Former Gupta-linked Optimum Coal Mine goes up in flames

, ,

Optimum Coal Mine in Middelburg, Mpumalanga went up in flames after a fire set the mine’s conveyor belts alight on Sunday.

The Middleburg Observer reports that while it is unclear what caused the fire, it is believed that it may be sabotage.

Initial reports suggest that the fire started next to the conveyor belts and then spread onto the mine grounds.

The former Gupta-linked mine, which supplied coal to Eskom, had gone under business rescue in February 2018.

Gupta-owned Tegeta bought Optimum from Glencore in 2016 for R2.15bn in a deal shrouded in mystery, Fin24 previously reported.

Business rescue practitioner, Louis Klopper told News24 on Monday he did not want to speculate on the circumstances surrounding the incident.

“One of the overhead transmission cables fell down into the dry grass and set it alight, simple as that…Full Story

Related Posts

BRICS Will Soon Account for More Than Half the World Economy

The combined economies of the BRICS member states – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – are set to expand by about 20 percent in roughly a decade, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has announced. “The BRICS countries’ economy today accounts for a third of the global economy. According to our conservative estimates, by […]

South African mining returns to profitability, despite challenging environment – PwC

BY: Simone Liedtke | Mining Weekly JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The South African mining industry returned to profitability this year, despite a challenging operating environment owing to regulatory uncertainty, energy constraints, labour disputes, illegal mining activities and a skills shortage, PwC’s eleventh ‘SA Mine’ edition, published on Thursday, shows. PwC Africa energy utilities and resources leader Andries Rossouw said […]