Coal Mining

The grasslands types contains a rich mineral wealth, including coal, gold, diamonds (alluvial and underground), platinum, and stone. Of these coal mining is the most significant mining sector in terms of spatial coverage and the countries second biggest mining sector after gold.

South Africa is one of the top five countries in the world in terms of coal production, coal consumption and coal exports. Coal is currently the second largest earner of foreign exchange in SA and contributes 4% of the GDP. Most of the coal produced is consumed locally as 92% of South Africa’s electricity is produced by coal-powered generation plants. Export coal comprises 27% of sector volume and 51% of total income. Demand for coal is increasing locally and internationally due to demand for electricity. South Africa has the fifth largest coal reserve (48.8 billion tons or 10.2%) in the world. As oil and natural gas reserves decline, coal will become more strategically important as it is estimated that global coal reserves can last at least 190 years if efficiencies in mining and utilisation can be improved.

Coal is extracted either by underground mining or open-cast mining, with 40% of coal in South Africa being extracted by open-cast methods. Open-cast coal mining has a devastating impact on biodiversity because it has the effect of removing biodiversity values from the landscape permanently. Coal mining expansion is happening at a rapid rate across the highveld grasslands, resulting in increasing pressure on grasslands biodiversity, including a negative impact of on wetlands as mining resources often underlie wetlands. There are also off-site impacts on wetlands affected by water abstraction.