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As Botswana moves towards power independence, Morupule Colliery is planning a massive programme of expansion to meet the demands of the power industry. Ben Sansom reports OnB

otswana is a land rich in mineral resources. Not only is it the world’s largest producer of diamonds by value, it sits astride the extensive and largely untapped Morupule and Mmamabula coal fields, estimated to contain in the region of 17 billion tons of coal. With a population increasingly hungry for electricity, much of which is imported from South Africa,

and a government keen to reduce the nation’s dependence on imported power, there are significant opportunities to increase coal production and use this plentiful natural resource to produce power.

M o r u p u l e C o l l i e r y

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M o r u p u l e C o l l i e r y

Botswana’s only coal mine to date is the Morupule Colliery, which since 2000 has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Debswana—a partnership between the government of Botswana and De Beers. Debswana’s core activity is mining, recovering and sorting diamonds at four mines in Botswana, and two of those are world record holders. Jwaneng Mine is the world’s leading producer of diamonds by value and Orapa Mine is the world’s largest running mine by volume.

Morupule Colliery’s history, however—and indeed its future—is inextricably linked with power generation. Located west of Palapye in eastern Botswana, the colliery was originally established in 1973 to supply coal by rail to the Bamangwato Concession, a copper nickel mine located at Selibe-Phikwe some 150 kilometres to the north-east. Opened in the same year as the colliery, the Bamangwato Concession included a small coal fired power station built to provide energy for the mine and smelter, and for the local population.

For many years Morupule continued to supply coal to Bamangwato, which remained the only power station operating in Botswana. Meanwhile, electricity for the majority of the population had to be directly imported from South Africa. However, in

1983 the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) began the phased construction of a 132MW power station adjacent to the Morupule Colliery, and this led to the first of several phases of expansion at the colliery as output was increased to feed the new power station.

Further expansion occurred as and when the colliery increased its customer base, and the company began to supply coal to a number of small industrial power plants around the country. Today, the colliery supplies coal to companies such as the Botswana Ash Operation, BMC and Botswana Breweries; and to many industries including textiles, food processing, brick works and coal traders.

Because the coal mined from the Morupule coal field is relatively high in ash and sulphur, a washing plant was installed on the site. And it is this coal washing plant, which runs at a maximum rate of one

million tons of coal a year, which currently defines the capacity of the colliery. Since 1995 the mine has been operating close to that capacity, its output fluctuating between 989,000 tons and 925,000 tons.

The future prospects for the colliery are promising and there is significant room for expansion if the capacity limits of the coal washing plant are addressed. The Morupule coal field is immense, with an estimated reserve in excess of five billion tons; moreover, the coal it produces is of good quality, not only suitable for power generation within Botswana but also for steam coal export to neighbouring countries.

The coal field consists of four seams although it is largely the lowest and thickest seam that has been mined to date. Lying some 80 metres below ground, the seam has an average thickness of eight metres and is accessed via a seven degree open lip incline.

The nature of the seam means that it can be mined by conventional bord and pillar methods. However, at Morupule this is carried out in two phases. First, the upper section of the seam is mined and excavated to create a room or panel, and the roof is bolted using resin roof bolts. Then once the upper section has reached its maximum limit the entrance road is lowered so that the lower section can be mined.

Transport Holdings is one of Botswana’s largest logistics companies. The group specialises in servicing the petroleum, mining and general cross border cargo sectors in the industry. Major clients include Morupule Colliery, Shell, Engen, De Beers, BCL, Tati Nickel Mining Company and MRI Resources. Quoting Frank Wookey, financial manager of Morupule Colliery: “Transport Holdings has been our logistics service provider since 2000. During this period they have rendered consolidation and transportation services to Morupule Colliery. We have experienced good levels of service and believe that Transport Holdings has the expertise and customer focus to serve our growing needs.”

Transport Holdings

“Botswana’s only coal mine to date is the Morupule Colliery which since 2000 has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Debswana”

M o r u p u l e C o l l i e r y

As part of its strategy to make the colliery more competitive, the company has also been investing in the latest technology. Among the many improvements, it acquired a continuous miner in 2004—a machine with a large rotating steel drum equipped with tungsten carbide teeth that scrapes coal from the seam. This technology delivers a number of benefits: it removes the necessity for coal cutting, drilling and blasting while reducing cycle times and lowering the cost per ton of coal. Now, operating at a competitive level with equivalent operations in southern Africa, the company has plans to further increase productivity per employee by a further 10 per cent.

It is, however, the upcoming expansion of the Morupule Colliery which will increase output from one million tons a year to three million tons a year that will define the company’s future development. This trebling of capacity is to support the requirements of the new 600MW Morupule B Power Station which is under construction alongside Morupule A. BPC and the colliery have already signed a 20 year contract—which will end in 2023—to supply Morupule A and B

with a total of 50 million tons of coal. The feasibility study for this huge expansion has

been completed, and the company is looking to finalise the financing of the project by October this year with the aim of beginning the first deliveries to Morupule B in June 2011. Meanwhile, some of the preparatory work has already been completed, including connection to the north-south water carrier and the installation of a temporary power supply.

The expansion plans involve tapping into some of the previously unexploited coal resources within the concession area between Palapye and Serowe, while there will be significant construction of surface facilities and further investments in plant and equipment.

Looking to the future, the company’s stated vision is to become the most competitive and preferred coal supplier to the SADC (Southern African Development Community) region, and then to expand onto the world markets. This current phase of expansion will certainly take it a step closer to that goal and define its strategic direction for many years to come. www.mcl.co.bw

MORUPULECOLLIERYwww.mcl.co.bw