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Johannesburg - Production has ceased at Coal of Africa Limited's (CoAL's) Vele Colliery in Limpopo to prepare for a R220m expansion at the mine, the company said on Tuesday.
"A collaborative and inclusive engagement process with the contractor companies operating at the mine has been concluded, with 49 people retained," it said in a statement.
"A total of 138 employees have been redeployed to other operations and 155 employees were retrenched."
CoAL said its board approved the expansion in August.
"The approval follows the re-evaluation and confirmation of the quality of coal at Vele and the conclusion of a review of the current operations," it said.
"As part of that process and in order for the colliery to reduce the current cash losses incurred, the colliery will cease production during October 2013 in order to prepare for the construction phase of the announced expansion."
The fundraising for the expansion should be completed by March 2014 and the expansion would be completed at the end of that year. The colliery would be at full production at the end of 2015.
