DesSoft Client - DRA featured in SA Mining Magazine 2011

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March 2011

MiningSA

NEW DRA MINERAL PROJECTS MD

PASSIONATE ABOUT PROCESSINGANGUS FYNES-CLINTON

READ WHAT REALLY GOES DOWN

IN WEST AFRICA

GOLD JUNIORS

environmentfeature

GO GREEN OR GO HOME

to the RESCUEMAJOR megawatts

1 SA Mining March 2011

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March 2011 issue

CURRENT AFFAIRS• Burnstone: officially launched, officially open• Petmin’s prospective pipeline• Xstrata opens new chrome mine

SPECIAL FEATURES: GOLD, ENERGY, MINERALS PROCESSING, AND MATERIALS HANDLING17 Gold juniors run rampant in West Africa• Viking Ashanti• Avocet Mining• Ampella Mining• Riverstone Resources

30 Gold Fields – major exploration for major growth Aspirations to grow annual gold output from 3.6moz to 5moz by 2015

42 Major megawatts to the rescue With the completion of two significant mining projects,

Aggreko’s focus on the sector remains high

54 COVER STORY: A new and passionate MD for DRA Mineral Projects

“My intention is to drive greater growth through passion,” says Angus Fynes-Clinton

58 Minerals processing – taking the initiative on innovation MC Process upholds its name as a technology trendsetter

SPECIAL FOCUS: GREEN MINING (PAGE 66 – 100)102 Going large on logistics Aurecon has been involved in a number of rail transport

and new port/port expansion study projects set to lift South Africa and Mozambique’s export capacity in the mid-to-long-term future

OF INTEREST4 Out of Africa110 Making mines work114 Site and Road

Angus Fynes-Clinton, newly appointed MD for DRA Mineral Projects, aims to ensure that the company maintains its strong foothold in the mining industry. “Our engineers are passionate about their work, this culture is the backbone of our success and I have every intention of reinforcing it,” he says.

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March 2011

MiningSA

NEW DRA MINERAL PROJECTS MD

PASSIONATE ABOUT PROCESSINGANGUS FYNES-CLINTON

READ WHAT REALLY GOES DOWN

IN WEST AFRICA

GOLD JUNIORS

environmentfeature

GO GREEN OR GO HOME

to the RESCUEMAJOR megawatts

Mining March 2011 Outside Front Cover.indd 2011/03/17, 07:59 AM1

SA Mining March 2011 2

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Laura Cornish.

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EDITORLaura Cornish

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What we can’t seem to get right is taking precautionary steps to prevent the problem from reaching crisis mode – AMD was high-lighted in September 2002, when it started flowing from an abandoned shaft in the Randfontein area of the Western Basin as a result of mine flood water.

Yet in the space of almost nine years, even when the crisis was staring everyone in the face, nothing has changed.

Yes, AMD flooding from the Wits basin (West, Central and East) is critical, and there-fore is a priority, but the problem is so much greater than that.

Having read a significant portion of the DMR’s official AMD report, which is 146 pages long, it addresses the severity of the situation, has included a variety of specialists to assist in looking at the problem, identifies at length what options could be considered viable to solve the problem, and in conclu-sion states: “The recommendations in this report represent the start of a process.”

The start? Really? Isn’t it a little late to only be starting a process carrying such dire consequences?

And that is just a summary of the Wits AMD catastrophe. The report adds that AMD problems are also being experienced in other gold mining areas, including the Klerksdorp/Orkney/Stilfontein/Hartebees-fontein (KOSH), Free State, Far West Rand and Evander gold mining areas; the coal mining areas of Mpumalanga and KZN and the O’Okiep copper district.

Surely the obvious solution is to look at

The AMD report – don’t hold your breathAcid mine drainage (AMD) – the hype is massive, and the issue just seems to go on and on … and on! Ironically, the problem, according to experts, is bigger than huge, timing is shorter than short, and, if we hold our breath waiting for a solution from the DMR, the ending won’t be very pretty.

preventative measures now, instead of sitting with more Wits-like issues five or ten years down the line.

In Pravin Gordhan’s 2011 budget speech he announced R3.6bn has been allocated for water infrastructure and services, including funding for AMD, but one of the underlying issues in the AMD report is the costs associ-ated with solving the problem, including look-ing at partnering with the private sector.

The report covers issues like, how AMD started, what risks it poses to the environ-ment, how it should be monitored, what water treatment solutions would be viable, etc.

The only element missing is what action plan is being taken, and when.

It looks like Jhb’s basement floors and Gold Reef City’s tourist gold mine will have to start flooding before some sort of decision will be made – which with every passing day is growing more expensive to fix as the sever-ity of the problem escalates.

