The Wolvenfontein coal project is located 80km east of Johannesburg and 4km south of the town of Delmas, near the company’s Vlakplaats coal project, which has a JORC-compliant resource of 187.7 million tonnes.

In addition to the project’s close proximity to infrastructure, the Wolvenfontein tenement is bordered by four operating collieries and a number of advanced coal projects including Exxaro’s Leeuwpan mine.

Continental chief executive officer Don Turvey said the acquisition of the Wolvenfontein project would further consolidate the company’s position in the Delmas area.

“The acquisition of the Wolvenfontein coal project is an opportunistic acquisition and strategically important to the company, given its proximity to the Vlakplaats coal project that we have in joint venture with KORES,” Turvey said.

“These two coal projects now have in excess of 220 million tonnes of resources that we will be looking to advance through feasibility studies and towards development in the coming 18 to 24 months.”

Meanwhile, the company achieved positive production results from its Ferreira coal mine during the month of October, with run of mine increasing 13% above the monthly average to 69,228t.

Continental’s Vlakvarkfontein coal mine achieved ROM coal production of 102,796 t, a 9% hike on the monthly average, while coal sales dropped approximately 9% below the record monthly sales average of 128,148t.