The interpreted sub-crop of Boikarabelo specifically consists of the following formations:
• the Eendragtpan Formation (Triassic age, within the Beaufort Group) which consists of barren sediments and overlies the coal zones,
• the Grootegeluk Formation (Permian age, within the Upper Ecca Group), which consists of intercalated bright coal (zones 5 to 11) and mudstone,and
• the Goedgedacht (Permian age, within the Middle Ecca Group), which consists predominantly of dull coal (zones 1 to 4) with minor
carbonaceous mudstone and sandstone intercalations.

The Grootegeluk Formation consists of easily identifiable cyclical repetitions of mudstone and coal with the coal seams named from the base upwards. Individual plies are named and correlated according to the known Grootegeluk Coal Mine nomenclature. This comprise of a sequence of sample names that group plies together in each classic Waterberg Zone. These samples can be correlated across the entire Waterberg Coalfield. A typical Waterberg borehole has 11 zones from Zone 1 at the base to Zone 11 at the top. The lower three zones do not comprise of alternating plies but more typical coal seams. The Eendragtpan Formation provides a thin covering of 25-35m thickness over the majority of the area and thus preserved the Grootegeluk and Goedgedacht Formations.

The Grootegeluk Formation was intersected during the drilling programme and varying thicknesses for the coal zones 1 to 11 have been reported. Intra-basin faults affect the coal bearing formations further to the south and north of the Boikarabelo mining area, so that the upper zones are either preserved or destroyed through up-lift and erosion.

The Grootegeluk Formation comprising the top zones (zones 5 to 11) consist of various coal and mudstone seams. These zones are well defined and can be correlated across the coalfield. This formation, from the top of zone 4 through to zone 11, is characterised by an increasing ratio of bright coal to dull coal. The zones typically start with bright coal at the base and the ratio of coal to shale decreases from the base of the zone in an upward direction. The ash content of these zones increases upwards in each zone and generally the “better quality” coals are present in zones 9 to 11 over the majority of the coalfield. The coal zones require beneficiation to produce a primary product of an acceptable coal quality.

The Grootegeluk Formation is underlain by the Goedgedacht Formation of the Middle Ecca Group. This formation consists predominantly of dull coal with minor carbonaceous mudstone and sandstone intercalations. The zones occur within a stratigraphic interval of approximately 40m and have thicknesses ranging from 1.5 metres to 9 metres. Zone 2 and 3 are the best developed coal zones within this formation. Zone 1 has not been developed throughout the Boikarabelo area and occur only in a few isolated intersections. These bottom three zones require limited beneficiation to upgrade the coal quality to be suitable for local power station feedstock.

Boikarabelo is planned as an open pit terrace mining operation, similar in many aspects to the neighbouring Grootegeluk Coal Mine which uses truck and hydraulic excavators (in varying configurations) on multiple benches linked to a common ramp. The optimised mine plan resulted in a LOM of 41 years and a reduction in the total number of years of out of pit dumping (OOPD) from seven to two. There was also an overall increase in the plant yield of 2%. These improvements were realised due to the repositioning of the box-cut from the centre to the western limit of the pit and conducting a mining aggregation exercise which excluded low yielding coal seams from the mineable coal.

The box-cut is planned at the western limit of the mining right area with a limit of oxidation (LOX) line in a down dip direction and to the base of the coal. Once the northern limit of the pit is reached, the mining direction changes to along strike. The position of the box-cut has shifted from its initial position (centre of the mining property) in the previous design. The updated box-cut position offers an advantage in that the haulage distances are minimised throughout the LOM, which in turn minimises the number of trucks required. On completion of the planned box-cut, the complete succession of coal horizons will be exposed, allowing for more selective mining. The counter effect of this revised strategy is a lower production capacity.

The updated position of the box-cut has resulted in an improved waste strategy, which will reduce the amount of OOPD and minimise the environmental footprint of the mine. In the updated design, OOPD will be minimised, with in-pit dumping commencing sooner. On completion of the box-cut, the waste material and low grade product from the mining operations, as well as the CHPP rejects will be dumped in-pit. The waste strategy has reduced the number of external years of dumping from seven to two. The haulage distance for dumping will be reduced once in-pit dumping commences. The waste strategy will in addition ensure concurrent rehabilitation, minimising the rehabilitation liability at the end of the mining operations. Backfilling will be done within the 60 to 90 days spontaneous combustion period. The waste that is dumped in-pit will be compacted as a means to further mitigate against spontaneous combustion. The proposed method to prevent spontaneous combustion in this project is acceptable.

The CHPP can be divided into different sections for the ease of discussions. These sections are as follows:
- coal sizing operation,
- ROM stockpile with a coal stacker and twin bucket bridge raw coal reclaimer,
- dense medium separation plant (2 modules),
- fine coal processing plant, and
- thickener and filtration.

The ROM feed will be tipped into a 700t bin where the material will be reduced in size to -300mm with a feeder breaker. Thereafter the coal will be conveyed to a coal sizing station. The -300mm coal will go through a secondary sizer (roll crusher) and the coal reduced to a 120mm top size. The secondary sizer product will go over a scalping screen to relief the load to the tertiary sizer. Only the +50mm to -120mm material will be fed to the tertiary sizer. The coal will then be reduced to -50mm.

The sized raw coal will then be stockpiled on two 75 000t live stockpiles. The strategy is to blend the coal from the stockpiles to ob ........