Magdalena Colliery

This article is part of the Global Coal Mine Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.

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Magdalena Colliery is an operating coal mine in Kilpriver, Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Magdalena Colliery	Kilpriver, Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa	-27.95985233, 30.18051493 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the coal mine:

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Opening Year	Closing Year
Operating	–	–	–

Table 3: Operation details

Note: The asterisk (*) signifies that the value is a GEM estimated figure.

Capacity (Mtpa)	Production (Mtpa)	Year of Production	Mine Type	Mining Method	Mine Size (km2)	Mine Depth (m)	Workforce Size
–	0.096	–	Underground	Bord and Pillar	18.44	80*	496*

Table 4: Coal resources and destination

Total Reserves (Mt)	Year of Total Reserves Recorded	Total Resources (Mt)	Coalfield	Coal Type	Coal Grade	Primary Consumer/ Destination
–	–	44.04	–	Bituminous	Thermal	–

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Buffalo Coal	Buffalo Coal	South Africa

Expansion/Extension

Table 6: Project status

* Added capacity of a coal mine refers to the enhancement in the mine's production capabilities beyond its initial production capacity.

Status	Status Detail	Project Type	Project Phase	Added Capacity (Mtpa)*	Start Year
Proposed	Pre-Permit	Expansion	Stage 1	0.24	2022
Proposed	Pre-Permit	Expansion	Stage 2	0.516	2024

Note: The above section was automatically generated and is based on data from the GEM April 2024 Global Coal Mine Tracker dataset.

Background

Magdalena Coal Mine is a surface mine near Dundee, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, owned by Buffalo Coal.

The mine currently has a proposed two-phase expansion underway. Zinoju Coal (Pty) Ltd operates the Magdalena mine, which is owned by Buffalo Coal Dundee, a subsidiary of Buffalo Coal Corp (Ontario).

The mine's operations were suspended in 2018, restarted in early 2020, then suspended again in late 2020 due to a lack of a reliable and economically attractive market for the Group’s bituminous coal at the time. Mining activities resumed on a smaller scale in February 2021, with the mine producing 8,000 tonnes per month.

The reported life of the mine is 25+ years.

• Operator: Zinoju Coal (Pty) Ltd
• Owner: Buffalo Coal Corp
• Location: 22 km outside of Dundee, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa
• Coordinates: -27.95985233, 30.18051493 (Exact)
• Status: Operating
• Production: 0.96 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa; 2021)
• Total Resource: 44.04 million tonnes
• Mineable Reserves:
• Coal Type: Bituminous (Thermal)
• Mine Type: Surface
• Start Year:
• Source of Financing:

Expansion

In 2021, a ramp-up strategy was developed for Magdalena whereby production would be increased in a phased approach. According to Buffalo Coal, phase 1 will increase production to one full section (20,000 tonnes per month) during Q2 2022, followed by phase 2 of the ramp-up, which will increase operations to two full sections (36,000-43,000 tonnes per month) as of Q1 2024.

Project Expansion Details

Phase 1

• Status: Proposed
• Capacity: 0.24 Mtpa
• Mineable Reserves:
• Start Year: 2022
• Source of Financing:

Phase 2

• Status: Proposed
• Capacity: 0.516 Mtpa
• Mineable Reserves:
• Start Year: 2024
• Source of Financing:

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Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of world coal mines, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Mine Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.