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Hatch Africa’s Lister Sinclair on delivering the hallmark Kolomela mine

T h e k n o w l e d g e y o u n e e d f r o m T h e i n d u s T r y e x p e r T s

ISSN 1999-8872 • R35.00 (incl. VAT) • Vol. 5 • No. 7• July 2012

IRON ORE & MANGANESE

A Kalahari Basin banquet

A new era for extra-heavy haulage

The CaT 797FAFRICAN

INFRASTRUCTUREPioneers of the future

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Hatch Africa’s Lister Sinclair on delivering the

hallmark Kolomela mine

T H E K N O W L E D G E Y O U N E E D F R O M T H E I N D U S T R Y E X P E R T S

ISSN 1999-8872 • R35.00 (incl. VAT) • Vol. 5 • No. 7• July 2012

IRON ORE & MANGANESE

A Kalahari Basin banquet

A new era for extra-heavy haulage

AA ffTHE CAT 797F

AFRICAN INFRASTRUCTURE

Pioneers of the future

LABORATORIES AND CHEMICALS

The artistry of analysis

HOT SEAT

T H E K N O W L E D G E Y O U N E E D F R O M T H E I N D U S T R Y E X P E R T S

iningN O W L E D G E Y O U N E E D F R O

July 2012July 2012CONTENTSA new era for extra-heavy haulage – the Cat 797F is followed by a Cat 795F AC truck along a mine haulage route. P6

22

EDITOR’S COMMENT33 Blindsided – what happened to platinum?

MINING NEWS44 The top mining stories headlining this month

HOT TOPIC1010 Vantage Goldfi elds’ gold-laden Lily

HOT SEAT1616 A Hatch hallmark

FERROUS METALS1313 Kumba’s Kolomela is a knockout

2222 ARM Ferrous bullish on manganese and iron ore

2626 Kaboko bears manganese fruit in Zambia

2828 Lehating’s manganese masterminds

3030 Kudumane’s major manganese appetite

INFRASTRUCTURE IN AFRICA3636 Is the African continent South Africa’s saving grace?

4040 Doing away with conventional wastewater treatment

4747 Water on tap – it can be a reality

LABORATORIES AND CHEMICALS5050 SGS expands across Africa

5252 A new nitric acid plant in Sasolburg

5555 Elite analytical experts in action

OPENCAST MINING5858 Can you weather the weather?

6262 Ferrex ferrets

PROJECT DELIVERY6464 The weight and worth of waste management

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CETERUM CENSEO6868 ... and onward marches the skills shortage

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58

1Ins ide Mining 07 /2012

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Editor’s comment

I have been blindsided by our plati-num industry’s spiralling crash. I just didn’t see it coming, although with hindsight the signs were staring me in the face. I blame my tunnel vision on the over-abundant iron ore and manga-nese activity in the Northern Cape, which I have been devoted to sharing with you.

It appears that July’s main commodity fea-ture – ferrous metals – could not have been bet-ter timed. If you delve into this issue’s pages, you will quickly discover what a ‘field day’ I had picking and choosing from the multitude of projects emerging across the iron ore and manganese industries.

The Northern Cape’s Kalahari Basin, home to a massive of manganese and iron ore resource, is playing host to a multitude of new players that have claimed their piece of the property pie, and are working hard towards developing ounces for the local and international market’s hungry de-mand and consumption.

It goes without saying, of course, that our country’s major miners, predominantly Assmang (and African Rainbow Minerals (ARM)), have ex-pansion plans of their own. They are dedicating many hours to Transnet Freight Rail with the hopes that an expanded iron ore and manganese export line gets the ‘green light’. “We are bull-ish that these billion rand projects will go ahead, and our mines’ expansions will follow suit,” says ARM Ferrous chief executive, Jan Steenkamp.

I also had the fortune of attending Kumba Iron Ore’s ‘official’ opening of its new Kolomela mine, located just outside of Postmasburg.

There goes an additional 9 Mtpa to the Saldan-ha port for export, and already the possibility of an expansion plan is in the pipeline.

Let us not even delve into Africa and the drove of companies aiming to develop new iron ore mines there – it seems there are not even enough laboratories to cater to the demand for sampling. See the story on page 50 for further details.

But when you are so busy focusing on the in-dustry highs, the lows are always hanging in the wings. Was I too focused on our booming ferrous metals industry not to see the platinum industry start crashing down in front of my very eyes?

Sure, the platinum price has been looking more than a little depressed for a little while now, but so much so that mines are closing and develop-ments are being frozen – again? Didn’t the reces-sion just end?

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What happened to platinum?Even when you see such a situation heading

straight for you, it can still take you by surprise, so you can imagine the horror I feel as I write and realise that, in the space of a week, Marikana and Everest were put on care and maintenance, East-ern Platinum has put its Mareesburg project (in development) on hold, Anglo American Platinum is drawing back on its platinum cash funds and even junior Platinum Australia is reviewing the future of its troublesome Smokey Hills operation. Let’s hope it’s still open when this issue comes out. Even the robust Royal Bafokeng Platinum has announced its plans to decrease spending while this depressed platinum market remains – its ex-ploration is on hold, a new chairlift is no longer on the cards and an upgrade at the Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum Mine concentrator is also not happening!

Isn’t it amazing, it takes years to develop a new mine, but only seconds for it to be placed indefi -nitely on hold or to be stopped altogether. It was only a few months ago when I wrote about Ma-reesburg and the exciting prospects this project would bring to its owner.

But why platinum? Why now? Unlike our other commodities, there is a surplus platinum supply at present while Europe’s demand continues to dwindle. And if operating costs and labour costs continue to escalate but margins don’t, the result is an industry struggling to remain profi table.

From a mining editor’s perspec-tive, it is extremely depressing. But, as usual, we will hold our

heads up high, revise busi-ness and model strate-

gies, and remember that if you are in the

business of mining, your commitment is long-term, and depressed

commodity cycles don’t last forever.

Laura Cornish

BLINDSIDED

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compiled by Ameerah Griffin

4

Mining newswww.miningne.ws

Ins ide Mining 07 /2012

Top mining stories headlining this month

| SOUTH AFRICA |

Gold One fires over 1 000 workersSource: www.miningne.ws

Following the illegal strike at Gold One International’s East Rand-based mine, Modder East, last week the company dismissed approximately 1 035 of its employees.

This equates to more than half of the mine’s total workforce, which typically comprises 1 800 people, and consists of Category A and B workers, says Izak Marais, Gold One International senior vice president of operations.

Gold One management had considered the representations made against the dismissal at the time, but concluded that there were insuffi cient mitigating factors against the sanction of dismissal in almost all cases.

Marais said that despite the dismissal, Modder East will continue to operate profi tably until the issue can be fully resolved. “Supervisors are overseeing limited mining, milling operations are continuing and surface stockpiles are being processed. “Ultimately, we will need to commence with a hiring programme, which could constitute dismissed employees. But there are also thousands of unemployed workers in the surrounding Grootvlei areas, which could be an alternative

viable employment option,” Marais continues.

The strike action, which Gold One was informed of on 31 May 2012 by the Professional Transport and Allied Workers Union, began on 3 June 2012 and was interdicted by the Labour Court on 4 June 2012.

| MOZAMBIQUE |

Mozambique to develop fuel from coal projectSource: www.miningne.ws

The Mozambique government, through its Ministry of Energy, has signed a development agreement with Clean Carbon Industries LDA.

A joint venture between Twin City Venture Capital, Hugh Brown & Associates, local Mozambique shareholders and a team of international engineering specialists will undertake a full feasibility study into the construction of a plant to produce 40 000 barrels of transport fuel and chemical by-products from lower grade coal in the Mozambique Tete Basin.

The study is already in the fi nal stages of pre-feasibility, having commenced in concept in February 2011. During a meeting in May 2012, CCI handed the Phase 1 results to the Minister of Energy, Dr Salvador Numburete, and his team in Maputo.

The Bankable Feasibility Study will be completed by the end of

2014 and subject to fi nal viability; fi nancial closure is expected by October 2015, enabling construction to start in the fi rst quarter of 2016.

The Tete Basin has extensive coking, thermal and low-grade resources of coal. Vale, Rio Tinto Group and Ncondezi Coal Company, among others, are advanced in exploring, developing, constructing and commissioning new coal mines in the area, with a total of almost US$4 billion (about R32.8 billion) already invested to date in the basin. Vale exported its fi rst coal to overseas markets in November last year via the Beira Port.

| ZAMBIA |

Zambia tightens mine tax collection regulationsSource: http://af.reuters.com

Zambia, Africa’s top copper producer, has tightened its regulations on the taxation of

mining companies to boost compliance and revenue collection, the country’s minister of Mines said last month.

President Michael Sata has expressed concerns that copper exporters are misrepresenting the amount of metal leaving the country. Data shows much of Zambia’s exported copper is destined for Switzerland, but little of it shows up in Swiss customs fi gures, raising questions about transparency.

The minister of Mines, Energy and Water Development, Christopher Yaluma, said that mining companies would now be required to provide information on tonnages, type and grade of ore mined, quantities and the end product.

Yaluma said mining companies would also be required to submit annual reports on the recovery percentages and effi ciency of all mining and metallurgical processes.

“We have reviewed legislation to independently monitor the production and export of minerals, and failure to comply will result in revocation of licences and other punitive measures,” he said in a statement.

SOUTH AFRICA Minister steps in as platinum industry loses ground

Source: www.miningne.ws

South Africa’s Mineral Resources minister, Susan Shabangu, has commissioned a report into the platinum industry. The objective is to fi nd solutions to the many challenges the industry is facing in this economic climate.

“There is a report on my desk that identifi es the challenges and what we’re not doing right,” Shabangu said while speaking at the Gordon institute of Business Science last month. She says that a meeting between her and various stakeholders in the platinum industry will be held to address these issues.

Aquarius Platinum and its partner, Anglo American Platinum, have suspended the Marikana mine because of the poor state of the platinum market. Eastern Platinum (Eastplats) recently suspended a 100 000 oz platinum group metal mining development project for the same reason. The decline in prices, weakness in Europe, soaring input costs and a volatile labour force had informed the decision, Eastplats CEO Ian Rozier said.

Mining news

| AUSTRALIA |

Fortescue, Baosteel to merge Australia magnetiteSource: www.marketwatch.com

Australia’s Fortescue Metals Group has reached an agreement with China’s Baosteel to consolidate their interests in two iron ore mining leases into a Hong Kong-based subsidiary that will be 88% owned by the Australian iron ore producer and 12% by the Chinese steel producer.

Fortescue unit FMG Iron Bridge will own the Perth-based

company’s wholly owned Northstar deposit and the Glacier Valley deposit, currently 65%-owned by Fortescue and 35% by Baosteel, which have combined estimated resources of 3.2 billion tonnes.

“This agreement consolidates one of the world’s most prospective magnetite projects, taking into account its massive scale and close proximity to both customers, and rail and port infrastructure,” Fortescue chief executive Neville Power said.

The company said in a statement that an agreement was signed with Baosteel in Shanghai, although it remains subject to approval by the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board and Chinese State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

| ASIA |

Kentor Gold delivers stunning copper results from JervoisSource: www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk

Kentor Gold has delivered ‘stunning’ near surface results from its Jervois copper-silver-gold project in the Northern Territory of Kyrgyzstan.

There is no doubt the market will be impressed with assays of up to 19.4% copper, 37.6% lead, 14.2% zinc and 702 g/t silver.

The latest highlights include 60 m at 1.73% copper, 3.81%

lead, 1.15% zinc, 113.3 g/t silver and 0.21 g/t gold from 7.1 m.

Better still, with the above intersection, the fi rst 3.35 m hosts 12.06% copper, 2.42% lead, 2.4% zinc, 217.3 g/t silver and 0.62% gold.

Astute investors will know these are not one-off intersections; a few weeks ago, Kentor announced from Jervois: 1.08% copper at 53.5 m, 24.9 g/t silver and 0.24 g/t gold from 105.1 m, 3.72% copper from 12 m, and 40.7 g/t silver and 0.68 g/t gold from 63 m.

Initial production rates are forecast at 24 000 ozpa from a combination of opencast and underground mining.

Based on the current US$1 560 (about R12 763.45) spot price, this would create gross revenue of more than US$37.4 million in the first year of operation.


Cover story

A new era for extra-heavy haulage THE CAT 797F

While the Cat 797 series remains the leader in its class, the new Cat 797F sees

this tradition continue with advancements in safety, productivity, serviceability

and comfort.

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Cover story

W ith a 363 t nominal payload, it is clear from the outset that the Cat 797F off-high-way truck is a heavy hauler.

Replacing the previous generation B-Series model, which had a 345 t carrying capacity, the 797 remains the world’s only mechani-cal drive rigid truck in its tonnage class.

The first units to arrive in Southern Af-rica have been deployed at a major green-field coal mine in northern Mozambique, which has also seen the recent delivery of the region’s first Cat 6090FS hydrau-lic shovel. An optimal three- to four-pass match with the Cat 797F, this front shovel has an effective working weight of 980 t and a 93.6 t bucket capacity.

“Designed and built using components and systems that have evolved through years of rugged application studies, the Cat 797F is the next step in ultra-class mechanical drive mining trucks,” explains Nico Coetzer, Barloworld Equipment prod-uct and application manager for off-high-way trucks. “Overall, the emphasis is on

giving safety and performance equal pri-ority.” (Barloworld Equipment is the Cat dealer for Southern Africa.)

Excellent manoeuvrability and ride com-fort are key features on the 797F, which provides the operator with precision con-trol – an important consideration when you’re driving a truck with a gross combi-nation mass well in excess of 600 t at a top speed (loaded) of up to 67.6 km/h.

Significantly, the overall engineering design on the new truck model caters for a larger load, but the actual gross vehicle operating weight on the Cat 797F remains more or less the same at around 623 690 kg.

During routine hauling operations, the 797F has two retarding options for down-hill or flat/uphill applications, backed up

by oil-cooled multiple disc brakes on all four wheels. A new brake cooling system incorporates square coolers that are more efficient than the round ones used on the 797B, and Cat Extended Life carbon fibre friction discs are now standard.

Especially suited to heavy load applica-tions, Cat Extended Life friction mate-rial provides increased heat resistance. “This resistance to glazing, which occurs during periods of high-temperature brak-ing, provides consistent braking power,” Coetzer expands.

