In the Wolvekrans area, sandstone filled fluvial channels are prominent below the No.5 Seam through to the No.2 Seam. In the Douglas area, a prominent fluvial sandstone channel is developed between No.2 Seam and No.2A Seam. Running in a north south direction it has affected the remaining No.2 Seam resource in the Douglas mining area. The No.2 Seam is generally thinner along the channel and intra-seam partings affect coal quality in the channel-affected area.

Coal seams at Wolvekrans-Middelburg Complex (WMC) are associated with glacio-fluvial and upper deltaic plain sedimentation. The main seams of economic importance include the No.4L, No.2 and No.1 Seams, which are generally thick and laterally continuous.

No.5 Seam (0 to 2 m) is the uppermost seam and is discontinuous mainly due to weathering. The relatively thin No.5 Seam was deposited during a short period of peat accumulation in a relatively unstable basin. The seam is of good coal quality but often friable. The average thickness were fully developed ranges between 1.5 m and 2.0 m. Only isolated small areas remain at Wolvekrans where the No.5 Seam is adequately developed to be considered for mining.

No.4L Seam (0.5 to 5 m) is present across most of the WMV area and is overlain by two lesser seams, firstly the poor quality No.4U Seam (No.4U excluded from Coal Resources), and secondly the good quality but thin No.4UA Seam. The No.4L Seam follows the No.2 Seam in economic importance at Wolvekrans. The No.4L Seam is mined in all the pits at Wolvekrans. Historically, the No.4L Seam was mined underground in some parts of the Wolvekrans.

No.3 Seam (0 to 1 m) is thin and erratically developed. The No.3 Seam is good quality but due to its thickness and erratic development it is uneconomic and not mined at Wolvekrans.

No.2 Seam (3 to 8 m) occurs throughout the Wolvekrans area with thicknesses greater than 3 m. In general, the sediments above the coal seams tend to be fine grained to argillaceous, and carbonaceous in places, and usually show an upward coarsening texture with increasing distance above the seam. A marker horizon of bioturbated siltstone is present above the No.2 Seam. In some areas, intra-seam partings are developed which result in the development of a No.2L seam split.

The No.2 Seam shows zoned coal quality variation in the vertical sense with higher and lower yielding zones developed. These quality differences led to the selective mining of the seam in historical underground mined areas of the No.2 Seam across most of Wolvekrans.

No.1 Seam (0 to 3 m) is the oldest of the coal seams and was deposited on the diamictite/tillite facies, which unconformably overlies the pre-Karoo basin floor, or directly onto the basin floor itself. It is relatively uniform but is variable in thickness. The coal is generally dull, with a tendency to form a cubic fracture. The No.1 Seam was also historically mined underground in some parts of the Wolvekrans.

Intra-seam partings are present in all coal seams and may comprise different lithologies including sandstone, siltstone and mudstone. They form discontinuous layers and lenses at different heights within seams and are discontinuous. They vary in size and shape and are difficult to predict and correlate.

Intrusives and faulting.
Numerous dolerite sills and dykes of Jurassic age intrude the Karoo sediments. Where sills transgress the strata, including coal seams, they have the effect of uplifting the overlying strata, giving rise to complicated structural configurations. These uplifted blocks give the appearance of being fault bounded due to the vertical displacement caused by the sill transgression. Coal adjacent to and along dolerite intersections is subject to burning and de-volatilisation.

A major linear intrusive structure, known as the Ogies Dyke, strikes east-west across the northern boundary of the Boschmanskrans ("BMK") resource area. A graben feature runs parallel to the Ogies Dyke, but will not influence future mining operations.

A large sill structure occurs to the south of BMK East and has devolatilised large areas of the No.2 Seam, as well as lesser amounts of the No.4L Seam.

The Steenkoolspruit pit area appears to be free of any major igneous intrusions. This area comprises virgin coal seams unaffected by historical underground mining. The coal seams however show significant roll structures where gradients may exceed 10 per cent, and variation in inter-burden thickness due to channel sandstones between the No.2 and No.2A Seams, as illustrated in Figure 5.9. The No.2 Seam also contains numerous intra-seam partings.

Dolerite sill intrusions are also present in the VanDyksdrift Central area where they have resulted in uplifted blocks and devolatilisation of adjacent coal seams. This uplifted area is excluded from the currently defined Coal Resource.

