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53-644: The Grootegeluk Coal Mine is an open cast coal mine within the Waterberg Coalfield of the Limpopo province of South Africa. It is operated by Exxaro . The mine is 25 kilometres (16 mi) from Lephalale , and employs 2,000 people. In 1920, coal was found in the Ellisras Basin , but at first little was done to investigate the size of the resource. Between 1941 and 1952, 143 diamond-drill holes and two prospecting shafts were sunk to obtain

106-508: A game auction, horse jumping, dog shows, agricultural activities, a three-day 4x4 competition, a game farms expo, hunting opportunities, bird and tree identification competitions, traditional food, live music, a beer tent and huge camp fires. This river and its tributaries rise in the western part of the Waterberg (between 1200 and 1600 metres above mean sea level). It originates in a flattish, open area with numerous koppies and flows through

159-641: A geological map of the Waterberg coalfield. In 1957 Iscor (later unbundled into Kumba Resources and Mittal Steel South Africa) bought surface rights on six farms located in the coalfield. In 1973 Iscor began detailed exploration of the deposits below the farms to determine the quality and quantity of coal. In 1979 Iscor obtained the mining leases on the farms and in 1980 established the Grootegeluk Coal Mine. The mine contains semi-soft coking coal , thermal coal and metallurgical coal . There

212-730: A large community of baboon spiders existed in the area. As these long lived species, golden-brown and burst-horned baboon spiders are protected under the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 175 individuals along the Nelson Mandela Road and another 376 along the Kuipersbult Road, were captured. An 800 ha portion in the south of the Manketti Game Reserve , some 5–10 km from

265-660: A linear form along the R517 road, and also along the main road that leads to Stockpoort. The Lephalale-Stockpoort road is the main connection road between the Marapong community and Lephalale/Onverwacht. Lephalale is situated between 23°30' and 24°00' south latitude and 27°30' and 28°00' east longitude and the town is positioned west of the Mokolo river , a tributary to the Limpopo river, 820 meters above sea level. In Lephalale,

318-718: A major economic activity, whilst cattle farming is declining to make way for game farming. Public transport in Lephalale is provided by a number of taxi operators and two bus companies, Lowveld Bus Services and Phadziri Brothers . Lowveld Bus Services provides local and long distance services between Lephalale and surrounding villages. In addition it has a contract to provide services for the transportation of labourers to Grootegeluk and Matimba. Phadziri bus service also provides some services to Eskom. The major economic activities of around town includes: The Bushveld Festival takes place in early July. The festival includes cattle shows,

371-729: A quarter could be extracted using opencast mining . The coal-bearing rocks are in the Grootegeluk Formation within the Karoo Supergroup . They were deposited from 260 to 190 million years ago, and are bounded by the Limpopo Mobile Belt to the north and the Eenzaamheid and Ellisras Faults to the south. The more recent Daarby Fault cuts across the coalfield. The recent covering comes from weathering of Limpopo Mobile Belt gneiss and Karoo rock in

424-524: A relatively small part of the Waterberg coalfield is shallow enough to be accessed by open pit mining. The Eenzaamheid fault and the Daarby fault divide the Waterberg coalfield into open pit mineable and underground mineable resources. Grootegeluk is located in the narrow band between these faults. South of the Eenzaamheid fault and in between the Daarby fault and the Zoetfontien fault, in the north, coal

477-766: A steep gorge emerging above the town of Vaalwater. Here the river flows through a relatively flat area until it enters the Mokolo Dam. From there, it flows through another gorge before entering the Limpopo Plain, near the junction with the Rietspruit. From this point, the Mokolo River flows through flat sandy areas until it reaches the Limpopo River. Fish species found in the Mokolo include: The area

530-491: Is danger of self-heating or spontaneous combustion from dumps of waste coal , releasing toxic gases. Deposition of waste products released into the atmosphere will affect the Limpopo basin ecosystem, which contains some unique species which existence is already endangered. Growth of the human population, with new housing and new agricultural operations may add more stress. Mine and power station design and operation must understand these impacts and include measures to minimize

