the waterberg coal field (a giant in waiting?) › conferences › 2013 › 2ndlimpopo › ... ·...
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The Waterberg Coal Field (A Giant in Waiting?)By
Dawie van WykGeoCoal Services
andO Barker
Banzi Geotechnics cc
BANZI GEOTECHNICS cc
Factors affecting the exploitation of the Waterberg Coal Field
• SA Coal demand• Perceptions of Coal• New 2011 Resources• Geology of the Waterberg
Coalfield• Where to now • Alternate energy sources• Future of Waterberg
BANZI GEOTECHNICS cc
Coal Demand
• Two large Power Stations in Waterberg – supplied by Exxaros’ Grootegeluk Mine
• Three large reserves of shallow coal Boikarabelo, Sekoko and Nemane
• Low Phosphorus coal for char• Local demand for supply to Eskom Power Stations Majuba and
others?• Soft coking coal demand • Government “Green” policy IRP2010SA • Energy demand and growth
BANZI GEOTECHNICS cc
Eskom Demand• Matimba• Medupi• Eskom PS “C”• Witbank Power Stations• E-mail from Eskom“Eskom has made a strategic decision to use Waterberg coal in the Mpumalanga power stations. As you know the Waterberg coal is different from the Mpumalanga coal and Eskom would like to run different tests to try and understand what the impact of using Waterberg coal in the Mpumalanga boilers. This means understanding the inherent variability within the Waterberg coal field on coal qualities and how mining of this coal field will influence the product produced at any stage.”
BANZI GEOTECHNICS cc
Export and Sasol Demands
• Export RBCT > 90 million tons paBig Corporates are not spending capital on increasing capacity only maintaining capacity as old mines are mined out – where is all this new coal going to come from?
• Sasol > 50 million tons per anumSasol resources are not unlimited and they have a finite life –where will SASOL source new coal?
• 4 Projects (R14B investment)– Thubilisha (Twistdraai)– Impumalelo (Brandspruit)– Shondoni (Middelbult)– Tweedraai (Syferfontein):
• Waterberg Properties under new investigation
BANZI GEOTECHNICS cc
Perceptions of Coal
• Dirty ”Kortbroek - we will get rid of dirty smelly coal”
• Pollutes “John Burks - Witbank is the armpit of SA”
• Environmentally damaging “No more coal fired power stations will be built according to current government”
• Unfortunately Politicians say what people want to hear especially with election looming!
• UCT students 1990’s “We want green energy”
New CRRSA (2011) Figures (Mt)
• MTIS – Mineable Tonnes in Situ• GTIS – Gross Tonnes In Situ• Run of Mine• (M) - Million (Tonnages are metric)
Area MTIS (M) GTIS (M) ROM (M)Waterberg OC 35,771.00 41,356.00 35,771.00
Waterberg UG 25,162.00 134,578.00 12,581.00
Total for Coalfield 60,933.00 175,934.00 48,352.00
There are 20 named coalfields in South Africa
WATERBERG COALFIELD
The Northern Coalfields of South Africa
WATERBERG
SPRINGBOK FLATS
COALFIELD
Limpopo Province
Mpumalanga
North West Province
Gauteng
Free State Province
Kwa Zulu-Natal
Eastern Cape Province
BANZI GEOTECHNICS cc
Diagrammatic Section Through Daarby Fault
After G Dowling Anglo American
View West
Waterberg Coalfield• Typical Waterberg sequence• Quick look at geologists logging and sampling cores:
BANZI GEOTECHNICS cc
Geophysical Logs are essential in identifying the zones and samples within the Zones
BANZI GEOTECHNICS cc
Mining Bench Selection
Sample Selection From To Mining/waste Cuts
KD05/11/1BC C 12.73 13.36
KD05/11/1CS W 13.36 14.44
KD05/11/1C C 14.44 15
KD05/11/1D C 15 17.21
KD05/10/2 C 17.21 20.00
KD05/10/3 C 20.00 22.87
KD05/10/4 C 22.87 25.48
KD05/10/5 C 25.48 27.46
KD05/10/6 C 27.46 29.26 16.53KD05/9/7 W 29.26 32.58
KD05/9/8 W 32.58 34.54
KD05/9/9 C 34.54 35.19
KD05/8/10 W 35.19 38.29 9.03
KD05/8/11 C 38.29 40.45
KD05/8/12 C 40.45 43.56
KD05/8/13 W 43.56 46.53
KD05/8/14 C 46.53 47.6
KD05/7/15A W 47.6 49.86
KD05/7/15B C 49.86 52.14 13.85KD05/7/16 W 52.14 55.3
KD05/7/17 W 55.3 58.1
KD05/7/18 C 58.1 60.24
KD05/6/19 W 60.24 61.14
KD05/6/20 W 61.14 62.5
KD05/6/21 C 62.5 62.99
KD05/5/22A W 62.99 67.66 15.52KD05/5/22B C 67.66 71.71
KD05/5/22C C 71.71 74.89
KD05/5/22D W 74.89 80.27
KD05/5/22E C 80.27 84.63 16.97KD05/4/23A C 84.89 86.54
KD05/4/23B C 86.54 88.29 3.4KD05/IB/23AS W 88.29 89.71
KD05/IB/23BS W 89.71 92.97
KD05/IB/24 C 92.97 96.47
KD05/IB/24S W 96.47 100.05
KD05/IB/25 W 100.05 102.49 14.2KD05/IB/25S C 102.49 105.05
KD05/4A/26 C 105.05 106.64
KD05/4A/27 C 106.64 108.05 5.56SST 22.15KD05/2/28 C 130.2 131.95
KD05/2/29 C 131.95 133.3 3.1SST OB/SS 12.32KD05/1/30 C 145.62 145.92 0.3
Algorithm to select waste vs. Coal
Where to now?Current strategy
• Do you want to pay more for your electricity?• The IRP2010 published plan states “no more coal
fired power stations” (coal will be reduced from 86.5% to56.7% by 2030)
• Additional electricity is to come from nuclear, gas and renewables like wind and solar!
• The Waterberg is the largest resource of coal in South Africa and must be developed to produce electricity cheaply if we want to grow and eradicate unemployment and poverty.
Comparing Coal vs. Rest(Levilised cost of Energy IEA 2010)
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
Coal fired Gas Fired Nuclear Wind Solar Hydro
Cost (MW/hr)
Cost (MWhr)
Wind Energy
• 260 tons of steel• 300 tons of coal• 300 tons of iron ore
In the UK every employee on a wind farm is subsidized by the taxpayer to the tune of 100,000 pounds. Running a wind farm is not profitable by itself without the subsidy!
To make one wind turbine requires -
How many coal mines are required to build all these turbines producing electricity below the price it is
receiving for the electricity generated?
Underground Coal Gasification
• UCG creates the voids to store captured CO2 from Matimba and Madupi
• UCG does not work if coal has any swelling characteristics• UCG would work on the Lower Waterberg Zones 1 to 3
Water and Infrastructure
• Availability of water is one of the largest restricting factors in developing coal mines in the Waterberg
• Anglo’s CBM extraction could mitigate this as a lot of water is produced.
• UCG also provides large quantities of unpotable water• Availability of additional electricity (as a result of Eskom's
restricted generating capacity and transmission capacity) also plays an important roll in opening up new mines in the Waterberg Coal field
• Lack of rail infrastructure to RBCT etc.
Future of the Waterberg Coal
• A Pragmatic Risk free approach is needed to unlock the energy in the Waterberg Coal
• A mix of conventional coal mining and thermal power stations, surface gasification with CBM and/or UCG gas and the Waterberg will become the Energy Centre of South Africa