Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06JOHANNESBURG339
2006-09-08 16:54:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Johannesburg
Cable title:
THE SOUTH AFRICAN COAL INDUSTRY: PART IV -- AFRICAN COAL
how-toVZCZCXRO5426 RR RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN DE RUEHJO #0339/01 2511654 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 081654Z SEP 06 FM AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5285 INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC RHMFIUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC RUCNSAD/SADC COLLECTIVE RUEHJO/AMCONSUL JOHANNESBURG 1941
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JOHANNESBURG 000339
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE PLEASE PASS USAID AND USGS
USDOC FOR 4510/ITA/MAC/AME/OA/DIEMOND
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EMIN ENRG ECON SF
SUBJECT: THE SOUTH AFRICAN COAL INDUSTRY: PART IV -- AFRICAN COAL
REF: A) JOHANNESBURG 335 B) JOHANNESBURG 337
JOHANNESBU 00000339 001.2 OF 003
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 JOHANNESBURG 000339
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE PLEASE PASS USAID AND USGS
USDOC FOR 4510/ITA/MAC/AME/OA/DIEMOND
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EMIN ENRG ECON SF
SUBJECT: THE SOUTH AFRICAN COAL INDUSTRY: PART IV -- AFRICAN COAL
REF: A) JOHANNESBURG 335 B) JOHANNESBURG 337
JOHANNESBU 00000339 001.2 OF 003
1. (U) Introduction: This is the fourth and last of a four-part
cable dealing with coal and the important role it plays in the
South African economy. Part 4 provides information on some of
the coal-related developments in other African countries.
Reftel A provides a summary for all four sections. End
Introduction.
Coal in Africa
--------------
2. (U) Virtually all of Africa's coal reserves are located in
the southern part of the continent and are overwhelmingly
bituminous in rank. (Note: Reserves are that portion of a
deposit or resource base that are economically recoverable under
present economic and technical conditions. End Note.) South
Africa holds about 90% of these with proven recoverable reserves
of 31 billion tons (2005) with identified resources of 120
billion tons. Most of the remaining reserves are shared between
South Africa's neighbors, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and
Swaziland. In 2005, South Africa produced 245 million tons of
salable coal. The second biggest producer was Zimbabwe with 2.8
million tons (down from 3.7 million tons in 2002). Third was
Botswana, with 927,000 tons, followed by Swaziland with 550,000
tons. Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique each produced
less than 100,000 tons. None of the African bituminous coal
producers north of the equator (Algeria, Nigeria, Niger, Egypt
and Morocco) produce more than 200,000 tons per year. Tanzania
was the only recorded producer from the East Africa region.
Isolated coal-bearing sequences in Niger, Nigeria, Morocco and
Egypt represent locally significant production potential.
Zimbabwe
--------------
3. (U) The Hwange Colliery (formerly the Wankie Colliery) is
Zimbabwe's only coal producer and is the largest coal mining
complex in Africa outside South Africa. The coal is used
primarily for electricity generation and steel making. The
colliery has a rated capacity of 3.4 million tons per year, with
90% from the open pit operation. In 1980, in-situ resources
were estimated at 26.6 billion tons, including 11.2 billion tons
of mineable resources. In 2005, coal production totaled 2.8
million tons. Hwange has the capacity to meet all the country's
energy needs but inadequate investment in maintenance and new
production facilities has impeded its ability to do so in
practice.
Botswana
--------------
4. (U) Botswana hosts large low-grade and relatively untapped
thermal-quality coal resources in two coalfields, Morupule and
Mmamabula, located in the east of the country. Together, these
are estimated to contain more than 17 billion tons of coal,
while unproven estimates for the country range as high as 200
billion tons. In 2005, the Morupule Colliery, Botswana's only
operating coal mine, produced 927,000 tons of coal. The major
portion went to feed the 132 MW Morupule power station, which
supplies about 30% of the country's electricity needs. The rest
went to nickel-copper and soda ash plants. Botswana's imported
the other 70%, mainly from Eskom. Kalahari Energy, a Botswana
company, has obtained encouraging results from its current
drilling program for coal-bed methane (CBM) on deposits near the
border with Zimbabwe. Independent consultants' estimate the
resource at a huge 196 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of which 40 to
60 tcf are considered recoverable.