583-536: Is dominated by mining, electricity production, tourism, agriculture and game farming. Lephalale is rich with coal which is mined by Exxaro at the Grootegeluk coal mine . The Waterberg coalfield has an estimated resource of 75-billion tons of coal, which is 40% of South Africa's remaining coal resource. The coalfield's 75-billion tons are in 11 zones, which consist of bright coal with interbedded shale and dull coal, sandstone and carbonaceous shale. However, only

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636-401: Is dominated by mixed bushveld and sour bushveld (sourveld). In the Limpopo Plain, arid sweet bushveld occurs while pockets of north-eastern mountain sourveld occur in higher lying areas to the south of the catchment. Situated 10 km from the town of Lephalale, this resort gets its name from the massive nyala tree that is characteristic of the area, and is also the southernmost habitat of

689-477: Is estimated to be 2,800 Mt of accessible coal out of a total measured resource of 4,600 Mt of coal. A 19-metre (62 ft) overburden covers 94.7 metres (311 ft) of usable coal, which is interspersed with three dirt bands that total 13.4 metres (44 ft) in thickness. The raw coal has less than 25% of burnable substance. In 2005 the Grootegeluk open-pit colliery was the only coal operation in

742-512: Is found from 250 m below surface and deeper. The Grootegeluk coal mine is the largest open cast coal mine together with beneficiation plants of its kind in the world. It produces more than 17 million tonnes of coal product per year and the mine provides iron and ore industries with high grade metallurgical coal for iron and steel production. The low grade coal is supplied to Eskom's Matimba Power Station . Besides Exxaro , Anglo Coal , Sekoko Coal and Resgen mining houses also have operations in

795-552: Is located in the Limpopo province of South Africa, west of Lephalale . Its dimensions are about 85 kilometres (53 mi) from east to west and about 40 kilometres (25 mi) from north to south. It is part of the same formation as the Mmamabula coalfields in Botswana , to the west. It contains about 40% of South Africa's coal resources. The Waterberg Coalfield has been estimated to hold about 50 billion tons, of which about

848-400: Is on the northern slopes of the Waterberg mountains and has the advantage of both sweet veld as well as sour veld. Mokolo Dam into which the Mokolo River flows, is fairly large and water enthusiasts, campers, anglers and birders all regard the reserve as a sanctuary, set as it is against the beautiful mountains. Mokolo Nature Reserve is true bush, offering open savannah and more dense bushveld to

901-571: Is used for the generation of steam. It happened by a decision by Eskom to build the air-cooled Matimba Power Station in close vicinity of the Iscor coal mine. Construction of the power station commenced in April 1981 and the first phase became operational shortly thereafter. Matimba was officially opened on 17 November 1989. Full municipal status was granted to Ellisras on 1 July 1986 by means of Administrator's notice 35 of 1986. The D'nyala Nature Reserve

954-659: The African National Congress (ANC) met at D'nyala for two more bush conferences. It was after these meetings that the government and the ANC began formally working on the new constitution that would lead to South Africa's first democratic elections in April 1994. The name of Ellisras town was changed to Lephalale during 2002. The town is divided into three major extensions: The Lephalale Municipality (LM) area comprises two (2) urban nodes, namely Lephalale/Onverwacht and Marapong (Provincial Growth Point), as well as

1007-433: The Ellisras Basin in 1920, but for many years little was done to explore the resource. During and after World War II , 143 diamond-drill holes and two prospecting shafts were sunk between 1941 and 1952 to obtain a geological map of the Waterberg coalfield. Iscor bought the surface rights on six farms in 1957, and in 1973 began intensive exploration to assess the quantity and quality of coal on this property. Iscor bought

1060-577: The Glen Alpine Dam , which forms 11 km of the eastern boundary of Wonderkop Nature Reserve . It was proclaimed as a provincial nature reserve in June 1994. Environmental education is conducted in the areas adjacent to the reserve and the sustainable utilisation of natural resources is promoted from which the surrounding communities could benefit. A road upgrade project revealed in March 2012, that

1113-602: The Port of Richards Bay on the Indian Ocean . In February 2012, the state-owned rail company Transnet stated that they were adding enough capacity to be able to ship an additional 23 million tons of coal a year from the Waterberg Coalfield to Richards Bay. The new Swazilink railway would reduce load on the coal-carrying lines. Transnet was working with the mining companies to ensure that available capacity

