Kleinkopje Colliery.
Five main seams that are numbered in order of deposition from No.1 seam to No. 5 seam are present at Kleinkopje Colliery, this being typical of the Witbank Coalfield1. The coal- seams are separated by sediments of shale, sandstone and siltstone. The coal reserves of the mine are predominantly found in the No. 1, 2 and 4 seams1. There are limited reserves in the No. 2 Lower and No. 5 seam.

Kleinkopje Colliery is an opencast mine that uses strip and shovel method to mine the remainder of pillars left during underground mining. Mining is currently being carried out in four pits: 2A North (No. 2 and 4 seams), 2A South (No. 1, 2 and 4 seams), 5 West (No. 1, 2 and 4 seams) and 3A North (No. 2 and 4 seams) with plans for mining a new pit called the Z Pit from 2006. According to the current plans, Kleinkopje Colliery will be mined until the end of 2025.

Kleinkopje Colliery has five Wemco drums that were installed and commissioned in 1978. Over the years, there have been remarkable changes in mining and geological conditions at the colliery. First, an increase in the percentage of fines was recorded, which resulted in an uneven split or an imbalance in silo levels between material feeding the cyclone (-12 mm) and Wemco drum (+12 mm) sections respectively. This problem was solved by doing modifications around the banana screens to allow finer material to the drums. The imbalance challenge was then followed by spontaneous combustion that takes place in situ and results in low product yield. The results obtained from efficiency tests indicate that although there is a limit in the percentage of -6 mm material in the feed, Wemco drums are still very efficient and applicable to the current mining conditions. These results also suggest that it is essential to lower the throughput when the drums are treating low yielding coal.

Kleinkopje Colliery has five Wemco drums that were installed and commissioned in 1978. Over the years, there have been remarkable changes in mining and geological conditions at the colliery. First, an increase in the percentage of fines was recorded, which resulted in an uneven split or an imbalance in silo levels between material feeding the cyclone (-12 mm) and Wemco drum (+12 mm) sections respectively. This problem was solved by doing modifications around the banana screens to allow finer material to the drums. The imbalance challenge was then followed by spontaneous combustion that takes place in situ and results in low product yield. The results obtained from efficiency tests indicate that although there is a limit in the percentage of -6 mm material in the feed, Wemco drums are still very efficient and applicable to the current mining conditions. These results also suggest that it is essential to lower the throughput when the drums are treating low yielding coal.

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