South African coal junior Miranda Minerals said that its Sesikhona colliery, in KwaZulu-Natal, had received the machinery required for production to start.

CEO Ron Nel noted in a monthly newsletter to shareholders that mining contractor, Stefanutti Stocks Mining Services, has begun removing topsoil, terracing the area, constructing haulage roads and storm-water trenches.

The recruitment and training of the required workforce was also proceeding “satisfactorily”, he said.

The flagship colliery, which was Miranda’s first opencast coal mine to start production, was expected to produce about 70 000-t/m run-of-mine over the 50 months of the phase-one development.

A number of other Miranda collieries would go into production in the months to come.