COAL mining group Coal of Africa confirmed on Friday that its talks for a public-private partnership with Transnet Freight Rail to boost future export capacity were still in progress.

The company is listed in London, Australia and on the JSE, but its key projects are in SA, where it owns coal mines at Mooiplaats in Mpumalanga, and Vele and Makhado in Limpopo.

The company has been working on ensuring that it has suitable routes to export coal through nearby ports. It said on Friday it was still in talks with the state owned rail group to increase its access along the Maputo rail corridor and into the Matola terminal in Maputo, Mozambique.

Coal of Africa said it was talking to Transnet Freight Rail in order to ensure the availability of rail capacity to match the port capacity that the company had recently secured from Matola’s owner, Grindrod. Coal of Africa’s export capacity through the Matola terminal stands at 1-million tons a year.

This is expected to rise to 3 million tons by late next year, with further potential to reach 13-million tons after an additional 10 million-ton expansion by the creation of a new, dedicated coal export terminal.

The company wants to secure the use of the Maputo corridor as a viable export route for coal producers, and as an alternative to the Richards Bay Coal Terminal in northern KwaZuluNatal.

The Richards Bay Coal Terminal is one of the world’s largest coal export terminals, and is in the process of increasing its capacity to about 100-million tons a year.

“Although terms and conditions have yet to be finalised, Transnet Freight Rail and Coal of Africa are committed to the process, and are exploring all options to ensure a solution is found that will meet the overall objective of facilitating the use of the Maputo corridor as a viable export route for coal producers, and an alternative to the Richards Bay Coal Terminal,” Coal of Africa said.

Commenting on the progress of the talks earlier this month, Transnet Freight Rail GM Fuzile Magwa said the rail group was close to signing a public-private partnership deal with Coal of Africa, and that it could be the first of a string of similar deals.

Magwa said that Transnet Freight Rail wanted to increase its coal export volumes through Matola from 2-million tons a year this year to 10-million in its 2013 14 financial year, and the key to achieving this would be finalising the public-private partnership agreement with Coal of Africa.

He said Coal of Africa was prepared to pay for the wagons required to move the coal on the Maputo corridor line to the terminal. Magwa said Transnet Freight Rail would be looking at public-private partnerships “of all kinds” as it sought to grow rail volumes of both export coal and domestic coal, in particular to supply Eskom power stations.

Coal of Africa’s finance director, Blair Sergeant, said the company had already invested $35m in the Matola terminal.

“These are not pie-in-the-sky plans. They have been well thought out,” Sergeant said.

He said although the public private partnerships had not been signed yet, the company was “highly encouraged” by the comments that Magwa had made.