Delivering the haulage power required is a newly developed 20-cylinder single block engine with a four-stroke design that uses long, effective power strokes for opti-

mum efficiency. Tier II compli-ant, this Cat

OPPOSITE Delivering the haulage power required is a newly developed 20 cylinder single block engine. Tier II compliant, this

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The Cat 797F is a three-to four-pass loading match with the Cat 6090FS hydraulic shovel, which has an effective working weight of 980 t and a 93.6 t bucket capacity

Cover story

ABOVE The Cat 797F, with its 363 t nominal payload, is the world’s largest

mechanical drive off-highway mining truck in its tonnage class

C175-20 engine has a gross power out-put of 2 983 kW (SAE J1995), compared

to 2 648 kW on the previous model. “The C175-20 is a major improvement on the 797B unit’s Tier I Cat 3524B power plant, and features a tandem unit layout consisting of two 3512B HD engine blocks coupled to perform as a single engine in terms of operation, monitoring and con-trol,” says Coetzer. (For added safety, the Cat 797F’s new Lockout Box now has sepa-rate battery disconnect, engine start and transmission lockouts.)

“The converter drive torque limit of 25 760 Nm in first gear remains, but the increase in power allows the Cat 797F to outperform the 797B beyond that point via increased speed on grade.”

The C175-20’s electronically controlled Cat common rail fuel system senses oper-ating conditions and regulates the fuel de-livery for optimum consumption.

In terms of power train, the Cat 797F re-tains the proven design of the 797B, but has additional features to accommodate the higher horsepower. For example, the truck utilises a four-disc lock-up clutch, one more than the 797B.

The Cat 797F’s seven-speed planetary power shift transmission is matched with the C175-20 power train system to deliver constant power over a wide range of op-erating speeds, in poor underfoot condi-tions and on haul roads with high rolling resistance. The lock-up torque converter

combines maximum rimpull and cushioned shifting with the efficiency and perfor-mance of a direct drive system, engaging at

approximately 8 km/h and directing more power to the wheels.

To prevent speeding, the transmission control electronically senses engine condi-tions and automatically up-shifts one gear. The transmission top gear maximum can also be set using the Cat Electronic Tech-nician, while a reverse speed inhibitor prevents shifts into reverse when forward ground speeds are in excess of 4.8 km/h.

For added in-pit safety, Cat’s body-up shift inhibitor system prevents the trans-mission from shifting above the pre-pro-grammed gear without the body fully low-ered. The machine can move forward, but the speed is limited to avoid excessive rack-ing when pulling away from a dump site.

On the move, Cat final drives work as a system with the planetary power shift transmission to deliver maximum power to the ground. “Double reduction final drives provide high torque multiplica-tion to further reduce drive train stress,” says Coetzer.

The ultimate objective of these and other technical features is to mine at the lowest cost per tonne. Helping to achieve this is the Cat 797F’s 3rd generation Vehicle In-formation Management System (VIMS).

VIMIS constantly monitors critical ma-chine health and payload data in real-time during every hour the truck is operational. This information can be accessed and in-terpreted by maintenance personnel and mine management to further improve pro-duction and mechanical efficiencies.

VIMS constantly monitors critical machine health and payload data in real-time during every hour the truck is operational


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Hot topic


The ASX-listed gold junior’s overall expansion objective for the mine, located on the Barberton green-stone belt (BGB), is to produce

35 000 ozpa of gold for the next 12 years, starting from 2013. Th e mine produced 4 674 oz of gold in the fi rst quarter of this year against a target of 30 000 oz for the 12-month period to the end of December. Gold production in the fi nal quarter of 2011 totalled 5 493 oz.

Lily mine was launched as an opencast op-eration 12 years ago and has been developed by Vantage Goldfi elds over a 36-month pe-riod into a shallow underground operation

with access via a portal at 2 Level. Th e open pit has subsequently been backfi lled.

Improved access to higher grade ore on the stopes has seen head grade improve to 3.31 g/t in the last quarter of 2011. In line with the planned mining sequence for the fi rst six months of 2012, lower grade ore blocks are being extracted leading to slightly lower head grades.

Lily mine’s engineering manager, Ignatius (‘Ig’) Fourie, indicates that the mine’s strate-gic operational approach is to attain high lev-els of productivity and availability to achieve production targets at the lowest cost per tonne. Th is approach required interventions

in both the mining operation and in the run-ning of the process plant dedicated to Lily.

“We have addressed a bottleneck in our plant – the Central Metallurgical Complex (CMC) – by introducing improvements to the crusher and screening circuits. A second ball mill was commissioned in April and the introduction of a third ball mill in July will result in a 70% increase in production.

Additional improvements have been un-dertaken and systems implemented to boost plant throughput and reliability to above the required 90% level. Th is is a remarkable achievement when one considers that the CMC is a rebuild of the old Barbrook plant.”

THE LOVELY LILY

Gold-laden lady

The production ramp-up at Vantage Goldfields’ Lily

gold mine near Barberton is on schedule to achieve

its July target date of processing 35 000 tpm of ore.

ABOVE A view across the carbon-in-pulp tank platform with the primary crusher in

the background and the road from Lily mine in the distance

Hot topic


Compared to traditional GBG mining meth-ods, Vantage Goldfi elds is approaching its Lily orebody diff erently. Decline access has been provided to the orebody, which is between 2 and 15 m wide, and extends for an estimated 2 000 m along strike. In the next three years, the bulk of production ore will be drawn from the wide orebody below the back-fi lled main pit and accessed via a spiral decline.

Mine manager, Eben Swanepoel, says that as a result of this, bulk mining tonnages are far higher than those of other mines in the BGB.

Tackling problems, strategically“After experiencing problems with equip-ment, we took the decision to standardise on brands, of which Sandvik is one,” says Fou-rie. “We took into account brand reputation in the industry, service levels, spare parts availability and general technical support, staff training and equipment knowledge, and experience within our own team. I believe that those elements combined lead to better equipment reliability and productivity.”

“We have implemented the open stope method, meaning the orebody is blasted out. Th is approach suits the orebody and leads naturally to more tonnage. Ore grade control is a crucial element of our bulk min-ing methodology. We don’t want to waste milling time; we want to achieve the best recoveries possible.

“We are utilising mechanised, long-hole drilling, blasting, mucking and hauling meth-ods. With the mine design and productivity needs in mind, the use of trackless equip-ment was a natural selection to maximise output. We require improved productivity and effi ciency at a lower cost per tonne.”

Swanepoel says the addi-tion of two Sandvik TH430 30 t underground mining trucks is aimed at meeting these needs.

“Th e upgrading of our un-derground fl eet through the addition of these trucks, which are equipped with larger capacity dump boxes, goes directly towards im-proving our productivity and achieving higher levels of re-liability. We are achieving a 30 to 40% improvement in productivity on the basis of better cycle times per shift. We plan to add further such trucks to our fl eet, all of

which complements our use of Sandvik Solo vertical drills in both production and devel-opment mining,” Swanepoel continues.

He mentions that improved cabin layout and the introduction of enclosed, air-condi-tioned cabs have signifi cantly upgraded op-erator ergonomic and safety conditions.

Th e new electronic vehicle control and man-agement system (VMS) fi tted to the Sandvik TH430 as standard has resulted in improved operator interface with the vehicle and its performance parameters, leading to im-proved effi ciencies.

Th e VMS has also made diagnostics and maintenance easier and quicker. Improved dump box design is a factor in the new trucks, achieving quicker turn-around times despite the larger dump box capacity.

Swanepoel points out that while the mine works two nine-hour shifts, it is important to achieve sustained reliability from trucks hauling production ore from the stopes.

“We are achieving about 350 t per shift with each of the new trucks. At present, the truck fl eet is delivering around 1 200 tpd of ore to the sorting bay. Once sorting has taken place, the ore is loaded onto 30 t road trucks

for transportation to the process plant 6 km away.”

Swanepoel attrib-utes the success of the Lily mine ramp-up to the vision and guidance of Vantage Goldfi elds’ senior management: Mike McChesney, the CEO, who has had

more than 25 years of experience in the BGB, and Lily mine’s general manager, Mike Begg, who completed the mine’s initial exploration programme in 1998 and has had extensive exposure to greenstone mining.

“Th eir leadership is exceptional and the di-rection that they are taking this operation is clear to the entire team.”

Corrie Hallett, human resource manager at the mine, says: “In keeping with the demand for a larger workforce during the ramp-up, the number of people employed at Lily mine has increased from 100 to 400 in the last three years.”

New appointments have ranged from man-agement and professional staff through to the expansion of the semi-skilled and un-skilled labour complement.

Vantage Goldfi elds is active with additional mining projects in the BGB, the most ad-vanced of which is the development of the Barbrook Mines complex, which is being han-dled in two stages.

Th e ramp-up of production at Taylors mine continued during the quarter. A total of 1 104 oz of gold was produced in the fi rst quarter of 2012 (991 oz in the last quarter of 2011).

Barbrook Stage Two is currently the fo-cus of a bankable feasibility study, which is scheduled for completion in January 2013.

Vantage Goldfi elds has an 85% interest in Lily mine and the remaining interest is held by BEE partner Lomshiyo Investments.

ABOVE Vantage Goldfi elds has purchased two Sandvik TH430 30 ton articulated underground mining trucks in order to

meet productivity targets

TOP LEFT Two new ball mills are being installed at the Lily mine processing plant in the second quarter of 2012. The number two regrind mill (left) was commissioned in April and the number three

regrind mill (foreground) is due to be taken into service in July

BOTTOM LEFT The Lily mine CMC ball mill with the number two and three ball mills in the background

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Ferrous metals

By the end of 2013, the Green-fi eld Kolomela operation (lo-cated about 80 km from Kumba’s Sishen mine near Postmasburg)

will off er another 9 Mtpa of iron ore to the export market.

Not only has the mine increased Kumba’s mine portfolio from two to three (it also owns Th abazimbi iron ore mine), but will help the company achieve its 2019 produc-tion target of 70 Mtpa of iron ore.

Despite the large-scale size of the project – with a plant that consists of a three-stage crushing circuit, together with screening – it exceeded expectations when celebrating

its fi rst production fi ve months ahead of schedule.

Last year the mine produced 1.5 Mt, will deliver between 4 and 5 Mt in 2012, and ramp up to its nameplate capacity by the end of 2013.

A 36 km rail link was also completed in time by Transnet Freight Rail to link the mine with the Sishen-Saldanha iron ore ex-port channel.

Th e mine’s offi cial launch ceremony was extremely well attended and not only in-cluded the minister of Mineral Resources, Susan Shabangu; Kumba CEO, Chris Grif-fi th; and Anglo American CEO, Cynthia

KUMBA’S KOLOMELA

What a knockoutIn the space of four years, a major new iron ore mine has emerged in the

Northern Cape. Kumba Iron Ore’s R8.5 billion Kolomela mine, although officially

launched late last month, began operating at the end of 2011. Laura Cornish

attended the event.

BELOW FROM LEFT Anglo American CEO, Cynthia Carroll; Kumba CEO Chris

Griffi th; and minister of Mineral Resources, Susan Shabangu

BOTTOM The Leeuwfontein opencast mine - the fi rst of three to be developed

Ferrous metals


Corporate social responsibility

“The R33 million we invested in regional development and upliftment in 2011 alone is proof that the physical asset that lies in Kolomela mine reaches wider than the confines of the mine itself. We have proven to our local communities that even before we develop a mine, we start developing a community and this integrity will continue throughout the life of the Kolomela mine,” said Griffith.

In addition to new job opportunities, the Kolomela mine is building 718 new houses for its employees, most of which have already been completed and handed over to the residents.

“There is only one way to finish a project: on time, on budget and with zero harm. This mantra is at the heart of our approach to project development – the Projects Way – and was adopted by everyone involved in the Kolomela mine; I am proud of the team who set a number of standards for the wider Anglo American group in delivering on this project. The Kolomela project has prioritised safety throughout, while making a contribution to its community since construction began, exemplifying the Anglo American way, which puts people and partnerships at the heart of its business. Kolomela mine is one of the three big projects delivered by Anglo American on or ahead of schedule in 2011 – Barro Alto and Los Bronces being the others. This excellent performance will contribute significant new volumes of iron ore, copper and nickel to Anglo American’s portfolio as the new operations continue to ramp up throughout 2012.”

Carroll, but also paid tribute to the compa-ny’s export customers with representatives from China, Japan, India, Korea, Germany and Austria. Anglo American holds a 65% stake in Kumba.

“Today’s ceremony marks an important milestone in Kumba and Anglo American’s history. Th is project has had an excellent track record since inception. Not only is the mine development within budget and

boasts an excellent safety record of 26 million lost-time injury-free hours, it also started dispatching product to the port of Saldanha fi ve months ahead of schedule and shipped the fi rst ore for sale to custom-ers in China,” Griffi th said on the day of the offi cial launch.

Another major milestone, according to Carroll, is the mine’s commitment to a cleaner, more energy-effi cient future. “Th e Kolomela plant is a dry plant, mean-ing it consumes less water, and comprises energy-effi cient equipment and technology wherever possible,” Carroll noted.

Although Kolomela only consists of a sin-gle open-pit currently, at nameplate capac-ity it will constitute three pits.

Kolomela mineral resource manager, Mike Carney, says the current pit (Leeuwfontein) will vary in depth from 170 to 350 m and, thanks to 190 t waste trucks and 100 t ore trucks, will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Based on its current resource and annual production, Carney adds that Kolomela’s

Kolomela’s life of mine is about 28 years at 9 Mtpa, although Kumba is already looking to increase output to about 15 Mtpa

ABOVE Drill rigs at the Leeuwfontein pitLEFT The primary crusher

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Ferrous metals

Beneficiation and surplus

While Shabangu is in the midst of encourag-ing local beneficiation, for which iron ore is a key commodity, all of Kolomela’s production has been allocated for export.

“Despite this, we do discount our prices to the local steel industry and can and do provide the local market, together with other iron ore miners, with the volumes it requires. Even if the industry grows, we have sufficient capacity to supply the market. In essence, this means we are contribut-ing positively to the minister’s beneficiation strategy already,” Griffith points out.

Regardless of future iron ore demand and consumption forecasts, Griffith notes that Kolomela has come online at a good time, where iron ore prices are high. “Many po-tential projects will also never reach produc-tion, or come online later than anticipated. With India’s demand predicted to escalate substantially, Kolomela and Kumba are well positioned to supply into such key markets.

life of mine (LOM) is about 28 years at 9 Mtpa, although Kumba is already looking to increase output to about 15 Mtpa, which would require processing lower grade ore and a benefi ciation process for upgrading.