And considering we are one of the major mining capitals of the world, how does it look if we fail to handle and manage such a mas-sive environmental hazard. The report also looks at how AMD is managed in Australia, Canada and the US, where large amounts of capital are allocated to managing the problem.

With numerous case studies to learn from and observe, I cannot understand why we cannot immediately resolve what will be one of the biggest environmental disasters in South African history. m



out of africa

MAVUSI URANIUM, BASE METALS AND RARE EARTH PROJECT – MOZAMBIQUESouthern Africa focused minerals explorer Jacana Resources has agreed with AIM-listed southern Afri-can multi-commodity resource company North River Resources to farm into its Mavuzi project, in the Tete Province, Mozambique, with an agreed earn-in of up to 80% upon completion of a bankable feasibility study.

The initial earn-in of 51% over a period of 12 months involves the expenditure of a minimum of $400 000.

Mavuzi, in central Mozambique, is in a known min-eralised uranium district, with various old mine work-ings. The only recent drilling has been around old mine locations, which revealed widespread uranium content of up to 4600ppm. In addition, there are widespread radiometric anomalies, most of which have never been drill-tested, in addition to gold, base metal and rare earth prospectivity.

The Mavuzi tenements cover an area of known ura-nium mineralisation. Production records indicate that 50t of uranium was extracted from 1947 to 1950.

The only modern drilling to date has been around the old mine area and immediate surrounds. Results include:• Mavuzi mine – 2m @ 3400ppm U

308, within 8m @ 1000ppm U308 from 30m down-hole with a maxi-mum value of 4600ppm U308.

• Airport – 2m @ 3400ppm U308, within 8m @ 1000ppm U308 from 30m down-hole with a maxi-mum value of 4600ppm U308.

• Kaboazi Creek – 7m @ 300ppm U308 from 31m down-hole with highest values up to 1000ppm. Historical reports record copper and molybdenum

occurrences in the area. m

HUSAB URANIUM PROJECT – NAMIBIAAustralia-based uranium company, Extract Resources is holding discussions with Rio Tinto around a potential combination of the Husab uranium project (formerly known as Rössing South) with the neighbouring Rössing uranium mine, with a view to capturing the significant potential synergies that could be generated from a joint development of the two projects.

Extract is also holding discussions with Ka-lahari Minerals to explore various options that might simplify the Extract/Kalahari shareholding structure. Kalahari currently owns 40% of Extract.Extract Resources’ principal asset is its 100%-owned Husab uranium project, which contains one of the five largest uranium-only deposits in the world.

BISHA GOLD PROJECT (PHASE 1) – ERITREASingle African mine owner and developer TSX/NYSE-listed Nevsun Resources’ Bisha mine in Eritrea has reached commercial production. Commercial production marks the completion of project development, commissioning and operational ramp-up of the mine and processing plant. The operation is currently producing gold at a rate in excess of 1000ozpd.

The commissioning of the plant commenced in late October, with first gold pour in late December and a progressive ramp-up thereafter. Plant throughput aver-aged approximately 5250tpd over the last 30 days, with a peak of 6560tpd, well above schedule. Recoveries are a peak of 6560tpd, well above schedule. Recoveries are also higher than planned, averaging 89%. During the also higher than planned, averaging 89%. During the commissioning phase, Bisha has produced approximately commissioning phase, Bisha has produced approximately 40 000oz of gold.

a peak of 6560tpd, well above schedule. Recoveries are also higher than planned, averaging 89%. During the commissioning phase, Bisha has produced approximately

ANGOVIA GOLD MINE – COTE D’IVOIREAIM/TSX-listed West Africa-focused gold mining company Cluff Gold has taken the decision to tem-porarily suspend operations at its Angovia mine in Cote d’Ivoire.

Operations at the mine have been temporarily suspended due to critical supplies, including fuel, ex-plosives, cement and cyanide, being only intermittently available as a result of the political situation in the country – making it difficult to sustain operations. The Angovia mine will remain on care and maintenance until Cote d’Ivoire returns to the level of political stabil-ity required for restarting operations.

Peter Spivey, Cluff Gold CE, says: “The suspen-sion of our operations at Angovia is unfortunate, but we have no choice in the matter. Although our gold production will be affected until we can re-open the mine, we are confident that the shortfall in production will be minimal and will have a limited effect on our overall budgeted cashflow for the year.”


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corporate briefing

Just looking at the name won’t necessarily give you the best result – you will need to do some homework about your business as well as your solutions provider to make the right choice.

