Savmore-Maquasa Coal Mine

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

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Savmore-Maquasa Coal Mine is an operating coal mine in Saul Mkhizeville, Gert Sibande, Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Savmore-Maquasa Coal Mine	Saul Mkhizeville, Gert Sibande, Mpumalanga, South Africa	-27.022643, 30.416541 (exact)

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

Loading map...

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Project Phase	Opening Year	Closing Year
Operating	–	Stage 1	1957	–

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
–	2	–	Underground & Surface	Mixed	–	60*	286*

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
1	–	100	–	Subbituminous	Thermal	Richards Bay Coal Terminal

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Kangra Coal	Menar Group	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	Announced	Expansion	Stage 2	–	2022

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

Background

The Savmore-Maquasa coal mine (also known as the Kangra mine) is an opencast and underground mine in the town of Saul Mkhizeville, Mpumalanga, South Africa. It is owned and operated by Kangra Coal, a subsidiary of mining investment company Menar. Operated by Kangra Coal, the Savmore-Maquasa mine includes one opencast (pit C) and two underground (H block) coal sections. At peak production, the mine produces over 2 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa). However, with reserves depleting under the Maquasa mining right, Savmore-Maquasa is producing about 1.4 Mtpa (of which 0.8 Mtpa is exported) until new projects are established and ready for production. Coal from the mine is exported through the Richards Bay Coal Terminal.

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the resulting drop in coal prices, the mine became economically unviable and was placed in care and maintenance in 2020, with the plan to reopen upon a future resurgence in international thermal coal prices. In March 2021, the mine did reopen and resumed mining of pit C.

• Operator: Kangra Coal
• Owner: Kangra Coal (Pty) Ltd
• Location: Saul Mkhizeville (45 km from Piet Retief), Mpumalanga Province, South Africa
• GPS Coordinates: -27.022368, 30.413956 (exact)
• Status: Operating
• Production Capacity: 3 Mtpa
• Total Resource:
• Mineable Reserves: 267 Mt
• Coal Type: Thermal
• Mine Size:
• Mine Type: Surface & underground
• Start Year: 1957
• Source of Financing:

Extension

With the life of existing operations nearing their end, Kangra is developing new mining areas as a natural extension of the current mine workings. This includes mining of the Kusipongo coal resource, which is situated to the west of existing operations. Access to the Kusipongo reserves is planned through several new shafts, including the Udumo (also known as Twyfelhoek mine) and Balgarthan A adits. Kangra started mining first coal from its new underground Udumo adit in February 2022, and Balgarthan A is planned to be available for production before the end of 2022.

Kangla reports that a third shaft, Balgarthan B, might be established at a later stage. To further enhance the viability of the Kusipongo mining right, Kangra is also investigating the development of three opencast coal mining pits within the Kusipongo mining right area.

With a reserve of 41.9 million tonnes, the Kusipongo project is expected to extend the life-of-mine 20+ years.

Extension Details

• Status: Operating
• Production Capacity: --
• Mineable Reserves: 41.9 million tonnes
• Start Year: 2022
• Source of Financing:

Articles and Resources

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.