{"id":265558,"date":"2025-11-16T06:00:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T07:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/?p=265558"},"modified":"2025-11-17T06:05:37","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T06:05:37","slug":"liberty-coal-takes-charge-at-optimum-colliery-as-mine-reopens-and-rebuilds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/builder\/liberty-coal-takes-charge-at-optimum-colliery-as-mine-reopens-and-rebuilds\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberty Coal takes charge at Optimum Colliery as mine reopens and rebuilds"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post<\/a> was originally published on this site<\/a><\/p>

<\/p>\n

Tawanda Karombo<\/p>\n

Liberty Coal Mine Services (LMS) has become the principal mining contractor at Mpumalanga-based Optimum Colliery.<\/span><\/p>\n

R<\/span>e-opening of Optimum Coal mine, with potential to produce 13.5 million tons of the energy commodity, <\/span>is projected to be a boost for<\/span> Eskom\u2019s<\/span> electricity<\/span> generation in addition to restoring employment for the more than 500 workers at the mine, as well as pushing up exports of the <\/span>energy <\/span>mineral.<\/span><\/p>\n

Controversy has dogged the former Gupta family-owned Optimum Coal Mine. <\/span><\/p>\n

Liberty Coal and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had jointly approached the Pretoria High Court and obtained a settlement order to allow the Optimum Mine to exit business rescue, trade as a going concern and to begin the process of rebuilding the mine.<\/span><\/p>\n

Liberty on Friday announced that Liberty Mine Services, a related company, had been appointed as <\/span>principal<\/span> mining contractor at Optimum. The contractor will operate separately with its own <\/span>independent management<\/span> team, charged with development of mining operations at the colliery.<\/span><\/p>\n

Liberty<\/span> Coal <\/span>said the appointment of LMS marks a significant milestone in the progressive restoration and rebuilding of the Optimum Colliery.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an exciting new chapter for Optimum. Our goal is to establish a stable,<\/span> sustainable <\/span>and well-managed<\/span> mining <\/span>operation that delivers long-term value for all stakeholders,\u201d said Liberty acting CEO, Hlayiseka Chauke.<\/span><\/p>\n

Liberty also <\/span>said it has been investing in <\/span>major capital<\/span> projects that include the rebuilding of draglines. It now expects to introduce new mining equipment at Optimum Coal mine, with production ramping up.<\/span><\/p>\n

In November last year, a<\/span> bitter dispute between Liberty Coal and Kego Mining spilled into the Mumalanga High Court over the control of some mining rights at Optimum Coal Mine that re-opened this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Optimum Coal Mine was previously controlled by the Guptas and President Jacob Zuma\u2019s son Duduzane Zuma, with the NPA obtaining a court application for two forfeiture orders on the grounds that the Guptas bought the mine with proceeds from corruption.<\/span><\/p>\n

Oakbay Investments, a company of the Guptas and Duduzane Zuma, bought Optimum from Glencore Resources in 2016 for $145 million. <\/span><\/p>\n

The mine, at one time the third largest open cast operation in South Africa, supplied thermal coal to the local and export markets.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gia Nicolaides, <\/span>c<\/span>hief <\/span>s<\/span>trategist for<\/span> Liberty, said the a<\/span>ppointment of LMS <\/span>was a m<\/span>ilestone in the restoration and rebuilding of the <\/span>mine.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The latest move follows historic concerns with performance and delivery of contractually agreed volumes with independent contractors Salaria (Pty) Ltd and the Veralogix group of companies,” Nicolaides said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, LMS has <\/span>signed a Section 197 agreement to take on <\/span>board as many as <\/span>530 of qualifying employees <\/span>that are <\/span>currently working at the Optimum Colliery<\/span>. The <\/span>first <\/span>group of mineworkers from Optimum has already been <\/span>on-boarded<\/span>, with those remaining excpected to be transferred later this month.<\/span><\/p>\n

