[File photo] SA's 3rd Investment ConferenceSA Investment ConferenceIn 2018, Exxaro pledged R20-billion towards the development of its thermal coal mining operations and renewable energy investment, in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and the Eastern Cape.
Recently, there has been a lot of debate on the future of coal. And with the country’s goal to reach zero-net emissions by 2050, many have come out to say that the coal mining industry has no future in South Africa. But, Exxaro’s Executive Head of Projects and Technology, Johan Meyer, says this cannot be further from the truth.
In 2018, the coal mining company pledged R20 billion in investment that saw over 48 000 people benefiting from eight of its nine mega projects and creating over 6 000 jobs. “We’ve just recently come to an end of that investment in terms of those projects that have been completed and as a result of that investment we’ve seen our production volumes increase both in terms of continuing operations that are coming to the end of their lives but the most significant increase was in our exports wherein 2020 we were able to export just over 20 million tons.”