Introduction

KwaZulu-Natal is located on the Indian Ocean seaboard and is one of South Africa's nine provinces occupying 92,100 square kilometres - equivalent to 7.6% of the total land area of the country. Of all the nine provinces in South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal occupies the third smallest land area.

Part of the east coast of Africa, it stretches from Port Edward in the south to the Swaziland and Mozambique borders to the north.

Mining Industry in the province

Mining and mineral beneficiation contributes around 6.5% of South Africa's GDP and is the country's largest single private employer (500 000 people), with small-scale mining operations making a significant contribution to job creation.

KwaZulu-Natal has mined coal for over one hundred years. However, since 1982, the province‟s production has steadily decreased from 20Mt to 2.5Mt in 2005,at present production numbers are on the rise due to the number of new collieries being commissioned by junior mining companies in the province.

In comparison to the other South African coal deposits, KwaZulu-Natal coal mining is difficult due to large topographic differences, structural complexities and thin seams. However, KwaZulu-Natal is advantageously positioned with respect to the export markets due to the proximity of the ports of Durban and Richards Bay.

At present, there are exactly about 6 collieries operating in the province at present, mostly mining Anthracite for the domestic market and quite a little bit for the export market. The industry contributes just over 1.5% to the provincial GDP at present, but set to sour given the increased exploration activity across the province.

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