Th e macroeconomic impacts from the new mine are signifi cant; throughout the

project, roughly 15 000 people worked on Kolomela, enhancing their learning, skills and experience, which is particularly im-portant for the Northern Cape as it is one of the poorer provinces in South Africa.

Once in full production, Kolomela will be responsible for the employment of roughly

840 permanent employees and about 150 contractors, with more than 90% of the employees being recruited from the North-ern Cape.

ABOVE Conveyor feeding material from the primary crusher

Hot seat


The R6.5 billion Kolomela greenfi eld opencast iron ore operation (includ-ing plant, mine and infrastructure) can be described as nothing less

than a major success for Kumba, and for the many contractors who contributed to its de-velopment. Impressively, what will be one of the country’s larger iron ore producers and exporters at nameplate capacity, (9 Mtpa

DELIVERING KOLOMELA

A Hatch hallmark

Kumba Iron Ore’s brand new Kolomela mine, officially launched in June this year,

realised numerous milestone achievements during its development. Many of

these can be attributed to engineering firm Hatch Africa, whose role and project

contract was substantial, writes Laura Cornish.

from 2013 onwards) was completed in a space of four years – under budget and two months ahead of schedule.

One of the largest contracts on site was awarded to Hatch Africa, which was respon-sible for the full engineering, procurement, project and construction management (EPCM) component for the crushing and screening plant, as well as stockyard area.

“Although Hatch is a global company capa-ble of handling projects with values as high as US$50 billion (about R421.38 billion), we consider the Kolomela contract an extremely signifi cant one,” says Lister Sinclair, Hatch Africa director for mining and minerals pro-cessing. More specifi cally, Hatch’s areas of responsibility for the plant began with the primary crusher feed-point and runs through the entire plant, including primary, second-ary and tertiary crushing of material, with scalping and product screening in between, through to stacking and reclaiming in the stockyard, into the load-out station and fi -nally into the rail chase. It oversaw 4 000 contractors on site during peak construction.

Sinclair points out that Kumba was re-sponsible for managing the overall project,

TOP Kolomela will deliver 9 Mtpa of iron ore for the export market

LEFT An aerial view of the Kolomela crushing and screening plant

RIGHT The plant with the mining operation pit in the background


Hot seat

including the construction (by other consult-ants/contractors) for the infrastructure and bulk earthworks, inclusive of the opencast development.

Hatch was also responsible for the con-struction of a 27 km railway line as a separate project, which connects Kolomela with the main Sishen-Saldanha export railway line.

Sinclair notes that because the iron ore is of such high-grade quality, almost all ore ex-tracted from the pits is product, which only needs to be crushed, screened and sized prior to transportation and export.

“We successfully commissioned the plant and handed it over in November last year, which was followed shortly by its fi rst pro-duction,” Sinclair explains.

Notable successesFrom inception, right the way through the project’s development, Kolomela was notch-ing impressive statistics on its belt.

By March 2010, engineering was 100% complete, and procurement and delivery of free issue equipment completed in June 2010, all ensuring construction would be fully complete at the end of July 2011.

“Having delivered so successfully on our contract, Hatch also took over the construc-tion management of the housing develop-ment for operations staff at the beginning of 2011, which includes 718 houses in the near-by town of Postmasburg,” Sinclair continues.

To date, this portion of its work remains on track to be completed towards the end of 2012. It constitutes three diff erent sites

within Postmasburg and is developing with speed thanks to the 2 200 contractors work-ing on the project.

“Due to Hatch’s substantial workload at the time of being awarded the project (prior to the economic crash), we decided to handle the project together with our São Paulo of-fi ce in Brazil, which was responsible for 60% of the detailed engineering. Th is ensured we injected suffi cient skill and expertise into the project,” Sinclair notes.

Th e arrangement was so successful that Hatch Africa and Hatch Sudbury (Canada) are working in a similar fashion on a project in North America.

Hatch’s procurement team in China also assisted with quality control of vendor-sup-

plied stackers and bucket wheel reclaimers that were manufactured in China.

Th is was also the fi rst major Kumba project to achieve all of its stipulated key perfor-mance indicators.

Hatch Global also awarded Hatch Africa with the chairman’s project of the year, the fi rst time awarded to a South African project.

“Kolomela has demonstrated our ability to service Kumba and Anglo American as a Tier 1 engineering house service provider and has helped to develop a strong relation-ship between us. I also believe it has contrib-uted to the new study work we have been awarded from Kumba. Interestingly, we are the only engineering house that is represent-ed as a Tier 1 company across all continents in which Anglo American operates.”

Overcoming challenges“Delivering a project successfully requires commitment from the start, and that is exactly what we did. We devoted a lot of time to working with Kumba upfront, learning and understanding its proce-dures and protocols and aligning our mo-dus operandi with theirs,” Sinclair outlines.

“Sourcing and se-curing local skills in the Northern Cape area was another major challenge, but something we e m b r a c e d . Not only

did we manage the process intensely, but took an active interest in it. We also took on a management role with all the contrac-tors themselves to ensure their contracts portions were fulfilled as required.”

Sinclair believes the project’s safety achievements, which started on ‘rocky ground’, can be attributed to the two com-panies’ innovative delivery approach.

Various safety messages were conveyed using snake metaphors down to the lowest working levels so concepts could be under-stood properly. Incidents were re-enacted to ensure they did not happen again and videos were recorded and continuously played via mobile trailers so workers were constantly reminded of safety protocol and how to avoid accidents.

Who, where and when

Client: Kumba Iron Ore (Anglo American)Location: Postmasburg, Northern Cape, South Africa Start: March 2008 Completion: September 2011 Value of Hatch’s work portion: R2.3 billion

Statistics and achievements

Hatch was awarded Kumba Iron Ore’s Gold “Laurel” Safety Award (2011).

The plant and stockyard project included pouring 30 000 m3 of concrete, 1 450 t of plate work, 1 300 t of structural steel, 1 100 t of conveyors, 335 mechanical equipment items, 205 km of electric and instrument cables and 26 km of piping.

The first stages of hot commissioning were completed ahead of schedule.

The entire project fell within budget.The project achieved 26 million lost-time

incident-free (LTI-free) hours, surpassing the previous Anglo American global record of 13.7 million hours without a single LTI. The Hatch-managed areas contributed approximately 20 million LTI-free hours.

“Kolomela has demonstrated our ability to service Kumba and Anglo American as a Tier 1 engineering house service provider and has helped to develop a strong relationship between us.” Lister Sinclair, Hatch Africa director for mining and minerals processing


Profile

BVI GROUP

Kolomela drives EPCM infrastructure service armA single event can change the course you are taking. Born a small multi-disciplinary

engineering fi rm, BVi Group’s contract for Kumba Iron Ore’s new Kolomela mine has

seen its journey spread direction and evolve, writes Laura Cornish.


Profile

BVi Group’s (BVi) growth since its inception in 1967 has been a remarkable one. The company was established as a multi-dis-

ciplinary engineering firm offering ‘tradi-tional’ consulting engineering services in the fields of civil, structural, electrical and mechanical engineering.

Today, the Level 2 BEE company has a 47% black ownership status and is 300 heads strong. And thanks to the success

achieved through its Kolomela contract, it is now capable of offering engineering, procurement and construction manage-ment (EPCM) services across its respective infrastructure fields.

“This one single, but extremely signifi-cant project has provided us with the plat-form to further develop and continue with our newly established strategy: to become recognised as a true expert infrastructure EPCM contractor in the mining and indus-trial sectors,” explains Hennie Maas, BVi director of mining and EPCM projects.

“There are very few infrastructure spe-cialists that can offer the industry EPCM capability, adhering to all the stringent regulatory, compliance and safety stand-ards that mining houses require from their

contractors. We have identified the oppor-tunity and need for this service, and we will develop this new business aspect going for-wards in this niche field,” Maas continues.

Until recently, mining project infrastruc-ture (all surrounding development needed to support the mining and process plant) has never received the signifi cant priority atten-tion it deserves when a new project emerges.

Considering it often outweighs capital expenditure in any other area during pro-ject development phases, Maas believes the

industry is starting to recognise its impor-tance and treat it with equal priority to all other project aspects.

“Infrastructure is falling under the same umbrella as all project elements, making it of equal importance and an equal priority,” he adds.

Kolomela – BVi’s involvementAlthough BVi is actively involved in the Northern Cape, providing EPCM services to the mining (heavy mining equipment workshops for Sishen), public and private sectors, it is proud to be associated with the Kolomela project.

The Kolomela iron ore mine is one of Kumba Iron Ore’s latest greenfield mining projects. Situated just outside of Postmas-

burg, it will ramp up to its nameplate pro-duction capacity (9 Mtpa) in 2013.

“We started the project providing conven-tional consulting engineering skills, which we executed together with the owner’s team, but our contract evolved and be-came further responsible for the project’s infrastructure EPCM services. There were 68 BVi office staff and 12 on-site staff in-volved with the project.

Most notably, BVi was responsible for all bulk earthworks – moving in excess of 1.5 million cubic metres, dewatering the min-ing areas at a rate of 2 400 m³/h, prefabri-cated electrical substations (developed off

LEFT Kolomela Mine buildingsBELOW Heavy mining equipment workshop

Infrastructure is falling under the same umbrella as all project elements, making it of equal importance and an equal priority


Profile

site in conjunction with Kumba), bulk fuel installation of 1.2 Mℓ of diesel and oils, heavy mining equipment workshops and all administrative buildings.

“We were also responsible for a major en-gineering portion of the company’s hous-ing project, with some 700 housing units already established. We also created dedi-cated procurement, health and safety and planning departments to oversee and prop-erly manage the workload.”

Although Kolomela is already producing, BVi remains active on site, under budget for its project scope and on time, and is still under way with the necessary infra-structure required for the mine’s ramp up to full production.

“Although we provided safety resources to the project, we did not manage the safety aspects, but form part of the overall team that helped Kolomela achieve its 15 million lost-time-injury-free hours.”

Maas adds that one of the company’s great challenges was facilitating, managing and interfacing between at least 30 differ-ent contractors on site, varying from major companies such as Group Five, Concor and Steffanuti Stocks to specialist and general contractors. “Interface and coordination management was a huge challenge and one of the major focus areas from a construc-tion management point of view, as it is not easy to keep up with the required progress while interfacing between disciplines and working in a safe environment.”

The infrastructure development was im-plemented by 53 procurement packages to ensure cost effectiveness.

BVi’s future “Thanks to Kolomela, we now truly know what we can achieve, and we have our

sights set on attaining EPCM work in the rest of Africa next,” Maas outlines. “We may have worked in conjunction with the owners’ team at Kolomela, but are ready to handle entire projects in-house.”

The African continent is a hive of activ-ity, particularly in the mining sector at pre-sent, but only those who have the cash to develop the necessary infrastructure will ‘get off the ground’. For this reason, BVi believes its success will lead directly off the back of mining projects, as they comprise and form part of the original team respon-sible for a mining project’s development, from conception and feasibility onwards.

“This alone is such a strong indication of the vital importance and necessity for qual-ity, well-managed infrastructure services,

especially from those who can offer EPCM service,” Maas notes.

“We can handle any infrastructure project, of any size, cost eff ectively, with a core team of infrastructure engineer specialists who have been together for four years,” Maas continues.

And while some of the country’s local pro-cess engineers have been recognised as Tier 1 professionals, Maas believes it is important that they be distinguished for their specifi c infrastructure skills, and from an EPCM ca-pability aspect, should be recognised in a simi-lar manner. www.bvigroup.co.za

In addition to mining

In terms of BVi’s traditional spectrum of engineering services, it currently has a reliable footprint across the country, enabling it to service almost all the districts and local councils countrywide. The company intends to increase its commitment and focus on local government by making use of an innovative project approach, including project finance models, Public-Private Partnerships and other asset management options. It is also constantly improving its green building department as well as its renewable energy delivery resources. BVi believes the future lies in renewable energy and is positioning itself accordingly.

The company is further expanding across borders to service its fellow SADC members with much needed skills and infrastructure requirements.

With regards to South Africa specifically, the company believes it has a significant role to play in assisting government in reaching its service delivery and aspirations.

ABOVE Heavy mining equipment washbayRIGHT Heavy mining equipment workshop

lubrication installation

“Thanks to Kolomela, we now truly know what we can achieve, and we have our sights set on attaining EPCM work in the rest of Africa.” Hennie Maas, BVi director of mining and major projects


Ferrous metals

Diversifi ed BEE mining company African Rainbow Minerals’ (ARM) ferrous metals division, ARM Ferrous, has numerous exciting

prospects in various stages of development – from stakeholder engagement and discussion, through to execution. With major export logis-tics expansions imminent, the ferrous portfolio is set to contribute signifi cantly into the future.

“We are driven largely by demand for our product, so much so that it directly infl u-ences the future life plan of our operations in

ARM FERROUS

Demand for iron ore and manganese (for the foreseeable mid-term future) is

robust. One only has to look at the current and potential projects pipeline for

confirmation, writes Laura Cornish.

Bullish about iron ore and manganese

LEFT Underground at the Black Rock manganese mine

BELOW Black Rock processing plant

certain instances,” ARM Ferrous chief execu-tive Jan Steenkamp explains.

And this is clearly the case when looking at its Northern Cape-based iron ore operations: Beeshoek and Khumani.

IRON ORE

Beeshoek – mining since 1964Ten years ago, Beeshoek was making its way slowly towards the fi nish line; it had only seven years of operational life left based on the remaining resource and the last remains of ‘contaminated’ dumps.

“Our decision not to extend Beeshoek’s life was based on numerous factors, namely our

long-term outlook for the iron ore industry, the mine’s limited and remaining resources, as well as the introduction and future imple-mentation of our new nearby greenfi eld mine Khumani,” Steenkamp explains.

Today, however, Beeshoek’s life looks far from over and, in fact, should continue well into the future.

“For limited capital spend, we are evaluating the possibility of gaining access to and open up an untouched resource (about 40 Mt in-

situ) located directly below Beeshoek’s village, which consists of 400 houses and related in-frastructure,” Steenkamp continues.

Th e capital will be spent on small infra-structure and plant upgrades, but largely to

Khumani iron ore project


relocate and build new houses in the nearby town of Postmasburg (Tsantsabane) where Assmang acquired and developed 400 ser-viced stands a few years ago. Th e estimated time to fi rst production is about three years, should the project commence.