With unrivalled experience in developing underground mine design, planning and scheduling solutions, GMSI sup-ports mines in more than 50 countries around the world. With specialised extensions for both underground as well as open pit planning and scheduling, you will have to cast your net very wide to find a set of solutions able to keep up with GMSI’s mine2-4D and Earthworks Production Scheduler (EPS) – never mind what your mine looks like.

The set of mine planning activities in the mineral resource management discipline is often addressed in isolation in-stead of as an integrated whole. This lack of process-based understanding of the organisation has caused many mines to purchase systems that work well in isolation, but have a hard time sharing information to up-and downstream dis-ciplines. This fragmentation of the process causes designs and schedules to be slanted toward a single department’s objectives or approach to the detriment of the total organi-sation. Further optimisation of designs and schedules are also impeded by the inability of non-integrated solutions to create a variety of feasible scenarios for the most efficient and profitable mining of an orebody.

It is with a view on integration, together with speed and accuracy of planning, scheduling and optimisation that mine2-4D and EPS were developed.

Optimal mine designs with mine2-4D, mineCAD and EPSFiguring out which mine planning and design solution to implement is not easy. That’s why you need to go with a product that has been chosen by hundreds of other mines like yourself.

mine2-4D is a complete, automated underground mine planning and scheduling system that delivers cost and performance improvements through efficient data and information management. It produces fully integrated long and short-term mine plans, Gantt schedules linked to 3D designs, 3D animations and complete reconciliation, while interfacing with your current mining or CAD system.

Using design types to model mining excavations and ac-tivities, many mining methods are supported, including:• Fixed cross sections, for example tunnels, room and pillar• Outlines, for example sliping of a drift• Complex solids, for example open stoping, cut and fill

Collecting inputs: The first step in the mine planning process is to gather the relevant data – this includes geo-logical models as well as attribute information describing the models.

Mine2-4D’s centralised database structure allows auto-matic interrogation of the geological data (which can be sourced from a variety of popular geological modelling solutions) and enables the planner to orientate himself in the orebody as well as to identify mineable areas in order to select the most appropriate mining method

Mine standards: By creating mine standards databases, design consistency is maintained company-wide or through-out a project. Changes in the database are directly applied to the design items such as design cross-sections.

Defining rules early on in the process allows for predict-able, repeatable and accurate models and scenarios to be developed:• Multiple calendars can be applied to both resources and

activities; for example development and backfill crews working on different shift systems

• Attributes are used to describe the components of the mine plan and can be applied using both automatic and manual methods for quick turn-around from design to schedule.

• Naming conventions can be built up from attributes and then split out to create a summary structure in the scheduler.

• Resources can be either equipment or labour, and can be assigned graphically or by ‘drag and drop’ onto activities. A resource-based Schedule can be built, and availability and cost over time can then be changed.

• Prices and/or costs can be changed over time to re-flect the variations in planned revenue, costs, and cash flow.



Designing and sequencing: Once planned excavations have been designed, those designs can be sequenced quickly and easily utilising mine2-4D’s unique methodology. Changes to the design do not require manual re-sequencing. Manual link creation is also possible and the sequence can be “tested” with the click of a button

Mine designs can be created using either mine2-4D’s design window, or specialised CAD solutions such as Giji-ma’s mineCAD product.

An advantage of working with GMSI’s mineCAD to do the designs is that it integrates fully with mine2-4D.

mineCAD contains a host of specialised features such as:

• Optimised mine design tools• Intelligent annotation tools • Advanced 3D view management• Robust printing and plotting facilities• Ventilation and rock mechanics modules

Scheduling When it comes to creating and testing schedules, Enhanced Production Scheduler (EPS) is the premier scheduling tool for the mineral extraction industry. The product was devel-oped to bridge the gap between traditional project sched-ulers and spread sheets, where the majority of planners currently schedule mining activities.

Unlike many other scheduling tools, EPS is a purpose-built scheduling application for mining – not only a set of macros or scripts built on top of an “off-the-shelf” project scheduler.

Designed by mine planners for mine planners it has the capability to rapidly assess different scenarios and report the requisite numbers.

EPS is fully integrated with Mine2-4D, facilitating two-way transfer of activity/resource data and dependencies to ultimately produce an animated schedule. Subsequently, modifications to the design/geological information are reflected in the schedule.

EPS is packed with outstanding features, such as the ability to:

Optimisation: Over and above these and many more scheduling productivity tools, Gijima Mining has raised the game yet again by developing EPSOT – an optimisation tool using automated genetic algorithms and heuristic rules to create thousands of scheduling alternatives that are ranked according to your detailed financials.

Developed with Mirarco in Canada, EPSOT was offi-cially launched in 2008 and designed to save mine planners time by generating near-optimal mine schedules based on given parameters and constraints. EPSOT is being commer-cialised in partnership between Gijima and Mirarco, and its development is ongoing with new and improved versions regularly being released.

