. . . How Maloma got a Special Prospecting Licence
When Maloma Colliery was established in the early 1990s, the initial capital investment was E324 million (approx. $18 million).
Some of the major inputs were an investment in the construction of a coal-washing plant and the development of the mining area programme. Production commenced early in 1993 when the opencast operation was commissioned.
Design
The discovery and confirmation of the coal reserves at Maloma happened more as a stroke of luck than by design.
It partially offset the unexpected closure of the Emaswati Coal Mine at Mpaka, about 40 kilometres North, which resulted in a loss of employment and came as a huge blow to the economic contribution to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
In 1989, CARBONEX lodged a special prospecting licence application to the Commissioner of Mines to re-evaluate the anthracite reserves in the Maloma area. It subsequently pleased His Majesty King Mswati III and Ingwenyama to grant a special prospecting licence in 1989 at the recommendation of the Minerals Committee.
The company embarked on a re-evaluation of reserves and completed a feasibility study for the project.
Approved
This study was submitted to the Commissioner of Mines and was approved to submit a Mining Rights application.
On July 14, 1992, at the recommendation of the Minerals Committee, His Majesty King Mswati III and Ingwenyama granted a Notarial Mining Lease issued under protocol number 8 of 1992, for the development and mining of the Maloma Anthracite Mine with CARBONEX, a Danish joint venture company consisting of Giersing Rose and Superfos Dammon.
Development
The Notarial Mining Lease was for 20 years to lapse in June 2013. The first year of the lease is a period granted for mine development and planning and then followed by a mining lease production period.