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1166-404: The Waterberg Coalfield . The town was established as Ellisras in 1960 and named after Patrick Ellis and Piet Erasmus who settled on a farm there in the 1930s. In 2002, Ellisras was renamed Lephalale by the provincial government of Limpopo, after the main river that crosses the municipality. Lephalale is derived from the setswana language meaning "to flow". Late Iron Age cattle posts belonging to

1219-401: The Grootegeluk mine, particularly from the lower levels, is prone to spontaneous combustion. Various experiments have been conducted to discover the best way to cover this material as the mine is back-filled so as to minimize the risk. A concern is that the covering will become less effective as it absorbs oxygen. The mine produces 18.8 Mt of final coal products annually. As of 2008, Exxaro

1272-565: The Hans Strijdom Dam) was constructed in 1979-1980 on the Mokolo River, near Lephalale. The Malmanie River and the Bulspruit River, two tributaries of the Mokolo, also enter the dam from its left side. The dam mainly serves municipal and industrial purposes. Since Iscor became part of Ellisras, Eskom also decided to extend its interest to Ellisras seeing that the steam coal produced is suitable for use in power stations and

1325-560: The Lephahale area. Lephalale hosts two of South Africa's power stations: Agricultural and farming activities in Lephalale include: Cattle, goats and ostriches. Vegetables, cotton, tobacco, citrus, paprika, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, pumpkins, lucern, groundnuts, dry beans, wheat, maize, cut flowers and water melons. Lephalale is annually the first to produce water melons sold to the general market. Game (including rare species like roan, sable and buffalo) has in recent years become

1378-471: The Letsibogo ceramic facies have been found in the area. Some rock engravings at Nelsonkop have been recorded. The name Ellisras originates from a combination of the surnames of Patric Ellis and Piet Erasmus who settled in the 1930s on the farm Waterkloof 502LQ. Since the opening of the main route between Vaalwater and Stockpoort during 1929 a railway bus stop developed on the farm. The central function of

1431-588: The Waterberg and was due to open in 2012. Because of the shortage of water, the Medupi station will use air-cooled condensers. Sasol is also interested in exploiting the field with a planned new power station called Project Mafutha, which may be located in the Waterberg. A joint venture between the Australian Firestone Energy and the local Sekoko coal is also active in the region. Exxaro expects to expand exports of high-quality coal through

1484-596: The Waterberg coalfield. The mine employed almost 2,000 people to produce 14.5 million tons of coal annually. Of these employees, only a very small percentage were managers, in part because of a severe shortage of management skills in South Africa. The miners blast the 15-metre (49 ft) high benches, then excavate the broken coal and truck it to the concentration plant. The mine uses trolley-assist trucks to reduce fuel and maintenance costs and increase productivity. The major fleet of 20 x Komatsu Haulpak 730E's utilize

1537-493: The animals that roam here. An area of the District Municipality was designated as a Waterberg Biosphere Reserve (Waterberg District Municipality, 2010). The biosphere reserve concept is aimed at achieving a balance between the pressures of the tourism industry, the need to generate direct benefits to local communities and conservation of the cultural and natural heritage assets. The Waterberg Biosphere Reserve

1590-665: The area by the plains, a few examples include tawny eagle , kori bustard , red-billed oxpecker , black stork , black-winged pratincole , white-backed vulture , Cape vulture , marabou stork , yellow-billed stork , martial eagle , secretarybird , bateleur , lappet-faced vulture , golden-breasted bunting , yellow-fronted canary , bushveld pipit , Cape longclaw , long-tailed paradise-whydah , violet-eared waxbill , African quailfinch , lesser masked-weaver , red-billed buffalo-weaver , capped wheatear , fiscal flycatcher , Chestnut-backed sparrow-lark , rufous-naped lark , arrow-marked babbler and orange-breasted bush-shrike . In

1643-469: The area. There is one National road running through the area and three main Provincial roads serve the area, namely: These roads serve as links between Thabazimbi , Vaalwater , Ellisras and Mokopane . The P84/1 and 198/1 run mostly along the drainage subsystems in the area. These main roads are tarred and are in relatively good condition. The towns developed around the central business district in