The combination of mine2-4D, mineCAD and EPS solves the integration issue – even for small mines who cannot invest in a fully-fledged enterprise solution.

If you are interested in obtaining more information about these products and their application in the South African mining environment, please contact Gijima Mining through:

• Modify task period values in the Gantt Chart inter-actively - actually snapping to design elements in actively - actually snapping to design elements in activelythe Gantt chart or visualisation by simply selecting it in either of the views

• Dynamically view a 3D visualisation of the schedule using the EPSViz module, with full video exporting and even annotation capabilities

• Create user-defined physical properties, such as tonnage, metres and grade (such as gold)

• Specify tasks as either rate or duration driven and assign scheduling constraints, with the ability to vary the rates over time

• Customise the display of tasks and dependencies with colouring, based on user-defined text fields and layers etc.

• Level schedules based on variable resource avail-abilities as assigned to specific tasks and much more.

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current affairs

Burnstone officially launched, officially openFerdi Dippenaar - GBG CEO:“In the four and a half years following the commencement of the decline box-cut here at Burnstone in May 2006, we evolved from a so-called greenfields project to a production facility, during which time we focused on mine construction, infrastructure development and the early-stage establishment of an operating environment. It seems like a short time, and it probably is, but the team has successfully delivered the mine and associated infrastructure.”

Underground drilling at Burnstone.

current affairs

THE MILESTONES:• In 2007, Tranter Burnstone, a BEE

company, became the owner of approximately 20m GBG common shares, or 26% of local opera-tions.

• On March 10, 2008, the DMR ap-proved an amended Environmen-tal Management Plan (EMP) for the sinking of the vertical shaft.

• The application for a Mining Right was granted on October 28 of the same year, effective February 17, 2009, for a period of 18 years. The 18 years was based on the reserves available for mining at the time. The reserves have since increased and the LOM at Burn-stone is estimated between 23 and 25 years, at a higher production rate than previously planned.

• In 2009, GBG decided to focus on rebuilding its balance sheet, restoring financial liquidity and continuing to develop Burnstone. “We were faced with a decision to either take on extremely expensive debt or mothball the Burnstone project.”

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current affairs

2010 was a defining year in position-ing GBG as a serious emerging gold producer:• Reef was intersected on February 4,

and assays to date indicate results either in line with, or better than, expected.

• The final blast was conducted on the 485m vertical shaft in April, and in May raise boring of the 305m ventilation shaft was competed.

• The access decline, vertical and ven-tilation shafts, as well as the metal-lurgical plant are complete, as is the associated surface infrastructure.“And today we stand before you as

a company that is finally pouring gold, generating revenue and returns for our shareholders.”

A SUMMARY OF BURNSTONE:• A 20moz ounce ore resource, one

of the ten largest gold ore bodies left to be mined in the world;

• 6.36m proven and probable ounces in reserve category;

• Approximately R3bn to build Burn-stone;

• Plans to directly employ approxi-mately 1100 people. m

Aerial view of Burnstone plant and headgear.

Petmin’s organic expansion projects are on track – with an exciting pipeline of prospective iron ore projects in place, Petmin remains well positioned for growth, with low gearing and significant cash resources.

The company will double production at its flagship Somkhele operation during calendar year 2012, to in excess of 1.1mtpa of saleable product.

Veremo Holdings, in which Petmin has a 25% interest, has applied for a mining licence for its Stoffberg magnetite project. The application is awaiting final adjudication by the DMR.

Together with its joint venture partners in Canada, Petmin has approved an exploration pro-gramme with the aim of defining a 40-year inferred magnetite resource, based on the production of 500 000t of pig iron a year. The initial exploration results are expected to be published towards the end of the second half of the 2011 calendar year.

The first phase of the exploration programme at Mount Ginka in Liberia – to demonstrate whether a commercially saleable magnetite concentrate can be produced – was approved.

At 31 December 2010, the group had cash on hand of R270m and undrawn facilities of R65m. m

Petmin’s prospective pipeline

Bird’s eye view of Somkhele.

current affairs

Limpopo premier Cassel Mathale has officially opened Xstra-ta’s Magareng chrome mine in Steelpoort, Limpopo. The mine, which is being built at a cost of R700m, forms part of the R4.9bn second phase expansion of the Lion Ferrochrome mine and smelter complex announced in late 2010.

Premier Mathale highlighted Xstrata’s contribution to the Limpopo province where it has chrome and platinum group metals operations. “Mines contribute enormously towards job creation and play an active role in the communities. Mining is a part of our lives and we would like to congratulate Xstrata on this tremendous investment. Thank you for your contribution. Acting together we will not fail.”

