The first delivery of coal is expected to commence this month, in line with the company’s first commercial production beginning in February, in accordance with the 2 million tonne per annum offtake agreement with leading South African power utility Eskom.

Remaining production will target the lucrative export market via a 100,000tpa offtake agreement with South African coal producer Exxaro Resources.

Kangala is the first coal mine for the company and operations are increasing towards its nameplate capacity of 2.4 million tonnes per annum.

“This marks a significant milestone as we progress towards becoming a mid-tier coal producer,” Universal Coal CEO Tony Weber said.

Universal has a portfolio of producing, development and exploration assets across South Africa, which contains more than 1.9 billion tonnes of JORC-compliant resources.

Following Kangala, Universal intends to develop the export-focused Roodekop project, which shares a common border with Exxaro’s New Clydesdale Colliery.

Universal has announced a deal to acquire NCC, which will fast-track the company’s progress towards becoming a mid-tier producer.

In addition to its thermal coal projects, the company has completed earn-in agreements over two coking project areas that contain a combined 1.68Bt JORC-compliant resource.