In addition to extending the mine’s op-erational life, the project would also ensure that at least 450 workers will not have to be retrenched or relocated.

Currently, Beeshoek supplies only the lo-cal market and would continue to supply its current customer base, and it can also trans-port material to Khumani if necessary.

But the longer term plan for Beeshoek is even greater. “Because our plant, which in-corporates a JIG unit for low-grade ores, can process up to 4 Mtpa, we are engaging with producers in the surrounding area to pursue opportunities to optimise Beeshoek mine’s infrastructure,” Steenkamp outlines.

Should Assmang be successful in infra-structure to produce at a rate of 4 Mtpa, it would need to be connected with the main

Ferrous metals

Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) export line to Saldanha.

“To achieve this connection, a ±500 m rail siding and load-out station that links with Kumba Iron Ore’s new Kolomela rail line to Saldanha Port need to be constructed”

Khumani – mining since 2008Bordering the large-scale Sishen iron ore mine is Assmang’s latest iron ore venture - Khumani.

While originally designed as a 10 Mtpa mine, a second phase expansion to 16 Mtpa commenced shortly after TFR announced its intention to expand the Saldanha ex-port channel from 47 Mtpa to this year’s 60 Mtpa.

“And we will be supplying 13 Mt this year, having successfully commissioned our ex-panded operation late last year, with the tar-get of 14 Mtpa from 1 July 2013 onwards.”

Khumani has at least a 25-year lifespan based on current resources and grades.

“For now, we remain focused on ramp-ing up the operation while evaluating the best methods for optimising the resource. We are also on track to complete our wet

high-intensity magnetic separation plant in June 2013, which will ensure that the grade mix will average about 65% iron.”

Another project success story is the Khum-ani Housing Development Company, which aims to provide, sell and subsidise housing units of various sizes to mine employees.

Th e number of houses already completed is 420, of which 320 have been sold to employ-ees who already moved in and another 500 are in the pipeline.

Established around the town of Kathu, Steenkamp predicts that investments into the area will see the town grow signifi cantly over the next few years. “Our dream is to ensure at least 80% of our workforce ulti-mately live in their own houses.”

MANGANESE

N’chwaning and Gloria – mining manganese since late 1920sTh ese two manganese properties, situated on the northern side of the Kalahari Basin, like all other manganese players in the Kala-hari Basin, are waiting for a fi nal decision on an expansion of the manganese export line to Coega.

Steenkamp says that Transnet is conclud-ing the feasibility study for the export of manganese ore through the Port of Coega. “We are hopeful and bullish that this capaci-ty increase will be ready to roll around 2017.”

As manganese is used primarily in the steel making process, Assmang is confi dent about the long-term demand for manganese.

“Our current product nameplate capacity is 3 Mtpa. We currently export ±2.6 Mtpa and use the remaining 400 000 tpa for our local smelting operations. We want to posi-tion ourselves to be ready for the expansion of the manganese export line and are busy completing a feasibility study to expand the manganese production capacity to 4 Mtpa.

At the Machadodorp Smelter, where one of the four furnaces had been successfully converted from producing ferrochrome to ferromanganese, the conversion of two more furnaces to produce ferromanganese is pro-gressing and fi rst production from these two furnaces is expected in September 2012.

The make-up

ARM’s ferrous metals interests are held through wholly owned ARM Ferrous, which, in turn, has a 50% holding in Assmang, a long-established miner and processor of metals for the world’s steel industries. The remaining 50% of Assmang is owned by Assore. Assmang is jointly controlled by ARM and Assore.

ABOVE Stacking at KhumaniBELOW Another view of Black Rock's

processing plant


Ferrous metals

The Perth-based company, formerly known as Uran, has quickly become recognised for its strong focus on developing a range of low-cost,

high-value manganese projects in Zambia.In late 2010, the company reached an op-

tion to acquire up to 74% in the Emmanuel project, as well as fi ve large-scale prospecting licences and a further two small-scale mining licences in Zambia after entering into an op-tion agreement with private South African company Impondo Mining Resource Consult-ants as well as African Asian Mining Develop-ment, a Mauritius-based company.

Both companies are under the management of experienced South African, Tokkas van Heerden, who has operated on various mines across Africa since the early 1990s.

Th e company’s Zambian manganese pro-jects cover 2 734 km², including large areas known to their manganese prospects, and comprises the Emmanuel project (including the Chowa mining lease), the Peco project and the Kanona project.

Even though successful manganese min-ing in Zambia has historically been rare, Van Heerden’s knowledge of the orebodies and their occurrence makes the company’s poten-tial longer term success rate high.

“Manganese occurs in a number of areas within Zambia, usually as sub-vertical veins or in low-angle faulting, some of which can be traced for several kilometres. Zambian man-ganese is generally high grade with very low deleterious impurities, making it a premium product for stainless steel manufacture and for blending with lower quality material,” Van Heerden explains.

EmmanuelTh e Emmanuel project, which lies near Kabwe in central Zambia, covers 2 000 km² and in-cludes a granted mining lease 8 km from the railway line. Th e project lies within the Kabwe manganese fi eld, a region of known man-ganese occurrences and several established opencast operations. Th e project includes a granted mining lease, the Chowa open pit.

Van Heerden points out that several ground and aeromagnetic and density surveys, as well as diamond and RC drilling, have already been completed at Emmanuel, and manga-nese mineralisation has been identifi ed in several veins, each 1.5 to 5 m in thickness, with a north-easterly strike, dipping around 40 degrees to the south-east.

Based on the work undertaken by Kaboko, in conjunction with consultants, manganese mineralisation has been determined to ex-tend over an initial strike length of 1 489 m and a width of 680 m, which is both open at depth and to the north-east.

“In late August 2011, Kaboko kicked off its maiden development with the fi rst mine production blast of approximately 2 000 t of high-grade and high-quality manganese ore from the Chowa opencast mine near Kabwe,” Van Heerden states.

Ore from the production blast was trucked to stockpile and storage facilities at Kabwe, where it was bagged until an off -take partner was locked in for the company’s production of manganese ore.

Th e Chowa open pit is now being mined using conventional opencast drill and blast, truck and shovel methods. Mining activities are being conducted and managed by Im-pondo Mining using an excavator bulldozer and tipper trucks. Monthly production from Chowa is initially expected to average around

KABOKO’S MANGANESE KEEPSAKE

Bearing fruit in ZambiaASX-listed manganese explorer and miner Kaboko Mining is moving ahead in

‘leaps and bounds’ with its suite of Zambia-based manganese projects, CEO

Tokkas van Heerden tells Laura Cornish.

LEFT Manganese from the Emmanuel project

ABOVE Opencast mining is under way at Emmanuel


Ferrous metals

2 000 t of ore from the main manganese reef. “We are however looking to signifi cantly in-crease production through mine optimisation and the use of additional mining equipment.”

In March this year, Kaboko locked in a landmark off -take agreement with Sinosteel Australia, a subsidiary of China’s largest im-porter of manganese ore Sinosteel Group, for the export of high-grade manganese ore to China.

Th e company agreed to sell an initial 180 000 t, with a minimum 48% manga-nese ore to Sinosteel at a price based on BHP Billiton’s reference manganese price. Product for the off -take agreement will be primarily sourced from the Emmanuel and Peco projects.

First exports will begin this year and will be shipped from either the ports of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania or Beira in Mozambique.

Th e deal followed the successful trial ship-ment by the company of 510 t of manganese ore delivered to Sinosteel and another major Chinese steel manufacturer in February this year, which confi rmed the high grade and high quality of the ore.

Last month, the company received the fi nal design and costings for the supply and construction of a manganese processing

plant to be built at Emmanuel. “Exploration at Emmanuel has been focused on a broader interpretation of the structural geology across the whole project area, given the impact of the rainy season, which limited fi eld activities. We are currently completing a proposed resource defi nition drilling program comprising 52 holes to an average depth of 55 m and average drill hole spacing of 25 m.”

PecoMeanwhile, the company, through its share-holding in African Asian Mining Develop-ment, recently elected to increase its stake

in Impondo Zambia Mining from 51 to 75%.Th e Peco project lies 65 km east-north-east

of the town of Mansa, in the northern Lua-pula Province of Zambia, and is proposed to be the second mine to be brought into devel-opment by Kaboko late this year.

“Th e project consists of two granted mining leases and a large area covered by prospect-

ing licences surrounding current and his-toric manganese mining. A new road around 30 km long has been completed to connect the property directly to Mansa.”

Kaboko has completed ground magnetic and radiometric surveys over the project area, which identifi ed a number of follow-up targets and also exposed more than eight old exploration trenches (exposing manganese mineralisation) and artisanal mine workings.

Earlier this year, the company completed further aeromagnetic surveys over the small mining licence area and began work over the two large-scale exploration licences.

Th e company is planning to commence a 40-hole RC drilling programme at Peco in the near future.

KanonaTh e Kanona project is located between the towns of Serenje and Mpika of central Zam-bia. Th e project is around 80 km from Ser-enje, 5 km from the Tazara railway line and close to the Great Northern Highway.

Manganese occurs in veins and rubble

An experienced board

The company’s board and management have extensive experience in mining, cor-porate finance and administration, says Van Heerden. The board includes Malenga Michael as non-executive chairman, Shannon Robinson as director and Jason Brewer as executive director.

Malenga Machel is the MD of Whatana In-vestments Group energy division, a privately owned and highly successful Mozambique-based investment group that has interests throughout Africa in resources, energy, logistics, telecommunications, the financial sector and property development.

Shannon Robinson is a corporate lawyer and an associate of the Institute of Char-tered Secretaries and Administrators and of Chartered Secretaries Australia, and is a member of AMPLA. Robinson provides corporate advice in relation to mergers and acquisitions, capital raisings, due diligence reviews and legal compliance, takeovers and managing legal issues associated with cli-ent transactions.

Jason Brewer has over 18 years’ interna-tional experience in the natural resources sector. He is a mining engineer with a master’s degree in mining engineering with honours from the Royal School of Mines, London. He has experience in mining opera-tions in Africa, North America and Australia, and has worked for major investment banks in London, Sydney and Perth.

setis gninim lanoitpO setis gninim tegraT

zones, which appear to be several hundred metres in length at this project.

Mapping and surveying has been carried out over parts of the area, and ground mag-netic surveys have been completed to date over three areas within the project.

XRF analyses of manganese reefs exposed at surface and in old workings have produced results of 47.7 to 48.8% manganese.

Though successful manganese mining in Zambia has historically been rare, the company’s potential longer term success rate is high


Ferrous metals

LEHATING MINING

High-grade manganese mastermindsThe Northern Cape’s Kalahari Basin is home to a new

generation of junior manganese explorer – Lehating.

The company's part in this new era is developing one

of the last remaining high-grade deposits in the area,

writes Laura Cornish.

(TWPI) and Traxys Projects LP (Traxys) ac-quired a stake in the project. TWPI is owned by the Basil Read Group and has signifi cant fi nancial and technical experience, while Traxys, a global marketing group that spe-cialises in sourcing, securing and marketing metals across international markets, has an-nual revenues in excess of US$6 billion, 23 offi ces globally and over 300 employees.

Th rough supportive institutional share-holders (TWPI and Traxys), Lehating has a rich blend of technical and fi nancial capabil-ity. Th e bankable feasibility study is almost complete and the project is advancing under the watchful eye of a strong and experienced board. Th e next step – applying for its min-ing right – will take place during the course of this year.

“Although the size of our property is rela-tively small, it contains some of the highest grade manganese within the entire Kalahari Basin, synonymous with the characteristics of the high-grade Wessels-type manganese ore mined at Assmang’s N’Chwaning and BHP Billiton’s SamancorWessels mines, but it is not a contiguous extension of those deposits. Wessels-type manganese ore is the industry’s recognised manganese-grade benchmark,” director Nico Hager explains.

Th e 90 ha property has been proven to contain grades in excess of 48%. Since its in-ception, Lehating has travelled the long road all juniors must travel with promoters fund-ing the initial work, which included explora-tion drilling and the pre-feasibility studies.

“Upfront, we had nothing to rely on but historical data, which indicated the property had an estimated 15 Mt resource. Having intersected manganese from the fi rst holes drilled, a two-phase feasibility study com-menced in 2009, funded by the investments

The Northern Cape’s Kalahari B

generation of junior mangan

The company's part in this n

of the last remaining high

writes Laura Cornish.

ABOVE Lehating core samples LEFT Typical Kalahari Basin landscape

Lehating is a junior BEE mining company born from the 2004 Mineral and Petroleum Resources De-

velopment Act. Named after the farm Lehating, the six-year-

old company was formed when a group of eight

professional engineers, metallurgists and ge-

ologists acquired a new order prospect-

ing right. In 2009, TWP Investments

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of Traxys and TWPI,” CEO Charles Sambo explains. Phase 1, completed in the third quarter of 2011, saw another 12 holes drilled and verifi ed the extent of the orebody, culmi-nating in a Competent Person’s Report.

Th e Phase 2 in-fi ll drilling programme, including 13 additional holes and two geo-technical holes, has also been completed and the results of a bankable feasibility study are due imminently.

Th e company has also pre-qualifi ed for Transnet rail allocation, which Sambo and Hager says will ‘kick in’ from 2015, around

the time the mine should start producing a forecast 500 000 tpa of saleable product.

“As far as juniors go, our project to date is well advanced. Apart from the engineer-ing studies undertaken by TWP Projects, we have also commissioned heritage and infrastructure studies, environmental and logistical studies and a social-labour plan, and we are engaging with Eskom for power,” Hager continues.

The way forwardTh e next phases for Lehating are to ob-tain a mining right and fundraising. Th ereafter, the project will move into its development phase.

“We have already started approaching banks, looking at a debt component and are reviewing possible equity partners and other options, such as a front door or reverse list-ing locally or on a foreign stock exchange.”

With enough cash on hand, Lehat-ing is well positioned to take itself to the development phase.

Together with TWP Projects, it has been determined that the most economical meth-od for accessing the orebody will be to sink

a main and ventilation shaft to a depth of 260 m. Th e orebody dips at an average fi ve degree east to west to a fi nal depth of 320 m on the western boundary.

Th e mined high-grade ore will only require crushing and screening. “While our inten-tion is to produce 500 000 tpa of saleable product over a 17-year life-of-mine period, we have potential design nameplate capacity of 1 Mtpa to take advantage of future prod-uct demand,” Sambo notes.

