Kangra coal mine recommences operations

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The management of Kangra, a subsidiary of private investment company Menar, has over the last few weeks engaged various stakeholders to enable smooth commencement of operations that were suspended in March 2020.

Bradley Hammond, Menar chief operating officer, who is overseeing the resumption of operations, said that Kangra was in the process of ramping up operations in order to meet customer supply requirements. "We want to thank the communities and the Community Forum for the assistance and support during the closure. If we work together, we can stay open in these challenging times," stated Hammond

Kangra is also planning to develop the Kusipongo resource, which is located to the west of the existing mining operations and is a natural extension of Kangra’s current coal resource. It has a coal reserve of around 41.9 million tonnes and would extend the life of the mine by more than 20 year.

The mine was placed on care and maintenance after the collapse of export markets. Low thermal coal prices due to a supply glut and low demand meant it was unsustainable for the Menar Group to carry the cost of running a high-cost underground mine. However, over the past several months the gradual improvement in thermal coal prices, along with internal and external price modelling, has given confidence that the mine will operate profitably over the longer term, which has resulted in Kangra reopening.