Mozambique
--------------
5. (U) Mozambique has extensive coal resources in six identified
coalfields. These are reported to host 4.5 billion tons of
proven reserves (in two fields) and a total of 15.8 billion tons
of identified resources. Some 40% of these resources are
believed to be in the Moatize coalfield, with the remainder
dispersed in three other significant fields. Before the civil
war (1975-1994) the Moatize coalfield produced about 500,000
tons per year, but output fell to 20,000 tons by the late
1990's. In 2005, Mozambique produced an estimated 35,000 tons
of coal. In November 2004, the Brazilian company, Companhia
Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) in association with American Metals and
Coal International (AMCI) was awarded a concession (at a cost of
$122.8 million) to explore and develop the coal deposits in the
Moatize region. If successful, they will construct a coal mine
and power station and the necessary infrastructure for the
export of coking and thermal coal.
Malawi
--------------
6. (U) Malawi hosts five identified coalfields, containing
reserves of 20 million tons and a resource of 750 million tons.
JOHANNESBU 00000339 002.2 OF 003
Other fields in the southern part of the country remain
unexplored. Malawi has one coal mine, Mchenga Coal Mines, which
produces about 5,000 tons a month from the Livingstonia
coalfield. The company supplies coal to the domestic market and
exports some 1,000 tons per month to Tanzania for cement
production.
Swaziland
--------------
7. (U) Swaziland has a single operating coal mine, the Maloma
colliery, which produced 550,000 tons of anthracite coal in
2005. The mine is 75%-owned and operated by Xstrata, South
Africa, and all production is exported to South Africa. A
second mine, the Emaswatini bituminous coal mine at Mpaka, was
closed in 1992 as it was no longer commercially viable.
Swaziland has proven bituminous coal reserves of about 208
million tons.
Tanzania
--------------
8. (U) Coal occurs in two basins in Southwest Tanzania. A total
of about 1.5 billion tons have so far been identified. The
country's only coal mine at Kiwira has an average annual output
of 35,000 tons. The mine was designed to supply its own small 6
MW on-site power plant and local consumers. Due to poor
maintenance, power production has dropped to between 2 and 2.5
MW. The mine has the potential to supply coal for a 200 MW
station but appears unable to provide security of supply to
local cement and fertilizer customers.
Zambia
--------------
9. (U) The only coal-mining operation in Zambia is the
government-owned Maamba Colliery that produces about 70,000 tons
of coal annually. Attempts to privatize the operation proved
unsuccessful. The operation consists of two open pits and a
coal-preparation plant with a production capacity of 800,000
tons per year of run-of-mine coal but is reported to be in a
very run-down condition. The estimated annual demand for local
coal is 240,000 tons, plus identified export markets in Malawi,
Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Egypt
--------------
10. (U) Egypt has one small coal mine, the Maghara underground
mine in the Sinai Peninsula. Its designed capacity is 600,000
tons per year, while annual production is reported to be around
360,000 tons. National demand for hard coal is about 1.2
million tons and is primarily used in the Helwan steel works.
Maghara production is non-coking and it is blended with imported
metallurgical coal for steel production.
Nigeria
--------------
11. (U) Nigeria has a small coal industry that produces about
60,000 tons per year of sub-bituminous coal from four
state-owned mines. Hard coal resources are estimated at 2.5
billion tons, plus 250 million tons of lignite. Since the
discovery of oil, coal production declined from 900,000tpy in
1959 to virtually nil. The government is pushing to privatize
and rejuvenate the industry and has signed its first production
sharing agreement with Nordic Industries, a consortium of
Danish, British and local firms, to develop its coal industry.
Niger
--------------
12. (U) Sociiti Nigerienne de Charbon d'Anour-Araren (SONICHAR)
operates an opencast coal operation in the western part of the
Air Massif in north central Niger. Coal quality is low but
suitable for on-site power generation used by the nearby uranium
mines. The mine has reserves estimated at 9.1 million tons and
produces an estimated 180,000 tons per year to feed a linked
mine-mouth thermal power station comprising two 18.8 MW units.
Niger's total coal resource is estimated at 13.7 million tons.
Kenya
--------------
13. (U) Kenya Electricity Generating Company is exploring coal
prospects in the Kitui and MWingi Districts. Although still in
the preliminary stages it is believed that the country has the
potential to generate 150 MW of coal-fired electricity.
Namibia
--------------
14. (U) Namibia currently imports 48% of its electricity from
South Africa (Eskom) and 5% from Zambia, Zimbabwe and other
short-term energy markets. Anglo-American is investigating the
feasibility of mining coal deposits near the town of Aranos.
JOHANNESBU 00000339 003.2 OF 003
This represents one of two separate mega-projects being studied
by Anglo Coal, Anglo American's coal mining subsidiary.