Th e mine will deliver three diff erent prod-uct sizes, of which 80% will be a -75 mm

lumpy product, which is highly sought in the market. “It is public knowledge that the graben structured orebody extends beyond our farm boundaries, with diff erent por-tions belonging to other mining companies. While our project is highly economic as a stand-alone operation, it has always been our intention to mine the graben as one orebody and take advantage of economics of scale. We are in discussions with all of the other rights holders to look at methods of consolidating the property into a single as-set since our project is the most advanced,” Sambo continues.

Th e result of consolidating the orebody would extend Lehating mine’s lifespan con-siderably. Expanding capacity would then also have to be considered.

Lehating is a junior BEE mining company born from the 2004 Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act

Photo credit: BHP Billiton

Lehating grades are synonymous with characteristics of the high-grade Samancor Wessels mine


Ferrous metals

KUDUMANE MANGANESE RESOURCES

A junior with a major’s appetiteKudumane Manganese Resources has added its name to the growing list of companies developing a piece of the Kalahari Basin’s manganese ‘pie’. Although a junior by definition, it has the heart and mining appetite of a major, writes Laura Cornish.

May 2012 will be recorded as a historical milestone month for Kudumane Manganese Resources (KMR) as it success-

fully achieved its fi rst blast. It also represents

the beginning of development of its R1.5 bil-lion Kudumane project. Situated below Ass-mang’s Black Rock and N’chwaning manga-nese operations just 1 km from Hotazel in the Northern Cape, Kudumane’s develop-ment plan is a rapid one – fi rst production is targeted to commence at the end of this year.

Unlike most junior companies, KMR owns prospecting licences over six contiguous

LEFT Minister of Mineral Resources, Susan Shabangu with the explosives detonator

BELOW The fi rst mine blast

Ferrous metals

KMR company structure

KMR was originally owned jointly by two BEE companies: Northern Cape Manganese Company and Dirleton Minerals & Energy.

When privately owned Hong Kong manganese trader, Asia Minerals, acquired 49% stakes in each company, it gained a 49% stake in the project.

Asia Minerals, which owns two smelters in China and is developing a third in Malaysia, will purchase 1 Mt of Kudumane product each year for internal consumption and will trade the remaining product.

farms, meaning its long-term production and development scope could be substantial.

“Our strategy and approach to developing our properties is sensible; we start initially with an open pit mine, which will be quick to develop, thereby generating cash quickly as well. Once the open pit operation has reached its nameplate capacity, we will proceed shortly thereafter with underground development, increasing Kudumane’s tonnage and overall life of mine,” KMR’s CEO, Sechaba Letaba, explains. Letaba was previously the sen-ior general manager at Assmang’s manganese mining opera-tions in Kuruman.

Production from the opencast mine, located on the York farm property, will start late this year, after which it will ramp up to its nameplate capacity of 2 Mtpa of saleable product by the end of 2013. A bulk sampling exercise is currently under way

Ferrous metals

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The six farms

• York – the opencast mine• Telele – the underground mine• Hotazel – the next small opencast mine on schedule (currently being drilled to confirm resource)

• Devon• Perth – only portions of the farm

Kudumane hopes to build its own smelting facility eventually

to confi rm the opencast mine resource, ex-pected to be completed in August.

Th e mine’s lifespan is projected to last be-tween 10 and 15 years.

“Th e underground development plan is to build a decline from the bottom of the open-pit to access the orebody quickly and effi ciently,” Letaba adds.

Th e planned underground mine is situ-ated on the Telele farm and is anticipated to

“Unlike most junior companies, KMR owns prospecting licences over six contiguous farms,

meaning its long-term production and development scope could be substantial.” Sechaba Letaba

increase KMR’s total saleable production to 2.5 Mtpa within seven years from start of fi rst production, all at a total average grade of 37.5%.

For now, the open pit Kudumane mine project components include a crushing and screening plant, mine residue disposal stor-age and facilities, and various support infra-structure and services, including a 5.3 km railway siding, a 3 500 tph automated rapid

loading station, roads, housing, community buildings and road trucks capable of loading 3 000 tph. Th e company will apply for rail allocation soon.

“An engineering contractor will soon be appointed for the construction of the per-manent crushing and screening plant,” notes David Wellbeloved, the project direc-tor. Until then, mobile crushers will be used.

Th e company will give preference to the locally unemployed wherever possible, and where it cannot source local employees, it will recruit nationally.

Up to 500 workers will be employed dur-ing the project construction phase, and the company will provide permanent employ-ment to between 200 and 300 people.

But it is KMR’s long-term vision that is ad-mirable. Th e company will commence with a feasibility study in the next few months to determine the economic viability of building a smelter and sinter plant on its property. Securing Eskom power will likely be one of the biggest project challenges.

A smelter plant enables low-grade material to be processed viably, Wellbeloved explains.

If successful, this will further increase the mine’s lifespan by providing access to a greater resource.

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Ferrous metals

O sborn product specialist Fran-cois Scott elaborates: “We se-cured this order, which was for a new manganese mine situ-

ated between Black Rock and Sishen, based on the number of machines that we already have operating in this area.”

In the past 12 months, Osborn has sup-plied eight machines to this part of the country, primarily for manganese produc-tion. “About 90% of all the machines op-erating here are Osborn’s,” Scott adds. He says that this, combined with fact that this customer (a prominent new mining com-pany in the region) has Osborn crushers operating successfully at another site, led to it choosing Osborn for this latest order,

MANGANESE MANIA

Crushing the manganese marketMaterials handling specialist Osborn Engineered Products has supplied

equipment totalling R14 million to a new manganese mine in the Northern Cape,

thanks to the hard-wearing reputation of its machines in the manganese industry.

which includes an apron feeder, vibrating grizzly feeder, jaw crusher and an Osborn 57SBS Gyrasphere cone crusher. The in-stallation and commissioning were under-taken by Osborn.

Also included in the equipment supplied was a BTi MRHT25BXR50 stationary Rock-breaker system, which is perfectly suited to this hard rock application. Osborn is the local distributor for Breaker Technology, a world-class supplier of stationary and mo-bile Rockbreakers to all industries.

The production of manganese – an essen-tial ingredient of steel – represents an area

of vast untapped potential for the South African mining industry. The country has 80% of the world’s identified high-grade manganese reserves, but has only cornered 15% of the world market.

“With Osborn’s rugged machines having established their reputation in this tough industry, we look forward to supplying even more equipment to this fast-growing sector,” Scott concludes.

BELOW Stationary rockbreaker systemRIGHT Osborn Gyrasphere cone crusher

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Infrastructure in Africa

The last fi nancial year (which ended February 2012) was tough for Pro-tech Khuthele Holdings (PKH) as the aftermath of a repressed con-

struction economy continued to delay the number of new business opportunities.

In comparison with most business sectors, the mining industry has been fairly robust, particularly across the African continent.

And PKH’s annual turnover results bear testimony to this – with about 77% attrib-utable to work from the mining industry.

Th e company specialises in mining infra-structure, which includes the construction of slimes dams and access roads. Th e com-pany also dabbles in contract mining.

THE AFRICAN CONTINENT

A saving graceBulk earthworks and civil

engineering group Protech

Khuthele Holdings remains

focused on its strategy to

expand its mining infrastructure

footprint in Africa. This is essential

as activity in South Africa’s

construction industry remains

muted, CEO Antony Page tells

Laura Cornish.

While local construction and large infra-structure project investment spend contin-ues to lag, the group remains focused on ex-tending its reach in the infrastructure value chain and is selectively pursuing projects in the rest of Africa.

“Expansion in South Africa and the rest of Africa by junior miners is now opening up opportunities for second tier contrac-tors such as PKH, which can provide a wide range of value added services. We can pro-vide the junior market with an innovative, speedy business model that is well-suited to their cash-tight business approach. Th e challenges of operating in Africa, however, do lead to longer establishment cycles, and

contractors need to be compensated for the additional risks,” states Page.

With this in mind, the company has adopt-ed a strong project selection criteria system for African mining projects: it looks at the country itself, the logistics and risk, cash value, etc., and determines what work is best suited to its capabilities and appetite.

“In most cases, we intend to follow our current client base into Africa as they open up new projects, which will also help us to learn and better understand the countries we will move into,” Page continues.

PKH already has a fair amount of African working experience under its belt, thanks to some of the industry’s blue chip mining

players it has worked for in the past. It is currently involved in four projects in Africa. Th ese include two in the Democratic Repub-lic of the Congo, one in Zambia and another in Sierra Leone. Its African work experi-ence extends into Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

Expansion in South Africa and the rest of Africa by junior miners is now opening up opportunities for second tier contractors

PKH also plays in the open cast mining space

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Th e focus of new management, which took over from 1 Sep-tember 2011, has been on repositioning the group to weather the current market environment while gearing up for growth in 2013, when it anticipates a strong market recovery.

One of the core areas of the business that has been prioritised is its plant policy, which according to the company has been modifi ed without compromising its service quality.

Replacement cycles for plant and equipment have been ex-tended within their warranty periods to optimise asset utilisa-tion and reduce capital requirements, with the overall eff ect of reducing the inherent fi nancial risks of the business.

The future outlook “We have seen evidence of improved tender activity since the beginning of the new fi nancial year (March 2012), both in the mining sector and commercial infra-structure,” Page notes.

Th ere are numerous opportunities to work in Africa, in mining and related infrastructure, but the company will adopt a conservative and highly selective approach in relation to clients and partners. Th e total order book, which consists of awarded

projects currently in progress in the contracting business unit, amounted to R1.1 billion (on 29 February 2012).

In addition, the total value of work tendered, submitted and awaiting adjudication and award to the successful contrac-tor is currently valued at some R2.4 billion on a probability weighted basis.

With its internal repositioning and capacity building, Protech believes it is on a sound footing to benefi t from these opportuni-ties. Initiatives to extend its capability in specifi c areas of the construction value chain are on track; PKH recently announced that it was establishing a civils division. Th is should provide fur-ther growth as the group delivers more diversifi ed solutions to its customers.

“In most cases, we intend to follow our current client base into Africa as they open up new projects, which will also help us to learn and better understand the countries we will move into.” Antony Page


United Kingdom-based interim power solutions specialist Ag-greko, together with South Af-rican investment holding com-

pany Shanduka Group, recently announced a groundbreaking clean fuel power supply project that is due to come on stream im-minently, providing a much-needed ‘tem-porary interim gap filler’ power supply.

The project – a new 107 MW power plant – will use gas from Mozambique’s Temane gas field to provide a power supply to South African power utility Eskom and its Mozambican counterpart, Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM).

It came about following discussions initi-ated by Aggreko, which has 9 000 MW of rental power capacity, and included Shan-duka Group, Eskom and EDM. The dis-cussions took place early in 2011 and the project was approved by South Africa’s Na-tional Energy Regulator (NERSA) and the country’s departments of Energy and Pub-lic Enterprise.

While uncertainty regarding power supply continues to plague the South African

economy, short-term solutions are as critical as long-term ones. One such solution

was recently announced and is a welcome relief for the country.

GROUNDBREAKING CLEAN POWER SUPPLY

A gap-filler for Eskom

‘Imminent timing’ is a key component of this project, which is on schedule to come on stream early in the third quarter of this

year. It will supply 92 MW of power to Es-kom and 15 MW of peak hour power to EDM until July 2014.

It is important to note, however, that the power purchase agreements are subject to the parties fulfilling a number of condi-tions before becoming effective.

“We are very supportive of this innova-tive cross-border project and we look for-ward to the seeing the plant coming online early in the third quarter,” says Hilary Jof-fe, Eskom spokesperson.

As part of Mozambique’s Concession Agreement, the power plant will be built on the site of Gigawatt Mozambique SA

at Ressano Garcia, on the Mozambique/South African border. “We are able to bring this project on stream so quickly because

the Ressano site already has existing gas off-take agreements in place, as well as ap-proved concessions and licences,” says Ag-greko chief executive, Rupert Soames.

Aggreko (with 1 300 MW of rental ca-pacity currently installed in Africa) will be responsible for building gas intercon-nections, a major substation and a 1.5 km, 275 kV transmission line as per the agree-ments with the Matola Gas Company SA and Gigawatt Mozambique SA.

This is thought to be the first project by a private company to supply an interim cross-border power solution to two utili-ties in Southern Africa, and it underlines

The project will supply 92 MW of power to Eskom and 15 MW of peak hour power to EDM until July 2014



the potential benefits that can accrue for the countries sharing resources. Both countries will get much needed additional power, and the project also underlines the importance of Mozambique as an energy hub for the entire Southern African region.

The total value of the project is likely to be in the region of US$250 million (about R2.1 billion) over two years, including fuel costs.

“This is an important contract for Aggre-ko, and for Southern Africa, under-scoring the benefits of working together for the common good. Southern Africa is expe-riencing strong and sustained economic growth and the demand for energy is a major issue. Meeting future needs is go-ing to require an energy mix, and natural gas – which has the lowest environmental impact out of the thermal options – will

definitely be part of the solution. We also hope this project will be an example for other countries seeking to optimise their resources and manage the supply of re-gional power,” says Soames.

“The partnership with Aggreko creates an opportunity for Shanduka to contrib-ute to the Southern Africa Power Pool.

This project will support our vision of creating value while making a difference. Shanduka will oversee the employment and training of about 100 locals and we will also lead the procurement process to ensure South African companies benefit,” comments Phuti Mahanyele, CEO of the Shanduka Group.

RIGHT Temporary gas power supply generators at an Aggreko power plant in the DRC. The Ressano Garcia site will be

similar in appearanceLEFT Aerial view of the Ressano

Garcia site



Pollution To Water (P2W) is a pri-vate company that has emerged in the mining industry with great success over the past few

years, based on its already proven technol-ogy to treat polluted water effectively and cost efficiently.

The company has installed a few water treatment plants for West Africa’s gold industry since 2009 and is targeting ma-jor growth across the entire continent,

including South Africa, and furthermore has initiatives in Latin America as well.

With this ambition in mind, it recently announced the formation of a partnership with South Africa-based wastewater treat-ment company, Tecroveer.

