South African Coal Mining Holdings has announced the opening of its Umlabu siding situated about 3 kilometers from the Umlabu coal mine, South Africa’s Mpumalanga province.

South African Coal stated that it would now gain significant cost savings on coal haulage to its Blinkpan siding which was 87 kilometer away from the mine, near Ermelo.

Mr Karl Gribnitz CEO of South African Coal Mining Holdings said that “This is an exciting development in our infrastructure project. The opening of the Umlabu siding will be followed by a second phase of infrastructure development that is the construction of an overland conveyor and a rapid loading system. We are also currently in discussions with Transnet Freight Rail to electrify the line between the Umlabu siding and Ermelo, thereby cutting back on bottlenecks at the Ermelo coal line and further increasing our efficiency.”