Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) hopes to ramp up coal production to six million tonnes per year following the commissioning of mining equipment worth $31,2 million last week.
“We expect our production capacity to significantly improve to 450 000 tonnes per month amounting to an annual coal production of close to six million tonnes per year once we start utilising the new equipment being commissioned today,” said Thomas Makore, the listed coal miner’s managing director.
This comes as the coal miner, which is currently operating at 45 percent capacity, is optimistic that capacity utilisation will go up on the back of the new equipment.
The new equipment, comprising dump trucks and excavators, was acquired from BELAZ and BEML under vendor-financed facilities, with the PTA Bank funding $18,2 million for the purchase of the machinery from BELAZ and the India Exim Bank then financed the purchase of equipment from BEML.
BELAZ supplied the coal miner with 10 dump trucks, five front-end loaders and two wheel dozers, while BEML supplied HCCL with two excavators, two water bowsers, three front-end loaders, three bulldozers, three drill rigs, a motor grader and one tyre handler. Daily News