Xstrata Alloys CEO Peet Nienaber high-lighted the socio-eco-nomic benefits of the expansion, including creating in excess of 2000 direct and over 6000 indirect jobs. “This expansion will bring last-ing economic benefits for our employees and our surrounding com-munity. It gives us an opportunity to increase our already significant existing investment in employee wellness, community enterprise development, skills development and other initiatives,” he says.

Magareng mine will produce 182 000t of chrome ore in 2011, ramping up to 1.2mtpa by 2014. The Lion phase II expansion will add another 360 000t of ferrochrome capac-ity per annum and significantly reduce the venture’s overall pro-duction costs.

JSE-listed Merafe Resources has a 20.5% participation in Xstra-ta’s chrome business under the Xstrata-Mer-afe Chrome Venture, which includes Lion Phase 1. Merafe has an option to participate in the expansion and nego-tiations in this regard are under way. m

Xstrata opens new chrome mine

From left: Johan Combrink, GM - Xstrata Eastern chrome mines, David Magabe, executive mayor of the greater Sekhukhune district, Cassel Mathale, Honorable Premier of Limpopo.

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SCAW MINING NEW AD FINAL 3/2011 15/3/11 14:59 Page 1

gold juniors

Running rampant in WEST AFRICAWEST AFRICA

The return of the ‘bull’ in the commodities market and the subsequent loos-ening of financial fists is seeing a number of viable projects by junior miners get to the starting blocks.

In fact, resource-rich West Africa is like the pro-verbial nectar, attracting a swarm of explorers, inves-tors and overseas miners. Over the past few years a diverse range of commodi-ties such as copper, gold, diamonds and iron ore have been brought into production in West Africa. Already a number of com-panies have established a presence in the country, including Newmont, Anglo-gold, Axmin, Redback Min-ing and Compass Gold.

Aside from being a commodities haven, West African governments have become proactive in creating ease of business development by actively courting foreign investment. In fact, most West African mining destinations offer good infrastructure, including roads and telecom-munications.

West Africa’s Burkina Faso has in the past seven years distinguished itself as a premier gold-producing destination.


In fact, over the last three years the country has produced six gold mines, including the first Taparko mine in 2007 by High River Mines, followed by two mines commissioned in 2008 (Semafo’s Mana Mine and Etruscan’s Youga gold mine), Cluff Gold’s Kalsaka Mine located north of Burkina Faso and two mines last year (Avocet’s Inata gold mine and Iamgold’s Essakane mine). m

gold juniors

As China bulks up its gold reserves, Africa, and in par-ticular West Africa, which is emerging as a serious gold-producing region, will benefit significantly. Among the slew of emerging gold exploration companies aiming to ‘make a gold killing’ in West Africa is ASX-listed Viking Ashanti, which has three properties in various stages of development in Ghana.

All three of its properties, which were acquired from Res-olute Mining, are located on the ‘unrivalled’ Ashanti Gold Belt in Ghana. “Since the late 1990s Resolute, which has a 33.25% stake in Viking, has spent around $7m progressing these projects,” says Viking MD Peter McMickan.

The company is keen to get its projects off the ground as soon as possible. Since its listing in May last year Viking has

seeking golden glory in

The fundamentals for gold over the next five years at least are expected to remain robust, driving the gold price to record highs. Demand will be driven by China as it bulks up its gold reserves, explains economist David Halle of David Hale Global Economics. Speaking at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town in early February, Halle outlined the global economic impact on the commodities sector over the next few years. Nelendhre Moodley writes.

Ghana

Diamond drilling at the Akoase East project.


raised $8m in a bid to further its projects. Its most advanced project, Akoase, located 150km north of the capital Accra, continues to be extensively drilled.

“We are looking to build upon Resolute Mining’s 0.5m resource,” explains McMickan. So far the drilling results have been encouraging, including intersections such as 2.2g/t over 14m and 6.4g/t over 8m. Akoase has a prime location – 25km from Newmont’s Akyem gold project, which has an 8.5moz resource – the largest undeveloped gold project in Ghana at the moment.

The Akoase ore-body remains open at depth and strike. On Akoase, Viking is busy rolling out a 2000m diamond drilling programme aimed at expanding the existing 500 000oz resource.

A further 8000m of RC drilling is planned. The objective is to increase the resource base to in excess of 1moz of gold within the next two years.

Further, soil sampling at Akoase and its West Star proper-ties has identified new anomalies. Through to May this year Viking has planned a further 1000m of diamond and 4000m of RC drilling at West Star/Blue River properties. These properties, located 150km west of Accra, are adjacent to ASX-listed Adamus’s Nzema gold mine, which poured its first gold at the beginning of February.