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1696-472: The beginning of his presidency in 1989, former President F. W. de Klerk took his entire cabinet, plus a group of officials and advisors, to D'nyala for a two-day "bosberaad". This conference involved discussions about policy development and strategies for change within the old South Africa. On 2 February 1990, a mere two months after this first bush conference, De Klerk announced the coming release of hundreds of political prisoners, including Nelson Mandela , and

1749-616: The centre of D'nyala, is a VIP mansion, and a conference centre that is of historical significance. Adjacent to the Mokolo Nature Reserve of 4,600 hectares is the Mokolo dam, the biggest dam in the Limpopo Province and bordering for 6 km on the Mokolo river, flows out of this dam. Approximately 50 km to the south of Lephalale, this dam is well suited for water sports enthusiasts, campers and day visitors. The dammed up Mokolo river winds around mountains. It

1802-485: The country's largest steel producer, and also the biggest consumer of coking coal, actively participated in this programme. Drilling was completed in 1952. In 1957, Iscor obtained the surface rights to six farms, including Grootegeluk. The first townships that were proclaimed in Ellisras were: Ellisras (Proper) - 7 December 1960 Ellisras Extension 1–5 May 1965 Ellisras Extension 2–3 November 1971 A major influence on

1855-516: The existing pit, with delivery of coal to the first generation unit at Medupi to start in the 3rd quarter of 2011. Two new dense media coal beneficiation plants were to be built at the mine, and would be operating at full capacity by 2014. They would supply the Medupi generators with about 14.6 Mt of power station-grade coal annually for the next forty years. The expansion will create about 550 permanent jobs at Grootegeluk. Citations Sources Waterberg Coalfield The Waterberg Coalfield

1908-422: The famous baobab tree. D'nyala boasts a diversity of game which includes some 65 mammal species such as nyala, white rhinoceros, giraffe, waterbuck, tsessebe, oryx, eland, zebra, impala, caracal, African wildcat, brown hyena, black-backed jackal and leopard. The animals of D'nyala roam freely over the area including the vicinity of the chalets. 263 bird species have been identified including waterfowl attracted to

1961-563: The growth of the farm Waterkloof 502LQ was the decision of Iscor in 1973 to continue with the development of the Grootegeluk Coal Mine . Work commenced in December 1974 on building the mine and one year later in December 1975, the actual quarrying of the mine commenced. Grootegeluk mine was officially opened on 15 April 1981. On 3 March 1982 this mine was in full operation for the first time. Mokolo Dam (previously known as

2014-423: The impact. On the other hand, many of the local people are unskilled and unemployed. Development of the coalfields and related chemical industries, with improvements to infrastructure, education and health services could provide large benefits if managed correctly. Lephalale Lephalale , formerly known as Ellisras , is a coal mining town in the Limpopo province of South Africa immediately east of

2067-417: The late 2000s the rail link to the Grootegeluk mine was being upgraded. Exxaro expects to expand exports of high-quality coal through the Port of Richards Bay . In 2007 Exxaro announced a contract to supply Eskom's new Medupi Power Station , which is also in the Waterberg and was due to open in 2012. The contract was finalized in December 2008. Exxaro was to invest R9 billion to speed up extraction from

2120-503: The legalization of black liberation organizations that had been outlawed for 30 years. He also proclaimed his then government's willingness to end apartheid and to negotiate a new constitution to the benefit of all South Africans. Over the next four years De Klerk returned to the D'nyala seven more times with various officials in order to work out solutions for crises that arose during the negotiation processes. In December 1992 and January 1993, for example, government officials and members of

2173-467: The mines and the power stations. However, the reserve is very large and could potentially be mined for the next 200 years. It seems plausible that industry will move to the region, infrastructure will be developed and ways will be found to bring water from other regions. The Waterberg Coalfield may well replace the Mpumalanga coalfields, which are now reaching peak production. Coal was found in

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2226-402: The mining lease on the farms in 1979 and established the Grootegeluk Coal Mine in 1980. In 2005 this open-pit colliery was the only coal operation in the coalfield. As of 2008, Exxaro Resources was operating the Grootegeluk coal mine, supplying Eskom 's coal-fired Matimba Power Station . In 2007 Exxaro had obtained a contract to supply Eskom's new Medupi Power Station , which is also in

