Exxaro concludes BEE deal

Colliery venture set to create employment

MINING giant Exxaro Coal has sold off its beneficiation plant in Mpumalanga to a consortium that is 51%-owned by black people.

The consortium of Lurco Group and Burgh Group holdings concluded the sale and purchase agreement for the acquisition of the Inyanda Colliery, which will wash the coal, in Johannesburg yesterday.

The transaction will also include the mining rights, assets and a private rail siding and result in the beneficiation of 25 million tonnes of coal for the local and export market over the next five years.

The head of the Burgh Group, Quinton van der Burgh, said Inyanda already had offtake agreements that were not less than five years to supply the product. He, however, declined to divulge the value of the transaction.

This means Exxaro investors and other stakeholders will only find out about the value of the transaction at the company ’ s annual results presentation next year.

The chief financial director of Lurco, Aubrey Chauke, said they could not confirm the number of jobs the transaction would create at this stage. Lurco chief executive Ellington Nxumalo said the business would be aligned to the National Development Plan.

“This is about bringing everyone into the mainstream of the national economy, meaning the creation of jobs is important to us,” he said.

Nxumalo said the aim would be to drive skills development by making the plant a beneficiating complex.

“This acquisition enables us to meet significant demand for quality coal, both locally and abroad. We will source, beneficiate and move coal from our own reserves, that of the Burgh Group as well as other reserves in the eMalahleni coal fields,” he said.

Van der Burg said the consortium wants to establish itself as a major player in both the local and export market. “It ’ s about establishing that footprint, putting ourselves where the market demands our attention and our focus ... we are able to adapt and respond in a way that our competitors could not. Part of that solution is to ensure that we have a hub like Inyanda online operating efficiently and optimally,” he said.

National Union of Mineworkers of SA ’ s Richard Mahlangu said they would support the consortium if the company createed jobs.

Mahlangu said Exxaro recently redeployed workers from Inyanda Colliery to its other operations.