COA entered into the definitive agreement with Rothe Investment, owned by black economic empowerment companies Terracotta Processing and Vibrant Veterans Minerals Resources and local community-owned company King Makhado Holdings to acquire the 26% shareholding in COA subsidiary Keynote Trading & Investment, which will acquire the Chapudi project upon completion of its acquisition from Rio Tinto and Kwezi Mining.

Terracotta and Vibrant Veterans each have a 30% holding in Rothe, while King Makhado holds the remaining 40%.

The transaction with Rothe is part of the requirements set out by South Africa’s Mining Charter and the Minerals Resource and Petroleum Development Act which aim to ensure a wider group of stakeholders participate in mining projects.

COA chief executive officer John Wallington said the transaction would enable closer alignment with important stakeholders, including the communities that live in the immediate proximity of the project area.

“We recognise that the development of our projects needs to generate real and meaningful benefits for the local communities, the local economy and socio-economic transformation in general,” Wallington said.

“We welcome our new partners in the transaction and look forward to working with them and the communities in the development of the various projects in the years to come.”

The Chapudi tenement holds both thermal and coking coal properties.