Faulting is generally minor with throws of less than 3 m. Fault planes are near vertical and easily negotiated in opencast operations. The majority of faults are associated with either dolerite intrusions, displacements in the graben structure, and along pre-Karoo ridge features. The only prominent faults at Wolvekrans are those associated with significant dolerite sill emplacement at Vandyksdrift Central and at BMK East.

While faults are rare and in most cases insignificant, seam floor rolls do occur and in places steep gradients require an adaption of the mine plan.

Coal seams preserved in the Middelburg area include the No.5, No.4UA, No.4U, No.4L, No.3, No.2U, No.2, No.2L, No.2A, No.1 and No.1A Seams, and are similar to the seams present at Wolvekrans. The main economic seams across the Middelburg mining area include No.1, No.2A, No.2 and No.4L Seams.

The numerous intra-seam partings are comprised of sandstone, mudstone and siltstone and form discontinuous layers and lenses at different heights within seams. They vary in size and shape and are difficult to predict and correlate.

Intrusions also occur, but to a much lesser degree, in the Goedehoop and Hartbeestfontein areas.

There are no known significant faults in the Middelburg area. Faulting is rare and throws are less than 3 m.

Rolling strata, with variable strike and dip direction, occurs in the southern part of the Hartbeestfontein area, and to a lesser extent in the Goedehoop and Klipfontein areas. The formation of these rolls is ascribed to the undulating nature of the underlying basement felsite of the Bushveld Igneous Complex. Severely rolling strata with dips up to 15o adversely affect mining operations may result in increased coal losses and dilution, and adjustments to the mine plan.

The mines are divided into nine main sections, with mining at both consisting of opencast operations with coal extracted by dragline and truck and shovel at a peak combined production rate of approximately 26.4 Mtpa ROM coal.

Mining is carried out at Wolvekrans and Middelburg using open cut mining methods, comprising a mix of dragline and truck/shovel. The mining areas are divided into pits of varying shapes with the pit configuration based on economic parameters and other drivers, such as surface infrastructure and environmental constraints.

Wolvekrans is the result of the merger of five different collieries within mining in its current configuration having commenced in 2010.

The No.1, No.2 and No.4 Seams throughout much of the mining area have been previously mined as part of underground operations by a bord and pillar method at the old Douglas underground mine. Remnants of these seams are now being recovered as part of the proposed open cut operations.

Coal mining is primarily carried out by Cat 994 loader and Cat 789 rear dump haul trucks. This equipment is considered suitably sized in order to extract coal seams of at least 1 m in thickness. Unlike excavators, loaders also work the coal seam from the floor, and are suited to a process where equipment is not placed on top of the coal.

Middelburg pits are typically very shallow and so the dragline can excavate the necessary depth to uncover the coal seam. As such, there is generally no need for truck and shovel operations to pre-strip waste above the dragline horizon. Where any pre-strip may be required, it is carried out by contract operations.

There are six pits in total. The large number of smaller pit areas results in limited working areas for the two draglines. This leads to very limited flexibility in the dragline working methods and sequence. It also dictates that draglines are parked up before the end of the mine life and the remaining pits are operated by contract truck and shovel operations. Coal mining of the +1 m thick seams is primarily carried out by Cat 993 or 994 loader and Cat 785 rear dump haul truck, which is well proven method of coal operations.

Production from the Wolvekrans-Middelburg Complex (“WMC”) is reliant on SAEC Coal Processing (“BCP”) comprising five coal beneficiation plants; North Export, North Middlings, South Eskom, South Export and VDD mobile crusher, which are wholly owned and operated by SAEC.

Beneficiation facilities: tips and crushing plants, 2 export wash plants, middlings wash plant, de-stone plant. Nominal capacity in excess of 17 Mtpa.

Total coal beneficiation processes approximately 21 Mtpa ROM coal and 6 Mtpa of dump material across the mine complex.

The North Plant consists of a coal washing and middlings plant, with slurry, discard and reject as residue. The coal beneficiation plant washes approximately 8.2 Mtpa ROM to a product ash content of 16.3 per cent (adb). Coal is supplied to the plant from Middelburg Mine’s Goedehoop and Hartebeestfontein and Klipfontein operations (via an overland conveyor). The coal is crushed, washed and transported to the rapid loadout r ........