“We believe so strongly in the P2W tech-nology that Tecroveer has established a new division, Thanda Manzi, which will not only represent P2W in South Africa, but will construct the P2W plants going

CLEANING WASTEWATER

Doing away with conventional methodsImagine being able to purify polluted water without using expensive, hazardous

chemicals and highly technical processes. Israel-based company P2W not only

offers such a solution, but has multiple success stories in Africa to back up its

claims, writes Laura Cornish.

forward, maintain all P2W plants in the country and stand as a fully capable service provider for P2W technologies,” says Izak Cronje, MD for Thanda Manzi

To mark the new venture officially, the companies hosted clients to see its technol-ogy in action – through the establishment of a pilot test facility in South Africa’s gold hub, Randfontein. This successfully demonstrated the technology’s ability to treat sulphates in acid mine drainage (AMD) water without the need for chemi-cals, or for the traditional reverse osmosis membrane methodology.

According to Palmach Zeevy, P2W CEO: “The leading solution for AMD treat-ment is reverse osmosis. We are challeng-ing the use of this traditional treatment. The P2W technology is more cost effec-tive, and no brine is created during the treatment process.”

In layman’s terms, the core technologies that drive the P2W solution offerings are based on patented electrolysis and elec-tro-coagulation configurations, and are

P2W process advantages

• a reduced plant footprint, resulting in less space required• substantially reduced operational expenditure, compared to other technologies• a 100% recovery rate and reduced waste solids• less than 1% dry cake• environment-friendly• capital outlay for a tailings storage facility (TSF) can be reduced, together with ongoing maintenance and rehabilitation costs, particularly around closure of the TSF

Successful case studies

AngloGold Ashanti’s Idupriem gold mine (Ghana)• P2W supplied a mine wastewater treatment system with the capacity of 450 m³/h, operating continuously. Commissioned in March 2009, the plant is treating cyanide, heavy metals and high turbidity.

AngloGold Ashanti’s Obuasi gold mine (Ghana)• P2W supplied a system with a capacity to treat 250 m³/h, treating heavy metals and arsenic. It was commissioned in February this year.

Golden Star’s Bogosu gold mine (Ghana)• P2W supplied two identical systems, each with a capacity of 550 m³/h to treat cyanide, heavy metals and sulphates. It was commissioned in May this year.

AngloGold Ashanti’s Obuasi gold mine (Ghana)• P2W is supplying a 500 m³/h system to treat additional mine wastewater. It will be commissioned in August this year.

LEFT Thanda Manzi in partnership with P2W recently hosted clients at a pilot test

facility in RandfonteinMIDDLE Site of the pilot test facility in

RandfonteinRIGHT AND OPPOSITE P2W

commissioned a water treatment plant at Golden Star's Bogosu mine in Ghana in

February 2012

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Driving customer service through skills development


effective in the reduction of all forms of cyanide, sulphates and heavy metal con-centrations from internal water process circuits and from discharge streams enter-ing the environment.

“With the use of a small amount of elec-tricity, we can successfully remove any tox-ic materials from a water stream to meet discharge requirements,” says Zeevy.

The company has also recently started offering the mining community a com-plete slurry treatment solution that is

capable of treating all pollution levels of cyanide, arsenic and dissolved heavy met-als that typically exist in a mine slurry stream, resulting in a final tailings that is virtually free of any contaminant. This also has enormous positive impacts on the environment.

Business and financial highlights for tailings discharge treatment

P2W and Tecroveer design, construct, operate and maintain their plants, and thus:• provide a sustainable water treatment method

• offer cash savings, especially when not constructing a TSF

• reduce hazardous tailings sludge requiring treatment

• ensure no toxic seepage into the ground and natural water sources

• reduce the environmental impact posed by TSFs

With this technology, the liquids are sep-arated from the solids and the pollution ex-isting in the solid is transferred to the wa-ter and then treated. As a result, two clean streams are received: a stream of solids and a stream of liquids. Both can be remixed or reused according to need.



M ining engineers TWP Pro-jects’ infrastructure divi-sion, TWP Infrastructure, is bullish about the infra-

structure opportunities in Africa. So much so that despite its slow emergence into the sector, it is now anticipating the im-minent award of a significant logistics infrastructure project.

Officially established in October 2010, TWP Infrastructure’s mandate is to source, tender and secure any infrastructure-relat-ed engineering project work across the Af-rican continent.

“This includes product import and ex-port projects, all transportation and logis-tics (both rail and road), buildings, hous-ing, bulk services, acid mine drainage and wastewater treatment projects, materials

handling and port projects,” says general manager Ian Pinnock.

While Pinnock aims to lessen the divi-sion’s dependence on the mining precinct entirely, to include public-private and gov-ernment works, its connection to the min-ing industry via its parent companies (TWP Projects and Basil Read) means it will al-ways remain close to the sector.

“What differentiates us in such a globally competitive market is our company roots, which enable us to offer clients a full en-gineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) service suite,” Pin-nock continues. This will also help alleviate the severe skills shortage crisis the world is currently experiencing.

While the company has celebrated the award of workshop and housing

AFRICA’S PROMISING MINING INDUSTRY

The need for supporting infrastructureThe future of Africa’s mining industry holds more promise than that of any

other continent. The critical key factor to ensure its success is the establishment

and development of the necessary infrastructure to support the sector, writes

Laura Cornish.

We have numerous tenders out at present for transport and logistics infrastructure projects in the Northern Cape, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mozambique



ventures since its inception, it remains heavily focused on large-scale pit-to-port project work.

“We have numerous tenders out at pre-sent for transport and logistics infrastruc-ture projects in the Northern Cape, Liberia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mozambique. One of these projects looks promising, and we anticipate its award in the nearby future,” Pinnock reveals.

To strengthen its service capabilities and offerings further, the division is looking at

TWP Infrastructure has the capability to design housing schemes, rail, and ports

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3D construction modelling aimed at assisting construction companies to visualise and understand the dynamics and project elements of a building throughout the construction phase. This will decrease the chance for construction errors, and should improve on-site safety as well.

“We have also adopted a strategic focus on establishing rail expertise initiatives within the company, which will bring an immediate improvement to our in-house capabilities,” Pin-nock continues.

And while TWP Infrastructure’s staff complement will grow as its project portfolio does, it can out-source project work to India to increase its capacity quickly if necessary.

Project work to dateTWP Infrastructure recently celebrated the completion of a large bucket and bowl workshop facility for Kumba Iron Ore’s Sishen mine in the Northern Cape. The workshop will be used as an interim maintenance facility for the mine’s fleet of heavy haulage vehicles and thereafter for maintaining the buckets and bodies.

“We have also been awarded the development of the per-manent ‘life-of-mine’ workshop facility for the mine,” Pinnock adds.

TWP is involved in the ongoing housing project at Kathu, which the company became involved with in February 2011, and continues to be the EPCM contractor for Lakutshona

Housing Company development, management house devel-opment, boarding houses and hostel refurbishment projects.

For this project, TWP Infrastructure is responsible for the EPCM construction management of the installation of the bulk services as well as the construction of the houses. The project is due for completion in 2014.

“We have also adopted a strategic focus on establishing rail expertise initiatives within the company, which will bring an immediate improvement to our in-house capabilities”

Long recognised for our ability to engineer efficient and reliable

equipment, Joy Global is taking mining to even higher levels through

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Breakthrough mining solutions.


V eolia Water Solutions and Tech-nologies South Africa (Veolia) has been supplying water and wastewater management solu-

tions to the mining industry for decades.With over 450 registered technologies

(registered through its French head office), the company continues to deliver on its strategic business vision, which is “to be a holistic water technology vendor and com-plete service and product supplier to all major industries across Africa, including the mining sector,” says Chris Braybrooke, Veolia business development manager.

“With access to so many technologies from the global Veolia Water Group, we cover all wastewater treatment aspects, including high-tech filtration, membrane

bioreactor and thermal technologies.” Con-sidering the company is capable of provid-ing ‘cradle to grave’ service solutions, it continues to build on its vision daily.

“In addition to off ering our clients full de-sign, build and commission water plant pack-ages, we also provide consulting, technical, operation and maintenance services, as well as retaining a full spare parts division and water treatment chemical supply division. Logistically, we can also transport our plants by sea or road to any location in Africa.”

Developing trendsBraybrooke explains that while the com-pany has traditionally always focused on the African continent, it has more noticed a renewed upsurge in African project work

– particularly in Mozambique, Ghana, Tan-zania and Zambia – and remains aware of the potential increase in Namibian projects as the uranium sector develops further.“As the industry matures, its demand for more efficient and environment-friendly

WATER ON TAP

It can be a reality


Mines and process plants in Africa are becoming increasingly reliant on water

management experts to ensure that the lack of such a precious, limited resource

does not impact on project development or sustainability, writes Laura Cornish.

BELOW Veolia's Actifl o plants in operation



technologies is escalating as well. Mines are calling for zero-liquid effluent discharge water technologies as more stringent regu-lations insist that no toxic water is released into the environment.

And while technologies to recycle water for reuse in plant processes is common prac-tice, Braybrooke notes that Veolia takes the solution ‘one step further’ by ensuring that water is treated to specific standards ac-cording to the exact process it is being used for. “This I believe is what distinguishes us in the market,” Braybrooke states.

The modular solutionAlthough Veolia has been supplying con-tainerised modular water plants into Africa for over a decade, the company is notic-ing a substantial increase in interest for the product.

“These rugged, highly efficient and ro-bust plants are ideally suited to the mining industry’s evolution. Mines are emerging in extremely remote areas, where there is very little water source, and often con-sist of multiple deposits in multiple areas. Speedy production is also becoming in-creasingly vital,” Braybrooke describes.

Veolia can supply modular drinking, process, sewerage or wastewater treat-ment plants, and guarantees a short deliv-ery time from time of order until on-site commissioning. Depending on location, a unit can be designed and fabricated in Johannesburg, Cape Town (Paarl) or Namibia (Windhoek).

While the term ‘modular’ implies size limitations, Braybrooke points out that this is not the case. Although designed for developing country conditions, they still adhere to first-world standards. “We also always respect every individual country’s water specifications.”

The Namibia branch recently supplied a modular sewerage unit for a new gold op-eration in Tanzania, capable of catering for up to 500 people.

“As part of our value-added service, we will also visit and run maintenance proce-dures on the plant four times a year. We are also looking at flying our patented range of Hydrex chemicals up to the site as well.”

Problem solving across AfricaOutside of South Africa, Veolia has branch-es in Windhoek and Botswana (Gaborone), which are both well positioned to benefit from the growing mining industries in the country, as well as neighbouring countries.

Both facilities are fully equipped with the entire Veolia Group suite of products and together with South Africa, are fully capable of servicing the entire African continent.

“I believe Veolia has become recognised in Africa for its ability to address problems

and find solutions to the variety of water-related challenges in Africa,” says Chris Stöck, MD of ASE (Aqua Services & Engi-neering), Veolia’s Namibia branch.

Stöck was, in fact, part of the original Veolia team that established the modular technology, updating and applying modern concepts to what was already a well-estab-lished product.

More recently, the company supplied a pilot filtration unit to a Namibia-based uranium company. The unit is being used on the pregnant liquor solution generated from a heap leach pad. The filtration unit is filtering the final product to produce a higher quality.

“We also recently supplied two seawater desalination plants for two clients who des-perately needed to process the groundwa-ter they were using, which was extremely brackish in nature due to the remote desert location,” Stöck explains. He predicts that desalination technology will grow in de-mand in the next few years in Namibia.

Veolia is also capable of providing solu-tions that can generate cash for its clients. “Our thermal technologies can beneficiate waste effluent streams and produce a sale-able product that can be sold and utilised in other markets,” Braybrooke mentions.

Naturally, it goes without saying that Ve-olia has sufficient technologies to cater to South Africa’s serious acid mine drainage (AMD) crisis.

“All three of our main Witwatersrand ba-sins have diff erent AMD challenges, and we remain ready to help solve this severely de-bilitating problem,” Braybrooke concludes.

ABOVE LEFT The Tubatse Ferrochrome plant can treat 5 000 m3 of water per day ABOVE RIGHT Veolia SA’s patented high

rate package plant Actifl o clarifi ers remove all suspended solids and some precipitated

salts from the treated water

BELOW Typical modular or containerised plant confi gurations manufactured for the

mining industry

Laboratories and chemicals


E arly this year we officially launched and opened the first commercial X-Ray fluorescent (XRF) iron ore laboratory in

Liberia [West Africa], aimed at servicing the wide range of current, new and emerg-ing iron ore projects in the country, and neighbouring countries as well,” Derick Govender, SGS vice president: Minerals Africa, begins.

Govender attributes the success of the laboratory, which is already busy with work for certain key clients, to the vast amount of iron ore experience present within the entire global group.

While it is already running accord-ing to ISO standards, it will take be-tween 12 and 18 months to attain full ISO 17 205 accreditation.

The new laboratory (employing about 35 local and expatriate staff members) is

capable of processing between 10 000 and 12 000 samples every month, but plans are already under way to increase this to 20 000 by the beginning of 2013.

This is largely to the upcoming addition of a basic metallurgical test facility and the addition of a gold laboratory facility (already in operation).

Because the XRF instrument is an ex-tremely complex piece of equipment, SGS will provide continuing support from its Johannesburg office to ensure the labo-ratory maintains constantly high-quality levels and standards.

Govender also mentions that the com-pany has a significant footprint in the Republic of Congo (ROC) – providing on-site preparation sampling services to the Mayoko iron ore project of ASX-listed iron exploration and development company Equatorial Resources.

“Although our intention is to open up a laboratory facility in the country and ex-pand our service capabilities in the region, we will temporarily transport samples from the ROC to our new Liberia laboratory for processing.

Meeting the gold rush demand“Our three West African offices are burst-ing at the seams as a result of the massive uptake in gold projects,” Govender notes.

SGS has its major commercial laborato-ries in Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali.

The expansion projects are not only aimed at coping with the additional project work, but are also aimed at increasing and improving efficiency and flow rate levels, thanks to improved equipment. It will also

SGS MINERALS GROUP

Expanding laboratories across West Africa

Laboratory and minerals specialist SGS Minerals Group is riding the gold

and iron ore rush in West Africa. Its establishment of new, upgraded and

expanded laboratories across numerous countries is evidence of this, writes

Laura Cornish.

ABOVE The gold industry in West Africa is booming



alleviate the pressure and stress on the cur-rent workforce.

Burkina FasoSGS is expanding its commercial laboratory facility to include a larger sample prepara-tion gold assay facility.

Once complete, the Burkina Faso labora-tory’s capacity will increase from 60 000 samples a month to between 80 000 and 100 000.

