The coal handling and preparation plant consists of primary and secondary sizing stations, overland conveyor, two 7,500t silos, low gravity and high gravity dense medium separation (DMS) modules, thickener circuit, filter plant and a stacker conveyor. The plant will produce both a domestic and an export product.

Alistair Hodgkinson, senior vice president at DRA, commented: “We are excited to partner once again with such a prestigious organisation. The quality of our engineering designs in the earlier project phases as well as our competitive pricing and well-established reputation in coal projects ultimately secured us the work when Exxaro embarked on a campaign to develop one of their key coal assets in the Belfast area. This latest partnership allows DRA the opportunity to showcase our vast experience in successfully implementing large-scale coal projects and the added value we can offer our clients on any project.”

The project will commence in January 2018 and is expected to be completed in October 2019.

Hodgkinson concluded: “We look forward to the successful completion of this project and accompanying Exxaro on their development campaign in the area.”