Vele`s First Coal destined for Export Market

Coal of Africa is pleased to announce that the first shipment from the Company`s Vele Colliery in Limpopo Province was loaded into 30 rail wagons at the existing Musina siding...

This first `test` shipment train of approplant for manufactring of wet ground calcium carbonateximately 1,500 tonnes of thermal coal is destined for the Matola Terminal in Maputo, Mozambique, from where it will be shipped and sold to Asian markets.

The coal was produced as part of the plant product test work that is currently being conducted on both metallurgical and thermal coal at Vele. A key objective of this test train run is to determine axle load capacity of the Transnet Freight Services line between Groenbult and Hoedspruit.

The test run is expected to confirm TFR`s capacity to commence regular, weekly trains from this existing siding and on the existing line.

The shipment coincided with the official delivery of the plant from the project engineering consultants ELB Engineering Services to Vele mine management.

Production at the Vele colliery resumed in December 2011 with the extraction of run of mine (ROM) material. Wet commissioning of the plant was completed in December 2011 and hot commissioning in February 2012. Further test work is currently being undertaken to confirm the design of processing infrastructure to enable the recovery of additional coking coal from the slimes portion of the coal, as well as the production of a secondary thermal product other than coking coal.

Speaking at the mine yesterday, Coal of Africa CEO, John Wallington, noted that this was a landmark occasion for the group. He reiterated the company`s commitment to developing a `new model` for sustainable development in the coal sector, and to ongoing consultation and interaction with all stakeholders.

In its first phase of production, Vele is expected to produce approximately 2.7Mtpa ROM production yielding approximately 1Mtpa of saleable coking coal.