The 2017 free mining journalism tour to Phalanndwa Colliery mine
On the 6th of September 2017, the Menar Academy and Canyon Company has done a great Job by offering 19 journalists across Gauteng province a trip to Phalanndwa operating mine in Delmas. This was done after the end of two-day workshops at Hyatt Regency in Rosebank.Three excited student’s journalists: Julie Mahlase, Abigail Masengana and Nhlanhla Skosana.
The sites visits were done with the goal of informing media scholars about the production processes in the mining sector and give them clarity of covering stories about mining beats since South Africa is popularly known as a country with plenty of mineral resources. Phalanndwa is one of the three mines under canon mine, it started in October 2010, and it was fully operational, inclusive of its wash plant in 2013.
The views of Phalanndwa coal mine.
The lecture of the day was moderated by GM Alan Mabbett about the safety and security measures in the mine as well as the process of mining. Again Mabbett explained their previous community engagements that the mine has accomplished in the past.
Giving back to community
As helping, hands Canyon Coal has managed to help about 35 disabled kids with physical needs from Bonginhlanhla Stimulation Center,
The website that caters for deaf and visually impaired people, as a platform to accommodate disabled people.
The building of the pedestrian’s bridge from Ematshotshombeni to Gomasakho to help residents to cross over the river safely.
The centre for ABET training to local residents in Mpumalanga.
The following were outlined in the PowerPoint presented by Alan Mabbett about their workforce profiles:
Through the company statistics, they were 2% of employees who reached 55, 35-55 workers were estimated to be 52 % and finally, 46% of their employees were 35 years of age. 83, 2% of the employees are male and 16, 8 are female workers.
Canyon has about 244 employees, they had achieved to yield about 60% of coal, and their main challenge is pumping water underground. The miners at Phalanndwa are able to mines about 43000 tons of coal every month, and they had to remove approximately 300, 000 waste of rocks and sold every month to get the coal. The company exports their minerals mainly to countries such as Switzerland and Turkey. Among the attendees were journalists from different organizations such as Business Day, Creamer Media, CNBC Africa, Interact Media, Fin24, Jacaranda FM, Power FM, Kaya FM, Middelburg Observer, Thomson Reuters, BDTV, College Publishers, Pretoria Technical College, Tshwane University of Technology and the University of Johannesburg. After the presentations, each attendee was gifted with free uniforms to go to the mining laboratory and explore the viewpoint of the Phalanndwa colliery mine.
By Julie Mahlase