“With the introduction of Liberty Mine Services and increased investment in equipment, systems and workforce stability, Liberty Coal is setting Optimum Colliery on a path toward reliable, responsible and profitable production,” Chauke stated.<\/span><\/p>\n

After assuming control of Optimum Coal Mine,<\/span> Liberty Coal was to pay around R460 million to the state and assume liability for a further R1 billion owed to various creditors<\/span>, according to reports.<\/span><\/p>\n

BUSINESS REPORT<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tawanda KaromboLiberty Coal Mine Services (LMS) has become the principal mining contractor at Mpumalanga-based Optimum Colliery.Re-opening of Optimum Coal mine, with potential to produce 13.5 million tons of the energy commodity,\u00a0is projected to be a boost for\u00a0Eskom\u2019s\u00a0electricity generation in addition to restoring employment for the more than 500 workers at the mine, as well as pushing up exports of the\u00a0energy\u00a0mineral.Controversy has dogged the former Gupta family-owned Optimum Coal Mine. Liberty Coal and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had jointly approached the Pretoria High Court and obtained a settlement order to allow the Optimum Mine to exit business rescue, trade as a going concern and to begin the process of rebuilding the mine.Liberty on Friday announced that Liberty Mine Services, a related company, had been appointed as\u00a0principal\u00a0mining contractor at Optimum. The contractor will operate separately with its own\u00a0independent management\u00a0team, charged with development of mining operations at the colliery.Liberty\u00a0Coal\u00a0said the appointment of LMS marks a significant milestone in the progressive restoration and rebuilding of the Optimum Colliery.\u201cThis is an exciting new chapter for Optimum. Our goal is to establish a stable,\u00a0sustainable\u00a0and well-managed\u00a0mining\u00a0operation that delivers long-term value for all stakeholders,\u201d said Liberty acting CEO, Hlayiseka Chauke.Liberty also said it has been investing in\u00a0major capital\u00a0projects that include the rebuilding of draglines. It now expects to introduce new mining equipment at Optimum Coal mine, with production ramping up.In November last year, a\u00a0bitter dispute between Liberty Coal and Kego Mining spilled into the Mumalanga High Court over the control of some mining rights at Optimum Coal Mine that re-opened this year.The Optimum Coal Mine was previously controlled by the Guptas and President Jacob Zuma\u2019s son Duduzane Zuma, with the NPA obtaining a court application for two forfeiture orders on the grounds that the Guptas bought the mine with proceeds from corruption.Oakbay Investments, a company of the Guptas and Duduzane Zuma, bought Optimum from Glencore Resources in 2016 for $145 million.\u00a0The mine, at one time the third largest open cast operation in South Africa, supplied thermal coal to the local and export markets.Gia Nicolaides,\u00a0chief\u00a0strategist for Liberty, said the appointment of LMS\u00a0was a milestone in the restoration and rebuilding of the\u00a0mine.”The latest move follows historic concerns with performance and delivery of contractually agreed volumes with independent contractors Salaria (Pty) Ltd and the Veralogix group of companies,” Nicolaides said.Furthermore, LMS has\u00a0signed a Section 197 agreement to take on\u00a0board as many as\u00a0530 of qualifying employees\u00a0that are\u00a0currently working at the Optimum Colliery. The\u00a0first\u00a0group of mineworkers from Optimum has already been\u00a0on-boarded, with those remaining excpected to be transferred later this month.”With the introduction of Liberty Mine Services and increased investment in equipment, systems and workforce stability, Liberty Coal is setting Optimum Colliery on a path toward reliable, responsible and profitable production,” Chauke stated.After assuming control of Optimum Coal Mine, Liberty Coal was to pay around R460 million to the state and assume liability for a further R1 billion owed to various creditors, according to reports.BUSINESS REPORT<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":265560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-265558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-builder"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265558"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":265559,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265558\/revisions\/265559"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}