Mining

MBABANE – Yet another local mine has become a casualty of the declining demand for coal.

This time, it is the Mhlume Anthracite Coal Mine, operated by Eswatini Anthracite, which is under New Frontier Coal Investments (Pty) Ltd, a subsidiary of Sub-Saharan Energy (Pty) Ltd.

Notably, coal has long been the backbone of Eswatini’s mining sector. The country is renowned for producing some of the world’s finest anthracitic coal, second only to that found in Siberia, Russia.

Eswatini Antracite was awarded a 25-year mining lease to mine anthracite underground at Mhlume.

However, the latest development is that the mine has reportedly halted operations, leading to the retrenchment of about 86 employees, as confirmed by the Office of the Labour Commissioner, Kingdom Mamba.

This publication has gathered that employees were informed on Friday about the suspension of operations.

During a visit to the mine yesterday, the premises were silent, and the gates were closed.

However, this publication engaged some of the affected employees, many of whom reside in surrounding areas such as Sihhoye.

One of the employees said he was deeply worried as he was unsure whether operations would resume any time soon.

Others confirmed that they had been officially informed by management that, due to a lack of business, operations had been halted.

One of the workers added that signs of trouble had appeared about three months ago, when business began to slow down.

“What we have been told is that there is no market for now. We will just live in hope that soon, things will normalise, and we will be given another chance,” he said.

Efforts to obtain a comment from management were unsuccessful at the time of compiling this report.

Messages sent to the mine’s Managing Director, Peter Grey, had not been responded to, while Project Coordinator, Nozwelakhe Mamba, who requested a questionnaire, had also not reverted.

On the other hand, the labour commissioner said: “We are aware of the matter. The company has notified us about its retrenchment, where 86 employees have been affected due to volatile prices in the markets as a result of Rand fluctuations in the South African markets. The 86 have been paid their terminal benefits.”

Just last month, Maloma Colliery Limited announced that it had been forced to reduce production and retrench 145 more employees after its biggest customer scaled down operations.

As reported by our sister publication, the Times of Eswatini, Maloma Colliery Limited’s clients are smelters who use anthracite coal primarily for two purposes: Providing heat and acting as a reducing agent. The coal is burned to generate the high temperatures needed to melt ore and produce carbon monoxide, which strips oxygen from iron ore, leaving usable iron.

Following the closure of 14 smelters in South Africa last month, the country’s leading anthracite coal miner was forced to remodel its business and reduce its workforce by 215 employees, cancelling one shift in the process.

This brought the total number of employees who have lost their source of income to 360.

This comes at a time when Eswatini’s unemployment rate stands at 35.7 per cent, with youth unemployment accounting for 58.1 per cent of that figure.

Meanwhile, ArcelorMittal SA and Goodyear have also shut down their operations, further compounding the regional crisis.

Glencore Ferroalloys Chief Executive Officer, Japie Fullard, informed employees that retrenchments were imminent at Boshoek, Wonderkop Smelters, Rhovan Operations, and the Carbon Division.

In a communiqué, Fullard stated: “As part of this process, we are also contemplating reducing the Lion Smelter to a two-furnace operation and will proceed with further streamlining and restructuring the support functions within the Mining Division, at Rustenburg and Lydenburg Smelters, Head Office and Shared Services functions. Rhovan will continue operating with a new product mix and potentially a different structure.”

Fullard added that consultations would be held with affected employees and their representatives to explore all possible options to mitigate the impact on the workforce, including alternatives to retrenchment.

According to the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), the closure of these mines has resulted in job losses exceeding 3 500, affecting thousands of families.

This wave of shutdowns adds to the exodus of several international companies that have recently downsized their operations in South Africa.

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Government hopeful coal sector will recover - commissioner of mines

MBABANE – The Commissioner of Mines, Dr Noah Nhleko, has expressed hope that the challenging situation currently facing Eswatini’s coal mining sector will improve.

Dr Nhleko said this when confirming that the management of the affected mine had informed him of the difficulties they are experiencing. He noted that the mine’s management had handled the matter appropriately, including maintaining communication with his office. He explained that the main issue lies in the South African market, which has been affected by rising electricity costs and the introduction of an export tax.

Additionally, the management of the Mhlume Mine has faced challenges in establishing a processing plant.

“They have been working hard to establish the plant. As far as I know, they have followed all the necessary procedures, including notifying the labour commissioner,” said Dr Nhleko.

“As government, we are hopeful that the markets will improve because we become very concerned when emaSwati lose jobs. We do understand that there are global challenges, and we sympathise with the mining companies,” he added.

*Full article available in our publication.

This was the situation at the main gate of the mine at Mhlume. (Pic: Ntombi Mhlongo)