Govender says that the new equipment has already been ordered, with the new fa-cility on target to be commissioned in Oc-tober and opened in November.

Mali“Our expansion plans for Mali are similar to what we are doing in Burkina Faso,” says Govender. SGS is adding a full gold labora-tory onto its sample preparation facility, thereby increasing its capacity to between 80 000 and 100 000 samples per month.

GhanaThe plan for the Tarkwa town-based com-mercial analytical facility is to relocate it to a nearby site, which will provide it with the space to add on a new laboratory.

The new laboratory, due to be in opera-tion by February next year, will cater for 100 000 samples each month.

“We are still deciding whether to keep the original facility open or not. This will depend on the demand for its capac-ity, which is between 55 000 and 60 000 samples a month.”

The attraction of mobile laboratoriesA fairly new initiative for SGS that has taken off with great success is its mobile sample preparation laboratories.

Referred to as mobile sample preparation units (MSPUs), they are either 20 ft or 40 ft containers that are shipped to any remote location and are fully equipped to prepare samples with speed.

“Last year we set up four units in Bur-kina Faso, Ghana, Mali and the Demo-cratic Republic of the Congo, and have

another five on order for this year already,” Govender outlines.

SGS provides a full commissioning team, and also provides operational management of the MSPU with staff of between six and 10 people, which is equipped to run for be-tween 12 and 60 months.

They can be used exclusively on a sin-gle operator’s site, or placed in a more neutral position and shared between several clients.

“MSPU facilities offer numerous benefits for both us and our clients,” Govender ex-plains. “Because the samples are prepared on site, this prevents a back-log from build-ing up at the laboratory, which speeds up the analysis process substantially.”

In many African countries, there is a lot of red tape to go through before obtaining permission to send bulk samples out of the country.

By preparing the samples on site, the vol-ume of the sample is reduced to between 200 and 300 g, making it less expensive and easier to transport.

They are able to run 24/7, depending on the volume of work required, and can be operated anywhere in the world.

RIGHT The iron ore industry is growing rapidly across Africa

Atomic absorption spectrophetometer - analysing elements in solution

SGS's XRF machine in Liberia

Mobile sample preparation laboratory

SGS has officially launched and opened the first commercial X-Ray fluorescent iron ore laboratory in Liberia



Rod Humphris, Omnia Group MD, offi cially opened the company's world-class nitric acid complex in Sasolburg, which started operat-

ing towards the end of March 2012. Th is complex is the fi rst of its kind to be built in South Africa for many decades and rep-resents a milestone investment in the de-velopment of South Africa to produce nitric acid. It will also alleviate the pressure Om-nia experienced as a result of an increasing shortage of this critical raw material.

Th e complex comprises a nitric acid plant, an ammonium nitrate plant, a porous ammonium nitrate plant, a fl eet of 145

specialised ammonia rail tankers and other ancillary facilities. Th e nitric acid plant will produce 1 000 t/d, which is 40% more than the current plant.

Th e R1.4 billion facility will boost South Africa’s nitric acid output by 330 000 tpa, increasing the country’s overall output ca-pacity to about 1.4 Mtpa. It will also reduce the need to import nitrogen products nec-essary for the manufacture of explosives for the minerals industry.

“Th is added production will improve BME’s security of supply, which means that it can further improve its service off ering, par-ticularly to countries within the Southern

African region,” said BME MD Francois Hay, who noted that the recent upsurge in mining activity in Africa had strained the supply of mining equipment, skills and other inputs.

“Because explosives form the basis of most mining operations, mine owners have ac-tively been seeking solutions to their twin requirements of security of supply and the diminishing pool of skills available in this arena,” said Hay.

Th e company already holds a signifi cant market share in the explosives industry in West and Southern Africa, and is expecting to further improve its competitive position. Hay added that BME had developed a stable

A NEW NITRIC ACID PLANT

Sasolburg’s green explosives The African mining sector is set to benefit from a more secure supply of

explosives after Omnia, the holding company for blasting specialist BME, officially

opened its new energy-efficient and low-emission nitric acid plant in Sasolburg.

emulsion product that could be safely trans-ported across vast distances without com-promising quality.

According to BME, the new production capacity puts it – through the Omnia group – in the same league as competitor Sasol, which previously dominated the market with about 50% of nitric acid produced.

Th e new plant also boasts impressive ‘green’ credentials, having installed cutting-edge EnviNOx technology from Th yssenK-rupp Uhde of Germany, to eliminate green-house gas emissions.

Th e technology, which is already in place at the group’s older nitric acid plant in Sasol-burg, will allow the new plant to generate about 400 000 t in carbon credits annually at full load, in terms of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

According to Danie Oosthuizen, group pro-ject director, all nitric acid plants produce

greenhouses gases, but the EnviNOx process eff ectively destroys 98% of these gases by converting them in a reactor into nitrogen and water vapour.

“In line with government commitments to reduce outputs of greenhouse gases, we have invested considerably to ensure that our plants are environmentally friendly,” said Oosthuizen.

Th e new plant is also self-suffi cient in terms of its electrical energy needs, even generating more than it needs for its own processes and ‘exporting’ electrical energy into the local Omnia grid that feeds its Sasolburg operations.

“Th e process of making nitric acid is exo-thermic, generating heat that we then con-vert to steam,” said Oosthuizen. “We use this

to drive the heart of our plant – the com-pressor train – and still have excess steam to drive an electricity-generating turbine.

“Th is allows us to be eff ectively independ-ent of Eskom’s national energy grid, and to feed some into the Omnia network on the same site.”

Omnia recently became the fi rst company in sub-Saharan Africa to be issued in excess of one million Certifi ed Emission Reduc-tions (CERs) by the Executive Board of the Clean Development Mechanism Protocol. Omnia has to date been issued with a total of 1 076 015 CERs, 42% of the total quantity issued in Southern Africa.

According to BME, the new production capacity puts it in the same league as competitor Sasol, which previously dominated the market with about 50% of nitric acid produced

A global leader in mineral and metallurgical innovation

For almost a century, Mintek has been at the forefront of minerals and metallurgical research and development...

TODAY THIS CENTRE OF TECHNOLOGICAL EXCELLENCE, with its teams of highly trained and experienced scientists, engineers, researchers,

and specialists, continues to build South Africa’s resources and capacity by providing advanced technology for the more effective extraction,

Mintek supplies new technology, process development to pilot-plant scale, and mineralogical and analytical services, to the gold, platinum, base and ferrous metals,

Internationally recognised products and services: Advanced process control

smelting, and leach circuits; Technologies for the heap bio-assisted leaching of base metals and uranium, and DC arc smelting of ferroalloys and platinum; and

Our expertise lies in: Integrated piloting facilities for process development including

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Facilities: Our well-equipped facilities include: world class laboratory and piloting facilities for process development; optimisation, scale-up, and data acquisition in support of feasibility studies in the areas of minerals processing, pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy; backed up by the latest instrumental techniques for mineral

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One of Mintek’s core purposes is to pioneer new technologies and processes aimed at stream-lining minerals processing sys-

tems and enhancing operational effi ciencies.It does this either through its own internal

cash fl ows or by working in association with various mining houses.

Th e company has various divisions de-voted to the multitude of commodity sec-tors, along all processing avenues, largely hydrometallurgy, minerals processing and pyrometallurgy.

“Because we are constantly evaluating new methodologies, we need a fully equipped, well-staff ed laboratory capable of accom-modating our analytical test work needs,” explains Dr Mike Bryson, specialist minerals processing consultant at Mintek.

Bearing this in mind, Mintek’s head of chemistry, Sandra Graham adds: “Our ana-lytical team is 70 personnel strong and con-sists largely of a diverse range of skills, all specialists and experts with unsurpassed knowledge in the fi eld.”

“Our workload is therefore largely depend-ent on the amount of support that our other divisions require,” she continues.

Importantly, Graham emphasises the fact that despite its core support function, 30% of Mintek’s analytical work is commercial. Th e company, which also off ers resource estimation work and analyses checking to its clients, has close working relationships with the mining houses, as well as with the engineers and consultants appointed to de-velop new projects. Th e company is capable

As mining costs continue to escalate, so does the

need to find more efficient processes. Government-

funded researcher Mintek is at the forefront of

finding such new technologies, and relies greatly

on its in-house analytical laboratory to affirm the

success of its pilot projects.

MINTEK’S ANALYTICAL LABORATORY

Elite experts in action

RIGHT Mintek has a fully equipped analytical laboratory, which it uses

internally for its own processes as well as commercially


of taking on more work, and is willing and keen to do so. “We also still off er, upon re-quest, certifi ed reference materials for qual-ity control purposes – an analytical business unit that continues to operate sustainably.

Graham mentions that there are two min-ing ‘trend’ areas at present that are driving a lot of business into the laboratory.

“Th e rare earths industry is extremely ac-tive at the moment and we are organising ourselves to take on and deal with all of the associated complexities that the analyses of

these elements require. We want to decrease analytical turnaround time, and we are look-ing at the process of microwave digestion, as opposed to hot plates,” Graham outlines.

Contradictory to belief, the frequency of rare earth prospects is high and their value high. It is how to process and extract these minerals (17 in total) viably that will deter-mine how many projects make it to commer-cial production.

Another recent development this year for the division is the addition of a new

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analytical instrument designed specifi cally for lower grade PGM ores. Although South Africa’s PGM market is currently becoming increasingly repressed, it remains one of the country’s most infl uential commodities.

Overall, Mintek may not have the same ca-pacity as other large-scale commercial min-ing laboratories, but instead off ers the mar-ket “unparalleled” speciality and expertise knowledge, and has facilities large enough to take on more commercial analytical work than it is currently has.

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Intertek’s Mineral Division in Africa offers world class mineral inspection, assay and testing services to the Minerals, Mining and Exploration industries on a global basis. Intertek has had a presence in Africa since 2004 through its acquisition of Genalysis Laboratory Services. Since then Intertek has opened and currently operate 5 laboratories and 12 sample receipt / preparation facilities on the African continent. These facilities service multiple commodities from Gold, Platinum Group Elements, Iron Ore, Manganese Ore, Copper, Nickel, Uranium and Rare Earth Elements.

All of the African operations are supported by Intertek’s 1,000 laboratories and offi ces and more than 30,000 employees globally. Our network of Mineral laboratory facilities are either accredited or work in accordance with the ISO17025 and offers a wide range of services including;

Sample PreparationFire Assay and Precious Metal AnalysisExploration Geochemistry XRF analysis Environmental Services Dedicated Preparation FacilitiesMine-Site LaboratoriesCoal Testing and InspectionConsulting ServicesMinerals Inspections

Intertek’s Minerals Divisions are currently operating in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Madagascar, Zambia, Tanzania, DR Congo, Kenya, Eritrea, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea and Burkina Faso. Through this network most countries in Africa are able to be serviced.

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Global scope, local presence


Opencast mining

WEATHER INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS

Can you weather the weather?Any mining house serious about maintaining or increasing production levels and

improving safety statistics should keep a weather eye open, writes Laura Cornish.


Opencast mining

account,” explains the director of Weather Intelligence Systems (WIS), Barry Gonin.

Established in 2008, WIS offers and pro-vides holistic weather-related risk manage-ment systems to industries across South Africa, but has found the majority of its business stems from the mining sector.

The company provides industries with weather stations, web-based weather fore-cast portals and immediate evacuation warning systems.

Gonin estimates that in the space of four years, the company has acquired some-where between 50 and 70% of the weather monitoring market share, with over 800 product installations in South Africa.

“About 400 of those are on mine sites across the country. Our client base includes most blue chip, large-scale mining houses in the country,” he adds.

And while WIS’s footprint is largely con-fined to South Africa at present, it hopes to expand this into other African territories.

“The lack of infrastructure in Africa is a big problem for the equipment we use, which relies on the Internet and

communication technology. We are looking at alternative methods which will enable our systems to work with less reliance on such technologies,” Gonin mentions.

Impacting productionA mine’s annual production rates are to a large extent dependent on or influenced by maintenance schedules and forward plan-ning, which on plant and large equipment items can require days and even weeks.

Being prepared for unusual weather pat-terns, such as a month of heavy rainfall, can help mines determine the best time for maintenance procedures, for example.

Through its web-based weather stations situated on site, WIS is able to provide six-monthly seasonal forecasts within an accu-rate radius of an open pit. The equipment

R ainfall and lightning, severe heat or cold, wind and even barometric pressure changes are all factors that any opencast mining opera-

tion should take into account on a monthly, daily and even hourly basis to help ensure that its operation runs as productively and safely as possible.

“Natures’ elements play a vital role in a mine’s daily operational tasks. The impact certain weather conditions can cause on a mine site should always be taken into

ABOVE The automated weather station presents up to the minute access to

weather intelligence at an exact locationLEFT WeatherSA's online weather portal

has found wide acceptance in the local mining industry

ABOVE Early warning weather detection system sets new standards for safety

in mining

specifically monitors for rain and temperatures, making it ideal for maintenance planning.

“Blasting is another routine procedure that contributes sig-nificantly to production quotas. A lot of mining operations are located in close proximity to communities and housing settle-ments, which can be severely impacted by a blast if the wind is blowing in their direction on a blasting day. It can also contrib-ute to noise impact,” Gonin explains.

Because WIS is able to provide clients with weekly weather forecasts, blasting programmes can be scheduled for the days best suited to the activity.

Impacting safetyThe ability to provide ‘almost immediate’ forecasts means min-ing sites can operate with safety as their primary driving factor.

“We have provided many of our clients with WISBOBs, which are essentially warning sirens. These indicate when immediate evacuation from site should take place due to lightning strike possibilities, or even heavy rainfall, which can affect tyre trac-tion on pit inclines and declines” Gonin explains.

Certain minerals, such as copper or iron ore, have magnetic properties and actually attract lightning, meaning the chance of being struck by lightning is high.

And while some may consider such an event highly unlikely, an event a few years ago led to a statement issued by the De-partment of Mineral Resources’ principal mining inspector (at the time), Max Madubane.

He said: “It is recommended that at any of your opencast mining operations, slimes dams or reclamation operations, where there is the likelihood of a lightning strike, you install a lightning detection device, which would warn operating per-sonnel of an advancing lightning storm so that preventative action can be taken.”

The weather systems themselves can also be programmed to provide warning signals should temperatures rise or fall below what is considered to be safe for human exposure over a cer-tain timeframe.

“Monitoring how weather can impact or affect your produc-tion targets or safety statistics may be marginal, but it is of-ten the marginal influences that make the biggest difference,” Gonin concludes.