2279-472: The new Medupi Power Station will be the first in the world to use mobile tipping bins and crushers in the pit near the benches. This equipment will advance as the mine advances. To minimize production stoppages, there will be run-of-mine stockpiles between the pit and the plant. Stockpiles will also be used between the plant and the discard dump stackers. The plant will use dry screening to avoid having to pump tailings to tailings dams. The waste material from

2332-536: The newly established nodes became more evident and other facilities such as schools, churches and shops were established on the farm. Subdivision of the farm started and due to the specific locality of the river, all newly created portions have a river frontage which had a definite influence on the urban form/shape of Ellisras today. In 1941, the Geological Survey Division of the then Department of Mining, launched an exploration programme. Iscor ,

2385-416: The north, and from weathering of the Waterberg sandstones in the south. Thin layers of coal alternate with layers of mudstones in the Grootegeluk Formation, which is around 70 metres (230 ft) thick. Although some of the resources are near the surface and readily accessible, it may not be economically viable to extract coals from the seams that lie at depths of up to 400 metres (1,300 ft). Due to

2438-445: The summers are long, hot, and partly cloudy and the winters are short, cool, dry, and clear. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 7 °C to 32 °C and is rarely below 4 °C or above 36 °C. Based on the beach/pool score, the best times of year to visit Lephalale for hot-weather activities are from early February to mid April and from early September to early November. The economy of Lephalale

2491-490: The surrounding Witpoortjie/Thabo Mbeki rural area (Provincial Growth Point), that accommodates both commercial and communal mixed-farming practices. An industrial area is also slowly developing near Onverwacht, while a heavy industrial zone has been earmarked near the Steenbokpan turnoff. The locality of the municipal area in relation to the rest of the country ensures that a number of important regional routes transverse

2544-449: The thickness of the deposits, providing roof support and preventing spontaneous combustion would be insurmountable problems. A large part of the resource is low grade bituminous, suitable for local power generation but not for export. Other drawbacks to the Waterberg Coalfield include its distance from industrial centers in South Africa, lack of infrastructure in the area and lack of water supplies. Large amounts of water are needed for both

2597-459: The trolley assist feature as well as a subsidiary fleet of Hitachi EH4500 and EH3500 trucks. The trolley assist trucks are powered by DC electricity from overhead catenary lines at 1200V. The Grootegeluk plant uses horizontal belt vacuum filtration to dewater fines. The mine has the world’s largest coal beneficiation facility, with six plants that upgrade 8,000 tonnes per hour of run-of-mine coal. The new plant installed to extract and process coal for

2650-408: Was being used, and that there was sufficient capacity. This could include long-term contracts to reduce risk on either side. The Waterberg area has huge areas of natural bush, and many game farms . Ecotourism and agriculture are important economic activities. There are very limited resources of groundwater . Other coal mining operations have polluted aquifers , and this must be avoided. There

2703-547: Was declared a National Priority Area in terms of Section 18(1) of the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act, 2004 (Act No. 39 of 2004). The area requires specific air quality management actions to address the negative impacts of the air quality as a proactive approach to support future sustainable development in the area (Waterberg District Municipality, 2010). This reserve covers ±16,100 hectares and also adjoins

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2756-585: Was supplying Eskom 's coal-fired Matimba Power Station . Exxaro delivered 14.8 Mt annually of power station coal to the Matimba power station via a 7-kilometre (4.3 mi) conveyor belt. Grootegeluk produces 1.5 Mt of metallurgical coal for sale to metals industries and other users in South Africa annually. Exxaro exports or sells to domestic customers about 1Mt of thermal and semi-soft coking coal. The mine produces 2.5 Mt of semi-soft coking coal annually, delivering most of it to Mittal SA by rail. In

2809-418: Was the site for peace talks between Nobel Peace Prize winner F. W. de Klerk and Cyril Ramaphosa before the democratic transformation in South Africa. D'nyala is referred to as the original "bosberaad" (or bush conference) centre, based on the fact that it was used for hosting high level cabinet meetings of the former apartheid -government of South Africa prior to the first democratic elections of 1994 . At

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