Sasol Integrated Report 2023 - Book - Page 62
INTRODUCTION
ABOUT SASOL
STRATEGIC OVERVIEW
CREATING VALUE
PERFORMANCE
GOVERNANCE AND REWARDS
SASOL ENERGY AT A GLANCE // Sasol Mining
ADMINISTRATION
PROGRESSING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE SASOL
To support the stability and resilience of our South African
value chain, we will continue with initiatives to improve
the performance of our Mining operations. We aim
for the continuous supply of suitable coal so that
Secunda Operations (SO) can achieve its production targets.
Mining productivity in the year declined due to unplanned safety and operational
stoppages in the first half. In the second half, productivity and coal quality delivered
to SO improved, albeit at a slower pace than planned.
Maintaining a healthy stockpile level and improving coal
quality through operational controls and external coal
purchases are key.
To supplement volumes from our Secunda collieries and improve overall coal quality,
we increased external coal purchases by 9% compared to 2022. Export sales were
lower mainly because of logistical challenges and the diversion of export coal to SO.
Nevertheless the coal stockpile remained above our target throughout the year,
which supported consistency in coal blending and supply to SO. In the last quarter,
the stockpile increased to end the year at 2,0 mt.
RESET ACTIVITIES //
Safety
Our operations
Safety remains our indisputable priority.
After the tragic fatalities that occurred in
the past few years, we are making good progress
in implementing our safety remediation
programme and addressing findings from
high-severity incidents. The programme includes
technical and cultural interventions, with a focus
on humanising safety through a bottom-up
employee engagement approach.
Sasol’s Sigma Colliery was established at
Sasolburg in 1950, initially producing 2 Mt a year,
with production peaking at 7,4 Mt in 1991. Coal
mining activities in Secunda started in 1975 and we
currently produce approximately 32 Mt per annum
at our five Secunda mines and 1,2 Mt at Sigma’s
Mooikraal Colliery – making us the third-largest coal
producer in South Africa. To supplement our
production volumes and improve the coal quality
blend, we purchase coal from the neighbouring
Isibonelo Colliery in Secunda, as well as from other
coal producers.
We are seeing a positive impact of the culture
change towards high care and high standards
with more employees taking ownership at the
coalface and speaking up on safety issues.
We are encouraged by the positive trend.
Our customers
The planned reduction in coal usage from 2030
has been incorporated into our long-term
mining complex deployment and coal sourcing
plans and production from existing mines is
aligned with the long-term coal demand profile.
Coal supplied to SO from our Secunda collieries
is mainly used as gasification feedstock and to
generate electricity. Our Sigma Mooikraal Colliery
supplies coal to the Sasolburg complex for the
generation of electricity and steam.
Coal from our Thubelisha Colliery is beneficiated at
our Twistdraai Export Plant in Secunda, generating
high-value thermal coal which is exported to
international power-generation customers.
Long-term coal deployment
We are evaluating various alternatives to
address coal supply when the Thungela coal
sales agreement for Isibonelo Colliery comes
to an end in June 2025. A decision on the best
option will be taken during FY24.
‘Full potential’ programme
To improve productivity we implemented the
first phase of our ‘full potential’ programme
at Syferfontein Colliery from January 2023, noting
incremental improvements in productivity and
the quality of the coal delivered. The programme’s
objective is to improve productivity and realise
the potential of our mines and focus on optimising
and embedding safe production processes,
capability upliftment and prioritising basic
mining process skills.
The initiative was prompted by a range of
factors influencing productivity in the broader
South African coal mining industry. These include
coal resource depletion; mining progressing into
geologically challenging areas; improved safety
standards requiring a significant increase in roof
support; and shortages in underground coal mining
skills. We are on track with the phased roll-out.
Implementation at our four remaining Secunda
collieries will commence in the first half of the
new financial year and is planned to be
completed by the end of June 2024. In the
meantime, we are continuing with complex-wide
initiatives to improve cutting time and reduce
production losses.
Coal quality
Since 2020, there has been a structural shift of
increased ash and sinks* in the coal we have
delivered. We have an enhanced understanding
of these coal-quality issues and are working
to rectify them through a combination of
interventions, namely improving in-section quality
controls; securing better quality coal through
* ‘Non-coal’ or inorganic rock within Run-of-Mine (ROM) coal with a relative density >1.95
SASOL INTEGRATED REPORT 2023
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external coal purchase contracts; and
implementing technological solutions.
Technological solutions such as coal destoning
have the potential to become major enablers
for better value chain performance by reducing
ash and sinks* content.
We will continue with operator training to improve
quality awareness; implementing mechanical
horizon control technologies on our in-section
mining equipment; and improvements in our coal
quality sampling processes.
Our Integrated Quality Management centre
will leverage digital and Artificial Intelligence
technologies to influence the blending of coal at
mine source and improve the quality of the overall
blended product.
Cost management
To realise cost savings we have established
a dedicated cost task team focusing on pinpointing
and implementing cost management measures.
