since been received and commissioned into operation with the expectation to increase underground production to 50,000 tonnes by mid-2023.
“The development of the Option Area has started with the boxcut and mining of a portal that will lead to the underground mine, “said the company.
This new mine will augment the production of coking coal from the current 3 Main underground mines. Coal production from the Option Area is scheduled for 2024.
The Company has a thrust in 2023 to grow its market share of coking coal sales in neighbouring countries. The company said advanced plans to develop dedicated solutions for the delivery of coking coal and coke products in the region are underway
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