Rail link stymies Coega’s manganese ore plans

Coega Development Corporation is ‘emphatically’ ready to receive manganese ore and ferro-manganese to channel for shipment from the deep-sea port of Ngqura, according to project director Peter Inman. But the facility will only be functional once Transnet completes its link, he told delegates at a Metal Bulletin conference in Johannesburg recently “Coega can receive consignments today,” he said. However, the only way this can happen is if a rail link is built to the facility. This is currently in the feasibility study phase, according to Transnet’s Cleopatra Shiceka, general manager at the office of the CEO. Inman said that the port would only be ready by 2018, only because Transnet’s construction of the whole rail network dedicated to manganese production would only be completed then. However, manganese exporters have been told “to be out of the Port Elizabeth port” by 2016, according to one manganese producer. “Now I hear the port will only be ready by 2018. What are we to do then between 2016 and 2018?” the producer asked Inman during a question and answer session. “You can’t close the port down until the new facility is running,” Inman answered. “They can’t shut it down until the new ones can operate. It is simple. As eager as everyone is to clear the mess out of the PE port, we have to be stuck with it for a little longer, until we can move it out of there.” Coega has available five zones for manganese operators. According to Inman, these are ready and waiting. CAPTION: The Port of Ngqura ... ‘emphatically’ ready.