Morocco
--------------
15. (U) Morocco has no significant coal production and imports
coal for its coal-fired power plant which supplied about 64% of
its electricity in 2005. The 1.4 MW Jorf Lasfar power plant on
the Atlantic coast satisfies approximately 65% of the country's
base-load electricity demand and provided one-third of the total
electricity supply. Morocco has coal supply agreements
amounting to 4 million tons per year to feed the Jorf Lasar and
the government-owned Mohamedia (430 MW) power plants.
LUOMA-OVERSTREET
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE PLEASE PASS USAID AND USGS
USDOC FOR 4510/ITA/MAC/AME/OA/DIEMOND
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EMIN ENRG ECON SF
SUBJECT: THE SOUTH AFRICAN COAL INDUSTRY: PART IV -- AFRICAN COAL
REF: A) JOHANNESBURG 335 B) JOHANNESBURG 337
JOHANNESBU 00000339 001.2 OF 003
1. (U) Introduction: This is the fourth and last of a four-part
cable dealing with coal and the important role it plays in the
South African economy. Part 4 provides information on some of
the coal-related developments in other African countries.
Reftel A provides a summary for all four sections. End
Introduction.
Coal in Africa
--------------
2. (U) Virtually all of Africa's coal reserves are located in
the southern part of the continent and are overwhelmingly
bituminous in rank. (Note: Reserves are that portion of a
deposit or resource base that are economically recoverable under
present economic and technical conditions. End Note.) South
Africa holds about 90% of these with proven recoverable reserves
of 31 billion tons (2005) with identified resources of 120
billion tons. Most of the remaining reserves are shared between
South Africa's neighbors, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and
Swaziland. In 2005, South Africa produced 245 million tons of
salable coal. The second biggest producer was Zimbabwe with 2.8
million tons (down from 3.7 million tons in 2002). Third was
Botswana, with 927,000 tons, followed by Swaziland with 550,000
tons. Zambia, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique each produced
less than 100,000 tons. None of the African bituminous coal
producers north of the equator (Algeria, Nigeria, Niger, Egypt
and Morocco) produce more than 200,000 tons per year. Tanzania
was the only recorded producer from the East Africa region.
Isolated coal-bearing sequences in Niger, Nigeria, Morocco and
Egypt represent locally significant production potential.
Zimbabwe
--------------
3. (U) The Hwange Colliery (formerly the Wankie Colliery) is
Zimbabwe's only coal producer and is the largest coal mining
complex in Africa outside South Africa. The coal is used
primarily for electricity generation and steel making. The
colliery has a rated capacity of 3.4 million tons per year, with
90% from the open pit operation. In 1980, in-situ resources
were estimated at 26.6 billion tons, including 11.2 billion tons
of mineable resources. In 2005, coal production totaled 2.8
million tons. Hwange has the capacity to meet all the country's
energy needs but inadequate investment in maintenance and new
production facilities has impeded its ability to do so in
practice.
Botswana
--------------
4. (U) Botswana hosts large low-grade and relatively untapped
thermal-quality coal resources in two coalfields, Morupule and
Mmamabula, located in the east of the country. Together, these
are estimated to contain more than 17 billion tons of coal,
while unproven estimates for the country range as high as 200
billion tons. In 2005, the Morupule Colliery, Botswana's only
operating coal mine, produced 927,000 tons of coal. The major
portion went to feed the 132 MW Morupule power station, which
supplies about 30% of the country's electricity needs. The rest
went to nickel-copper and soda ash plants. Botswana's imported
the other 70%, mainly from Eskom. Kalahari Energy, a Botswana
company, has obtained encouraging results from its current
drilling program for coal-bed methane (CBM) on deposits near the
border with Zimbabwe. Independent consultants' estimate the
resource at a huge 196 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of which 40 to
60 tcf are considered recoverable.
Mozambique
--------------
5. (U) Mozambique has extensive coal resources in six identified
coalfields. These are reported to host 4.5 billion tons of
proven reserves (in two fields) and a total of 15.8 billion tons
of identified resources. Some 40% of these resources are
believed to be in the Moatize coalfield, with the remainder
dispersed in three other significant fields. Before the civil
war (1975-1994) the Moatize coalfield produced about 500,000
tons per year, but output fell to 20,000 tons by the late
1990's. In 2005, Mozambique produced an estimated 35,000 tons
of coal. In November 2004, the Brazilian company, Companhia
Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) in association with American Metals and
Coal International (AMCI) was awarded a concession (at a cost of
$122.8 million) to explore and develop the coal deposits in the
Moatize region. If successful, they will construct a coal mine
and power station and the necessary infrastructure for the
export of coking and thermal coal.