Meanwhile, the West Star/Blue River property extends about 17km along the fault structures that Adamus is min-ing. Over the next year, starting from May, Viking will be involved in further drilling on the properties.

Its third exploration venture – the Nchiadi and Nyame Dzikan properties – located 20km north-west of the Blue River/West Star, is a grassroots exploration programme in JV with a Ghanaian partner. The properties are at an early stage of evaluation and a systematic, staged work programme is planned to advance the properties.

“We are currently involved in a stream sediment and soil sampling programme which will run over the next 12 months and are also looking for gold hosted within granite.” Perseus’ Mining Ayanfuri project is located 80km from the projects.

Speaking of Ghana as a country to roll-out commodi-

ties projects, McMickan says that it is a positive operating environment with the government of Ghana proactive in fast-tracking mining projects.

“It is a politically and socially stable country.” Ghana has a long history of mining and has a well-de-

veloped mining infrastructure and skills base.“Accra has become a hub for servicing the West African

mining industry and over the years established mining drill-ing and assay companies.”

With no debt and a $6.2m exploration budget, Viking is working hard on firming up its resources in a space of the next two years. The company has a market cap of Aus $20m. m

Ghana is a positive operating environment with the government proactive in fast-tracking mining

projects.

Outcropping mineralisation at Akoase East.

gold juniors

However, despite being cash-flush, Norris is quick to point out that early stage gold mining projects in West Africa are currently retailing at a premium.

“Exploration companies are pricing the benefits of build-ing a mine into an investment, making exploration projects extremely expensive. However, if we found the right acquisi-tion at the right value, we would make a move.”

Aside from investigating acquisitive potential, the com-pany is in the process of shedding its South East Asian assets in favour of firming up its roots in West Africa. In December Avocet agreed to the sale of its South East Asian assets to an Indonesian local for $200m. The company has been operating its mines in South East Asia for more than ten years and produced more than 1.5moz there, having established a presence in Malaysia 15 years ago and Indo-nesia in 2004.

The primary reason for divesting its South-East-Asian as-sets is that the mines are nearing the end of their life and the opportunity to invest in new early stage ventures in West Africa is extremely compelling, Norris says.

“We will use the $200m to develop a bigger business in West Africa, including exploration to expand the reserve at Inata and add-in to our resource in Guinea, where our Tri-K

prospect looks very exciting,” he adds.West Africa has over the recent years emerged as

a popular destination for mineral exploration activities, especially gold – exploration prospects are larger, the government of Burkina Faso is pro-mining and extremely supportive. There are no issues with protected forests and the populations are much sparser around the mining lease, Norris explains.

Speaking of its first mine development in Africa, Norris says that Inata gold mine, located in the northern region of Burkina Faso near Iamgold’s Essakane mine and Cluff Gold’s Kalsaka, mine, last year reached steady state production levels of 13 000 - 15 000ozpm.

Inata remains a ‘great success story that was delivered ahead of schedule’. Inata mine is an open-cast near-sur-

Bumping up its

GOLDEN bounty

Since its first gold pour just over a year ago, at the Inata gold mine in Burkina Faso, Avocet Mining (Avocet) has been busy with exploration to extend the life of mine beyond the current six years. Aside from aiming to double its reserve base to 1.8moz by September this year, the company is on the prowl for lucrative gold investment opportunities in West Africa, financial director Mike Norris told Nelendhre Moodley in a recent interview at the Mining Indaba held in Cape Town.


face operation delivering production from three pits – North, Central and South pits. It is located on a 26km² mining licence surrounded by a total 1660km² exploration licence.

Working towards gold production of 165 000oz in 2011, Avocet is well advanced in its exploration initiatives aimed at extending the LOM well be-yond six years.

The company has already sur-passed a third of its drilling pro-gramme, having drilled 70 000m of its 200 000m target. Avocet plans on completing its drilling programme by mid-year. “The first tranche of drilling results have revealed some very en-couraging results, with grades in line with the mine’s existing resource.” Inata’s life of mine reserve grade is

Avocet Inata truck fleet.

Avocet exploration team in Guinea.

2.06g/t; in 2010 the plant processed at 2.66g/t and is expected to run at around 2.2g/t in 2011.

Avocet also has the Tri-K project – an exploration asset of 1100km2 – in Guinea. The deposit currently hosts a 667 000oz resource, and is located in the highly prospective Birimian greenstone belt.

Norris remains confident about increasing this resource and taking it to feasibility for a new mine in Guinea, as establishing a presence in a new country is something with which the company is well versed.

