Witbank

Witbank is situated on the highveld of Mpumalanga, South Africa. The name Witbank is Afrikaans for White Ridge and is named after a white sandstone outcrop where wagon transport drivers rested. Witbank is in the coal mining area with 22 collieries in an area no more than 40 km in any direction. There are a number of coal power stations nearby, as well as a steel mill requiring coal, Highveld Steel and Vanadium Corporation.

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Witbank was established in 1890 and early attempts to exploit the coal deposits failed until the railway from Pretoria reached the area in 1894. It was proclaimed a town in 1903 and became a municipality in 1914.

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Highveld: The Highveld is a high plateau area of South Africa which includes the largest metropolitan area in the country, Johannesburg. The area of the Highveld is the size of Belgium, starting east of the Johannesburg center and stretching to the Swaziland border, encompassing rural and urban areas of arou...

South Africa: :This article is about the country called South Africa. For the region, see southern Africa....

Coal: Coal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by deep mining, coal mining (open-pit mining or strip mining). It is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock. It is composed primarily of carbon and hydrocarbons, along with assorted other elements, including sulfur. Often associ...