Malawi
--------------
6. (U) Malawi hosts five identified coalfields, containing
reserves of 20 million tons and a resource of 750 million tons.
JOHANNESBU 00000339 002.2 OF 003
Other fields in the southern part of the country remain
unexplored. Malawi has one coal mine, Mchenga Coal Mines, which
produces about 5,000 tons a month from the Livingstonia
coalfield. The company supplies coal to the domestic market and
exports some 1,000 tons per month to Tanzania for cement
production.
Swaziland
--------------
7. (U) Swaziland has a single operating coal mine, the Maloma
colliery, which produced 550,000 tons of anthracite coal in
2005. The mine is 75%-owned and operated by Xstrata, South
Africa, and all production is exported to South Africa. A
second mine, the Emaswatini bituminous coal mine at Mpaka, was
closed in 1992 as it was no longer commercially viable.
Swaziland has proven bituminous coal reserves of about 208
million tons.
Tanzania
--------------
8. (U) Coal occurs in two basins in Southwest Tanzania. A total
of about 1.5 billion tons have so far been identified. The
country's only coal mine at Kiwira has an average annual output
of 35,000 tons. The mine was designed to supply its own small 6
MW on-site power plant and local consumers. Due to poor
maintenance, power production has dropped to between 2 and 2.5
MW. The mine has the potential to supply coal for a 200 MW
station but appears unable to provide security of supply to
local cement and fertilizer customers.
Zambia
--------------
9. (U) The only coal-mining operation in Zambia is the
government-owned Maamba Colliery that produces about 70,000 tons
of coal annually. Attempts to privatize the operation proved
unsuccessful. The operation consists of two open pits and a
coal-preparation plant with a production capacity of 800,000
tons per year of run-of-mine coal but is reported to be in a
very run-down condition. The estimated annual demand for local
coal is 240,000 tons, plus identified export markets in Malawi,
Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Egypt
--------------
10. (U) Egypt has one small coal mine, the Maghara underground
mine in the Sinai Peninsula. Its designed capacity is 600,000
tons per year, while annual production is reported to be around
360,000 tons. National demand for hard coal is about 1.2
million tons and is primarily used in the Helwan steel works.
Maghara production is non-coking and it is blended with imported
metallurgical coal for steel production.
Nigeria
--------------
11. (U) Nigeria has a small coal industry that produces about
60,000 tons per year of sub-bituminous coal from four
state-owned mines. Hard coal resources are estimated at 2.5
billion tons, plus 250 million tons of lignite. Since the
discovery of oil, coal production declined from 900,000tpy in
1959 to virtually nil. The government is pushing to privatize
and rejuvenate the industry and has signed its first production
sharing agreement with Nordic Industries, a consortium of
Danish, British and local firms, to develop its coal industry.
Niger
--------------
12. (U) Sociiti Nigerienne de Charbon d'Anour-Araren (SONICHAR)
operates an opencast coal operation in the western part of the
Air Massif in north central Niger. Coal quality is low but
suitable for on-site power generation used by the nearby uranium
mines. The mine has reserves estimated at 9.1 million tons and
produces an estimated 180,000 tons per year to feed a linked
mine-mouth thermal power station comprising two 18.8 MW units.
Niger's total coal resource is estimated at 13.7 million tons.
Kenya
--------------
13. (U) Kenya Electricity Generating Company is exploring coal
prospects in the Kitui and MWingi Districts. Although still in
the preliminary stages it is believed that the country has the
potential to generate 150 MW of coal-fired electricity.
Namibia
--------------
14. (U) Namibia currently imports 48% of its electricity from
South Africa (Eskom) and 5% from Zambia, Zimbabwe and other
short-term energy markets. Anglo-American is investigating the
feasibility of mining coal deposits near the town of Aranos.
JOHANNESBU 00000339 003.2 OF 003
This represents one of two separate mega-projects being studied
by Anglo Coal, Anglo American's coal mining subsidiary.
Morocco
--------------
15. (U) Morocco has no significant coal production and imports
coal for its coal-fired power plant which supplied about 64% of
its electricity in 2005. The 1.4 MW Jorf Lasfar power plant on
the Atlantic coast satisfies approximately 65% of the country's
base-load electricity demand and provided one-third of the total
electricity supply. Morocco has coal supply agreements
amounting to 4 million tons per year to feed the Jorf Lasar and
the government-owned Mohamedia (430 MW) power plants.
LUOMA-OVERSTREET