Mining
Mchenga targets to hike coal production
May 16, 2025 / Wahard Betha
Minister of Mining, Dr. Kenneth Zikhale Ng’oma touring Mchenga’s pavillion
Rumphi based Mchenga Coal Mine says it is working on plans to hike monthly coal production from the current 3000 tonnes to 5000 tonnes once it fully opens a planned new mine at the site.
In an interview with Mining and Trade Review, Safety, Health and Environmental Officer for Mchenga Adams Blessings Kasambara explained that plans are underway to open a new mine that will sink 200 meters deep, which is expected scale up production to 400 metric tonnes per day.
Mchenga Coal Mine which currently employs about 283 people from within the communities surrounding the mine, currently, supplies coal to the local market but Kasambara said the Company is currently considering penetrating the export market and has established business relations with Rwandan companies.
Kasambara said: “The plan of scaling up our production is there, but the challenge remains the foreign exchange shortage.”
“Forex has been our main challenge as we are failing to import some of the equipment to increase production."
On Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Kasamabara said Mchenga is currently helping Jalawe Community Day Secondary School in construction of dining hall and kitchen unit by supplying sand, quarry and machines to the contractor.
Mchenga’s other CSR programmes in the area include provision of free health facilities and drugs to surrounding communities; free portable water and; construction of school blocks and teachers’ houses; chief’s houses; playing fields; and renovation of roads.
The Mine continues to provide its employees and their families with social amenities including a clinic, a primary school, kindergarten, a subsidized shop, sporting facilities, electricity, a club with pay television (DSTV), a maize mill and portable water.
It also provides internship opportunities to students from tertiary instituions and in-house training in Mining Engineering.
Considering issues of environmental rehabilitation, the company approximately planted 2000 tree seedlings of mibawa and 300 of mahagony in eroded and abandoned areas.
Coal at Mchenga Mine is extracted using Room and Pillar method, which involves the application of underground working variation of Board and Pillar configurations, a competitive method in ground control measures for stability and safety.
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Rehabilitation:
The establishment of a stable and self-sustaining ecosystem, but not necessarily the one that existed before mining began. In many cases, complete restoration may be impossible, but successful remediation, reclamation, and rehabilitation can result in the timely establishment of a functional ecosystem.
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Remediation:
The cleanup of the contaminated area to safe levels by removing or isolating contaminants. At mine sites, remediation often consists of isolating contaminated material in pre-existing tailings storage facilities, capping tailings and waste rock stockpiles with clean topsoil, and collecting and treating any contaminated mine water if necessary.
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