The ability to provide ‘almost immediate’ forecasts means mining sites can operate with safety as their primary driving factor


Opencast mining

R esults to date from initial met-allurgical test work have been positive with a simple scrubbing, screening, crushing and grav-

ity circuit producing a saleable manganese concentrate at economic grades. Additional test work is now planned to further opti-mise recoveries and grade to allow finalisa-tion of the best process route for Nayega. Based on the current flowsheet, the com-pany estimates that the total capital for the project will be less than US$15 million (about R124.35 million), which will allow it to produce up to a maximum of 250 000 tpa of manganese product. This low-capital re-quirement will be of great benefit to the project’s economics. Additionally, inde-pendent studies have shown that there is more than 350 000 t of backload availabil-ity on the nearby Highway 1 that would be able to transport any product produced to

the Port of Lome in southern Togo, where existing manganese blending operations are already in place for containerisation and shipping to China. This will also sub-stantially reduce the capital and operating costs of a mining operation at Nayega.

“Furthermore, regional exploration is also under way and is focused on 47 targets surrounding the main Nayega deposit. A total of 30 targets have been investigated at present and these indicate interesting manganiferous outcrops. Although explo-ration is at an early stage, we hope to de-lineate additional resources at these areas, which will enable us to increase the scale of this already exciting project in the future,” says Ferrex MD Dave Reeves.

“This is a very encouraging development update following close on the heels of the recent maiden resource at our Nayega pro-ject, which we are aiming to be our first

near-term low-capex mining operation to bring cashflow to the company.”

Metallurgical test workInitial metallurgical test work has been con-ducted under the guidance of Consulmet, a South African gravity processing specialist. The test work has consisted of screening and dense media separation processes.

The screening results show that when the -850 micron fines are removed, a mass recovery of 44% and a manganese recov-ery of 86% were achieved. This results in the grade of the feed material being up-graded from 14 to 28% via simple scrub-bing and cleaning, while capturing the bulk of the manganese mineralisation. A series of heavy liquid separation tests

FERREX FERRETS

Finding opencast manganese potential in TogoAIM-listed Africa iron ore and manganese development company Ferrex recently

announced a positive update from its 85%-owned 92 390 ha Nayega manganese

project in northern Togo. The project has the potential to be developed into a low

capital and operating cost opencast manganese mine in the near term.

LEFT Channel sampling on siteRIGHT Typical landscape in the area

were then run on the screened product utilising both uncrushed and crushed ma-terial. The best results were obtained by crushing the entire +850 micron screened product to -6 mm. An average mass recov-ery of 56% and a manganese recovery of 75% were achieved. This resulted in an average product of 38% being produced. This equates to a standard South African manganese export ore grade that is readily traded in the market.

From the results to date, it is believed that the process at Nayega has the ability to be optimised in respect to both recover-ies and concentrate grade produced. As a result, another round of test work will now be undertaken to finalise the process route for the bankable study.

Cost estimatesInitial scoping cost estimates have now been received for the majority of the oper-ating and capital costs components of de-veloping a mine at Nayega. These costs are broadly in line with previous expectations and will form the basis of the full scoping

study, which is targeted to be finalised with the next round of metallurgical test work in the third quarter of 2012. Initial figures suggest that the capital cost will be less than US$15 million, which will ben-efit project economics and allow multiple sources of finance to be investigated.

Infrastructure investigationInitial investigations have shown that the deposit is located in a rapidly developing area. A new road is currently being built within a few kilometres of the mine from the regional centre of Dapaong. In addi-tion, power lines are planned to the same area at a rated capacity of 33 kVA.

US Aid studies suggested that in 2009, there was up to 350 000 t of empty back-load capacity on the Dapaong to Lome route, the main import route from neigh-bouring Burkina Faso, with recent figures suggesting that this capacity is increasing by 10% per annum. This empty capacity will be targeted to transport the product back to Lome where manganese from Burkina Faso is already transported to a packing yard.

This facility provides a receiving, con-tainerisation and dispatch service. In ad-dition, the Port of Lome has recently an-nounced the construction of a third con-tainer pier of 450 m in length to facilitate the increased demands from the area.

The project in summary

• maiden inferred resource of 6.3 Mt @ 14.1% manganese• ore easily amenable to low-cost upgrade through screening and gravity• resource estimated on results of 77 pits dug on 100 m centres along east-west lines spaced 200 m apart

• further infill pitting completed on 100 m x 100 m centres – results targeted for the third quarter (Q3) 2012 to allow potential resource upgrade to indicated classification

• deposit is amenable to development as a shallow opencast operation with no waste stripping required

• metallurgical test work results are due Q2 of 2012; the scoping study will commence immediately after

• definitive feasibility study is on track to be completed before the end of 2012• Nayega has access to good infrastructure; there is direct road access to the major deepwater port of Lome 600 km to the south of Nayega.

ABOVE Manganese samples from site


Project delivery

While South Africa’s mining industry may not be at the forefront of all business and operational aspects, Mac-

Donald is quick to point out that recent legislation has set South Africa at the fore-front of complying with progressive inter-national standards in waste management and disposal.

“The task makes demands of all stake-holders, from the waste generator to those in local government tasked with overseeing delivery and compliance,” she says.

No matter the key driver behind imple-menting effective waste management pro-cedures, including stringent regulatory re-quirements and public concerns,

MacDonald says that mining companies have begun recognising that long-term, environmentally acceptable approaches are needed and need to be adhered to, particu-larly when it comes to reducing the liability that environmental contamination from mining activities can cause.

Interwaste is a provider of holistic envi-ronmental services to the mining sector, including the design, development and implementation of various waste manage-ment strategies, tailor-made to meet spe-cific requirements. These strategies are closely aligned and fully compliant with local legislative requirements and interna-tional best practices.

Th e company has a dedicated team of ex-perts who work in the area of re-search and devel-opment relating to the mining sector and specifi cally fo-cus on addressing industry challeng-es. “Our objective is to develop sus-tainable solutions for mine waste management and rehabilitation. Our

multi-disciplinary approach and wide range of resources enable us to assist mining com-panies at all stages of a mining project, from feasibility and planning through to opera-tion and fi nal decommissioning.”

Interwaste also has logistical experience in excess of 23 years, meaning it is well placed to provide sound advice and as-sistance with the ever-increasing costs of waste transportation, particularly from remote mining locations. “The safe and efficient movement of waste materials is becoming increasingly important. This, combined with our continual investment in handling and waste beneficiation meth-ods, ensures the continued sustainability and financial viability of services offered to our clients.”

Over the years, Interwaste has become a holistic waste management service provid-er, and is able to offer a range of services covering all aspects of environmental man-agement. This includes the management and separation of wastes on site, as well as the final disposal and/or material benefi-ciation – both issues remain high on Inter-waste’s list of priorities.”

This single point of contact ensures ac-countability and allows for the provision of accurate reporting information in line with reporting requirements.

WASTE MANAGEMENT

Weighty and worthyThe mining industry has started placing increased emphasis on fi nding waste

management solutions that are environmentally sound, safe and cost-effective. The

key is to fi nd solutions that overcome technical and environmental challenges, says

Linda MacDonald, Interwaste mining business development manager.


Project delivery

With existing supply agreements with Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum, we’re

thrilled to extend our market share in the platinum industry through this new agree-ment with Lonmin,” says Louis Kotze, Zest WEG Group’s area manager responsi-ble for Rustenburg. “Zest WEG’s Rusten-burg branch is now party to formal sup-ply agreements with all three major world platinum producers.”

He explains that Lonmin Platinum was seeking to enter into an agreement that of-fered a low voltage motor standardisation supply strategy for IE2 (premium effi ciency

A LANDMARK SUPPLY AGREEMENT

Platinum motorsZest WEG Group has entered into a landmark supply

agreement with Lonmin Platinum, the world’s third

largest producer of platinum.

plus) motors that would cover a complete range of low voltage cast iron electric mo-tors, ranging from 0.18 to 330 kW. “Th e new IE2 WEG motor effi ciency specifi cation will allow Lonmin Platinum to meet its medium-term low voltage electric motor energy sav-ing objectives.

Zest WEG is well known for its proven To-tal Cost of Ownership programme on low voltage motors, and we believe a key motiva-tion for Lonmin Platinum to enter into this landmark supply agreement with Zest WEG was the prospective long-term benefi t.”

As part of the support functions, while the agreement was being implemented,

ABOVE The WEG W22 motor will allow Lonmin Platinum to meet its low voltage electric motor energy saving objectives

Manned by 50 personnel, this M&C operation is the largest electro-mechanical repair facility on the

Zambian and DRC copperbelt, and was opened as a result of the ever-increasing demand for the company’s services in the region. “Zambia and the DRC are poised to become the second biggest copper mining area in the world and many new projects and mines have come on stream, with more planned for the future,” says Richard Bot-ton, MD at M&C. “M&C’s permanent pres-ence in Zambia means customers no longer have to send their rotating machinery and transformers across border for repair work.

Operating from a 5 000 m2 site, of which 2 000 m2 is a dedicated workshop, the M&C

facility off ers rapid turnaround times, de-sign improvement, cutting edge service, high technical capabilities and tailor-made solutions for the unique challenges con-fronting operations in this territory. Th e operation is headed by general manager Adam Hughes.

M&C has made a signifi cant investment into the Zambian operation, including the upgrade of the existing Kitwe workshop, bringing it up to the international stand-ards of design and engineering equipment currently prevalent in all M&C other com-pany facilities. New plant and equipment added to the facility include a balancing machine, a core tester, a 250 t press, a band-ing machine, a Baker pressure tester, a 3 m

lathe and a 120 cfm screw compressor. Bot-ton says further capex investments will be made in the near future and will include a burn-off oven, a 10 t crane, two lathes and a milling machine

“Results achieved to date are ahead of budget and are projected to grow further. Th e intention is to maintain a true centre of excellence in Zambia that will, in turn, provide a springboard into other countries in the region,” Botton comments. M&C has been active in the area for the past 16 years, supporting clients in the copper mining sec-tor. Th e central African Copperbelt contains 34% of the world’s cobalt reserves and more than 10% of the world’s copper reserves hosted in high-grade deposits.

A FORCEFUL DRIVE

Motoring the CopperbeltMarthinusen & Coutts (M&C) has successfully acquired and

now operates a dedicated rotating machinery repair facility

in Zambia, which services its growing customer base both in

Zambia and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Zest WEG assisted with motor repair specifications, which allowed Lonmin to have electric motors repaired to near-WEG OEM specification. Zest WEG as-sisted with technical motor data details to streamline the SAP coding and the com-mercial order process.

ABOVE Final inspecting of magnet frames for Konnoco motor by a customer

in a Zambian workshop

... and onward marches the skills shortage

Atlas Copco 15, 41

Barloworld Equipment OFC

Bell Equipment 63

Blue Chip Mining & Drilling 33

BME 53

Booyco Electronics 37

Buckman Laboratories 67

BVi Consulting 18-20

CMG 39

DRA Mining

Eqstra Construction Equipment 61

Genalysis/Intertek 57

Hatch 12

Haver 23

Husqvarna 9

Impondo Mining 25

Interwaste Environmental Solutions 65

Joy Global 45

Ludowici Meshcape 31

Mineral Resources Compliance & Reporting Conference 49

Mintek 54

Murray & Roberts Construction IFC

Pilot Crushtec IBC

RCM Plastics OBC

Sandvik 21

SRK Consulting Engineers 29

TWP 44

Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies 46

Vermeer Equipment Suppliers 60

Weir Minerals 2

WRW Consulting Engineers 32

Zest WEG Group-EnI Electrical 35

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS

BY WILLEM SMUTS

Antwerp’s diamond polishers are ageing and new blood is needed. So much so, that the local diamond indus-try is offering free polishing courses. Demand for experi-enced diamond polishers is in-creasing. The Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC) esti-mates that there will be 55 job openings over the next two years. To address this short-coming, the Antwerp diamond industry is organising a free course in diamond polishing, to be held in September, which will cover the basic polishing skills. Several local diamond companies support the pro-ject. Each company will take under its wing one of the stu-dents and closely follow their development. The companies also committing to hiring their apprentices after the course concludes. This course stems from the ‘Antwerp Dia-mond Master Plan – Project 2020’ and is an initiative from HRD Antwerp, Fonds voor de Diamantnijverheid [Diamond Industry Fund] and AWDC.

With the move of the Dia-mond Trading Centre from

Ceterum censeo


London to Gaborone in pro-cess, surely there will be some further opportunities for training more polishers right here on African soil as well?

It’s double standards! Say what?!The Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) Ministry of Mines went on the defen-sive about allegedly granting mining licenses to companies with close connections to the government, qualifying those accusations as uninformed and a “double standard”. The DRC’s minister of mines, Martin Kabwelulu, insisted in a statement that the govern-ment has not benefited some companies over others, as a report from Global Witness exposed recently.

The Global Witness listed several deals completed by a front company in the DRC, questioning how an Israeli magnate’s offshore compa-nies “obtained their licenses in deals that were conducted in secrecy and not subject to public tenders”, how the offshore entities “have not

revealed their full list of ben-eficiaries … there is a risk that these beneficiaries could include corrupt Congolese officials”, and how “in at least

two cases the ‘front’ bank-rolled the initial purchases by Israeli magnate-related offshore companies instead of doing business directly with the Congolese government”. In response, Kabwelulu protests that all deals were conducted in strict compliance with the legal, regulatory and statutory provisions regulating the com-pany and the process of license granting in the country. It sounds a bit like the rhetoric one hears from certain coun-tries further to the south, I hear you murmuring…

This most recent example is, of course, not an isolated case of companies doing business in the DRC that have burned their fingers. Early this year,

following a dispute with the DRC government over expro-priation of one of its key as-sets, First Quantum Minerals sold out completely from the

country. The Vancouver-based copper miner sold its Kolwezi tailings project along with the Frontier and Lonshi mines, and related exploration inter-ests for US$1.25 billion (about R10.18 billion), about half the value some analysts put on the projects before the DRC gov-ernment stepped in.

As attractive deposits be-come harder and harder to find in traditional markets, miners are pushing the lim-its of the political risk they are willing to take on. How-ever sooner or later everyone reaches a limit – in my opinion the DRC is only one of many developing countries that are busy pushing that envelope too far.

Surely there will be some further opportunities for training more polishers right here on African soil as well?

inside mining july

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