Creating a sustainable coal mining value chain from South Africa’s historical and arising discard coal

¹ River Energy South Africa, Johannesburg, 2191, South Africa
² The Green House, Cape Town, 7708, South Africa

^* Corresponding author: mandys@riverenergyco.com

Abstract

South Africa's legacy of coal mining has resulted in the accumulation of over 2 Bt of historical coal discard. Moreover, an estimated 60 Mtpa of new discard coal (as arising) is produced from current mining operations due to the unavailability of cost-effective beneficiation technologies to reclaim the waste. The high dependency on coal as a source of energy generation, employment and economic activity in the South African context means that the transition to a lower environmental impact energy supply portfolio will need to be carefully implemented in a considered manner. River Energy (RE) is uniquely positioned to capitalise on the historical and as-arising discard coal through its integrated coarse to ultra-fine waste coal beneficiation technologies which include; Coarse Waste Beneficiation, Fine Coal Beneficiation and Binderless Coal Briquetting. These solutions reduce costs and rehabilitation liabilities from coal processing and maximise yield from coarse and/or ultra-fine waste. A preliminary life cycle assessment on the RE value chain shows a significant net positive impact on human health, ecosystem quality and resource scarcity when discard-derived coal products are used to generate electricity, compared to conventional coal. This highlights the role of discard coal valorisation as part of a sustainable energy solution for the country's transition towards an energy supply portfolio that has a lower environmental impact.