The area is underlain by thin sequences of sedimentary rocks of the Dwyka Group and the Vryheid Formation of the Ecca Group of the Karoo Supergroup, which rest uncomformably on an uneven floor of older rocks composed of rhyolite and granophyre of the Upper Transvaal Supergroup. Intrusive dolerite dykes and sills are common.

The Nooitgedacht coal reserves fall within the Witbank coalfield, comprising sediments of the coal bearing Ecca Group of the Karoo Supergroup that were deposited on a volcanic pre-Karoo floor. Five coal seams are present in the Witbank coalfield.

The Karoo sediments in the study area are predominantly preserved on the higher elevations and have been eroded in the valley floors to expose the older basement rocks comprising of older diorite and/or gabbro of the Mokolian erathem, more specifically rocks of the Lebowa Granite Suite and gabbro of the Timbavati Formation. The Mokolian rocks in turn overlie older Transvaal Supergroup Rocks of the Vaalian erathem.

Due to the shallow depth of the Nooitgedacht coal reserve (9 – 49 m), opencast roll-over mining methods will be employed to extract the coal. The rollover mining method entails the process whereby the topsoil and overburden from the first cut of the opencast mine are stockpiled at the position of the last cut. As the opencast mine progresses, the overburden and topsoil from each successive cut are backfilled into the void from the previous cut, the surface is shaped to be free draining, the topsoil is analysed and treated appropriately, and the surface is revegetated. At the end of the life of the opencast mine the final void is backfilled with the overburden from the final cut of the last remaining pit.

The Mafube Colliery consists of several open cast pit areas with current extraction focused on the Nooitgedacht Pit. Mining is undertaken through a combination of contractor and owner operated fleets. Contractor operations utilise truck and shovel fleets to remove the topsoil and weathered portions of the overburden. Coal extraction undertaken at the mine utilises the mine's fleet. Mining at Mafube focuses on extraction of the No. 2 seam on the property.

The mined out coal will be passed through an on-site primary crusher to feed onto a conveyor belt from the Nooitgedacht operations that will convey the coal to the existing Mafube washing plant located at Mafube Colliery. Discard from the coal washing plant will report to the existing Mafube Colliery (Springboklaagte) discard facility and fines will be turned into briquettes. This existing coal discard facility was designed to cater for the Mafube Nooitgedacht project operational needs and, should there be remaining discard once the final voids have been back-filled, this will be conveyed to the existing facility at Mafube Colliery (Springboklaagte).

A filtration plant set up at Mafube's thermal coal mine. The plant can produce 130 t/h of dry coal waste with a final cake moisture level of between 16 and 25 per cent. Each filter press can process 20 t/h of dry material, making a total of 40,000 t of dry material per month.

The water recovered from the cake is recir ........