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 repor ........

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 result ........

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