3
The following programmes/projects for the different
steering committees are currently in the portfolio:
Mining
y
y
Continuation phases for the examination of cutting
head methane ignitions on continuous miners
y
y
Quantitative Pillar Design – Phase 1
y
y
Improved utilisation of underground coal reserves.
Processing
y
y
Dry separation methodology – dry dense medium for
coarse coal/Sepair
y
y
Dry dense medium application for fine coals and the
use of ilmenite as a medium for dry dense medium
separation
y
y
Evaluation of the horizontal winnower
y
y
Ceramic assisted drying of fine coal spiral and flotation
product
Environment
y
y
Development of soil health microbial biomarkers as
indicators of ecosystem recovery following surface
mine reclamation
y
y
Bee keeping as a viable post-closure business for crop
production affiliate
y
y
The use of Dung Beetles to improve post-mine
and use
y
y
The issuance of an update for Guidelines for
Rehabilitation
y
y
Rehabilitation Decision Interface for Coal Mining
y
y
Development of a Framework for Post-Mining
Land Use
During 2017 two PhD and two MSc students and a
MEng student completed their studies, bringing the
total number of students supported by Coaltech to 120.
On behalf of the Board I would like to thank all the
researchers for their dedication and hard work and
delivering high quality outputs on all the Coaltech
projects. Detailed reports on the progress of some of the
projects are given in this Annual Report.
Finally, I would like to thank the board members for
their support during this year of my chairmanship.
A special thank you to Clinton Lee of South 32, the deputy
chairman till February 2017, our outgoing executive
director, Johann Beukes, his successor Henk Lodewijks
and our administrator, Carmen Bergman-Ally. A special
word of thanks to my employer, Anglo American Coal for
supporting me in my endeavours on behalf of Coaltech.
David Power
Chairman of Coaltech Research Association