Avocet is determined to invest sig-nificantly in building up its exploration portfolio over the next year in a bid to ‘develop another one or two mines’ in the near future. m

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gold juniors

In the last two years the company has built up its resource base to 2.2moz of gold. The plan for 2011 is to grow the resource and develop its 16 other gold occurrences further.

“We have $43m in the bank to explore and complete our feasibility study and then we will seek a combination of equity and debt to raise $200m to fund the mine,” Roy explains. The company expects mill throughput from its first mine at Batie West, located in the south of Burkina Faso and bordering Ghana, to be in the region of 3m - 4mtpa. Annual gold production of about 200 000 – 300 000ozpa is anticipated.

“The big factor is that we have an extensive land position with great upside. We predict that there is potential for multiple deposits on Batie,” Roy says. This year the company will focus on deep drilling along the ore body, which is open at depth and strike. Resource upgrade drilling has confirmed continu-ity of mineralisation at depth and extensional drilling has increased the strike length from 3km to 5km, with some of the best intercepts being: 30m@ 6.5g/t from 137m, 28m @ 4.3g/t from 130m and 31m @3.8g/t from 146m.

“Once we finalise the prefeasibility study we will go straight into definitive feasibility study.”

Roy considers Batie, the company’s flagship project, to be ‘one of the best exploration projects in Burkina Faso this year’. He remains upbeat about the future of gold and believes that the mine will deliver at a time when demand is high and prices strong.

AMPELLA ASX-listed gold-focused Ampella Mining’s market cap has, in the last two-and-a-half years, gone from $6m to $600m on the back of the company progressing its exploration projects in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Armed with a $26m exploration budget for this year Ampella is focused on delivering results to firm up its resource ahead of its proposed gold production in 2013, COO Jean Luc Roy tells Nelendhre Moodley.

firms resource for 2013

The artisanal nature of the work at Ampella.


The company expects mill throughput from its first mine at Batie West, located

in the south of Burkina Faso and bordering Ghana, to be in the region

of 3m - 4mtpa.

Ampella has three exploration projects, the most ad-vanced being Batie West, which consists of nine permits covering 1800km². The initial project consisted of six permits, and the strategic addition of three further permits during last year has enabled Ampella to effectively lock up 110km of a highly prospective major crustal shear zone.

Auger geochemistry drilling across Batie West contin-ues to be a major feature of the exploration programme. Augmented with an airborne geophysics survey, these geo-chemical results will enable Ampella to effectively target new prospects for future drilling campaigns with 16 virgin gold prospects currently identified for further exploration.

On its Madougou project, located in the north-west of Burkina Faso, bordering Mali the company has two permits covering 465km². Ampella joint-ventured in January last year with Carbine Resources – an Australia-listed company focused on developing gold projects in Burkina Faso – in a bid to further the project to pre-feasibility study stage. Car-

Digging at Ampella.

bine Resources can earn up to 80% free carrying Ampella through to completion of PFS.

On its third exploration project, Doulnia, located south of Burkina Faso and bordering on Ghana, the company has two permits covering an area of some 500km². Ampella has joint-ventured with Vital Metals to earn up to 80% by free carrying it through to the completion of PFS. There has been limited modern exploration on Doulnia, which has a prospect for zinc and gold. Vital Metals is an Australia-based West African exploration company. m


gold juniors

Since its initial resource estimate in May 2009 the com-pany has completed an additional 30 000m of drilling. In the second quarter of this year the company is scheduled to start a pre-feasibility study – this will be bumped up to feasibility study which is expected to take about a year, followed by mine development.

“By 2013 to early 2014 we are hoping to have a pro-ducing mine,” McInnis enthuses. With the highest grades reaching 3g/t and the lowest at 0.9g/t McInnis is confident

that the four deposits that make up Karma will deliver the required ounces. In response to the question of viability, McInnis points out that there are a number of mines around the world right now with average grades of 0.8g/t that are extremely viable.

“These are all open-pit low-cost oxidised deposits that will be heap-leached.”

Gold resources are shallow, with the bulk in oxide mate-rial above 100m in depth. Initially the company will mine

Karma

TSX-listed Riverstone Resources expects to bring its most advanced exploration project, Karma, located in the north-central region of Burkina Faso West Africa, into production in the next three years, CEO Michael McInnis tells Nelendhre Moodley. Riverstone Resources plans to release an updated resource estimate by the end of February, which is expected to increase the resource by approximately 50%.

a three-year targetOverview of the Nami artisanal site.


higher grades first. “This is an open-cast opera-tion with significant underground potential,” he explains.

There is potential for centralised gold process-ing facility to handle material from all deposits.

Riverstone Resources has an exploration budg-et of $5m which will see it comfortably through to the next six to eight months. “Sometime later this year we will raise between $20m and $30m through another equity raising. This should take us through to production decision in the next two years.”

