Rio Tinto has announced the discovery of an open-pittable coal resource of 1.04 billion tonnes in the Limpopo Province in South Africa.
The find comes at a time when South Africa is looking to rapidly increase its generating capacity following weeks of severe power shortages which shut down the country's coal industry last month.
The discovery at Chapudi was made through Rio Tinto's coal exploration programme in the Limpopo (Soutpansberg) coal basin, in conjunction with partner Kwezi Mining.
"This is a significant find in an area that has previously been viewed as having little geological potential," says CEO of Rio Tinto Energy & Minerals Preston Chiaro.
"The basin offers the opportunity to produce a range of products, from thermal to hard coking coal for the export markets."
Rio says it is planning the next phase of the project while continuing with exploration activities for thermal and coking coal east of the Chapudi site.
Exploration rights over the resource are held by two JV companies: Chapudi Coal PTY (Rio Tinto 70%) and Kwezi Mining Exploration PTY Ltd (Rio Tinto 49%).
By Ozge Ibrahim