Riverstone Resources has five other gold projects at different stages in Burkina Faso. Three of these are joint ventures with RoxGold on which it has options on Solna, Bissa West and Yaramoko properties. Roxgold is a Vancover-based mineral exploration and development company focused on developing large mineral concessions in Burkina Faso.

Riverstone Resources was established in 1996 but only actually started its involvement in gold mining in West Africa in 2002 where it began accumulating land for gold exploration with the intention of becoming a gold producer. “Burkina Faso has excellent gold geology, low competition and initially the evidence of gold production from artisanal miners was unbelievable.”

The Rambo pit.

Gold nuggets are assessed.

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Over the past seven years Burkina Faso has established itself as a premier gold producing destination.

In fact, over the last three years the country has produced six gold mines, including the first Taparko mine by High River Mines in 2007, followed by two mines commissioned in 2008 (Semafo’s Mana mine and Etruscan’s Youga gold mine), Cluff Gold’s Kalsaka Mine located in the north of Burkina Faso and two mines last year (Avocet’s Inata gold

mine and Iamgold’s Essakane mine).Aside from being a gold miner’s haven, McInnis reports

that Burkina Faso is a politically stable region with a gov-ernment keen on fostering mining. Although mines have to provide their own power through gen-sets, the country offers good telecommunications and roads. Over the last five years infrastructure has improved significantly and continues to expand. m

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gold

NOT IN SA

GOLD FIELDS major exploration, for major growth

Major international gold mining company Gold Fields has aspirations to grow its annual gold output from its current 3.6moz to 5moz (through development or production) – by 2015. Thanks to a significant exploration budget, across almost every continent, the long-term output and lifespan from its South African old ladies needs only to be stable and steady, writes Laura Cornish.

Recognised predominantly in South Africa for its three old mines – Driefontein, Kloof and Beatrix, and, more recently, South Deep, Gold Fields’ international exposure is gaining momentum as it aspires to bring a host of new mines on stream, from Africa, as well as Peru, the Philip-pines and Finland.

During financial 2010, Gold Fields spent a total of $152m on exploration, which included $81m on greenfields explo-ration and $71m on near-mine exploration.

Over the next 12 months the company has set aside around $150m for exploration.

Despite their age, the South African mine portfolio remains significant – “we are stabilising our legacy mines, going as far as to consolidate Kloof and Driefontein into a single entity/complex to be called the Kloof Driefontein Complex (KDC),” says Gold Fields’ CEO, Nick Holland.

On the development curve, there are five ‘imminent’ new mines:• South Deep – South Africa• Yanfolila – Mali• Chucapaca – Peru• Arctic Platinum – Finland• Far South-east – Philippines.

South Deep may be the last remaining deep-level gold mine in South Africa with a significant untapped reserve – 30moz.

Gold Fields is injecting massive amounts of cash into helping this mine realise the po-tential that none of its previous owners have.



Between 2010 and 2014, the project’s upgrade will be extensive – which includes a new refrigeration plant, a twin ventilation shaft, a new tailings storage facility, overall plant expansion and new mining development.

“This will see the mine reach its target of 750 000oz of gold per annum.”

SOUTH DEEP CAPITAL PROGRAMME:2009 R1bn2010 ~R1.6bn2011 ~R1.8bn2012 ~R2.1bn2013 R1.5bn2014 ~R1.2bn

Chucapaca – situated on the south side of Peru – is 51% owned by Gold Fields, and 49% owned by Buenaventura. It comprises 12 700ha of land in total.

One particular deposit – Canahuire – has already been well defined, and an initial resource target of 5.6moz has been declared.

The pit will be amenable to open-pit mining, where 10 drill rigs are positioned on site, working towards 100 000m of infill and step-out drilling.

A feasibility study is targeted for the project to com-mence in 2012.

The Mali project, Yanfolila, holds promise, just by taking into account its closest neighbours – Loulo, Sadiola, Morila and Essakane.

While a scoping study is only expected to commence in the third quarter of this year, Gold Fields is already target-ing a 200 000ozpa “starter project” from a 1.5moz initial reserve.

Its Far South-east project (60% owned) on the Luzon Island in Peru is, according to Gold Fields, one of the highest grade gold and copper porphyries in the world.

An initial 80 000m drill programme is under way, working towards the commencement of a feasibility study in 2012.

Two veins in particular, Victoria and Enargite, according to historical data, show 18mt @ 7.71g/t and 40mt @ 3.05g/t (2.25% copper) respectively.

The most intriguing project on Gold Fields’ project list, described by Holland as the “sleeper in the portfolio” is its 100%-owned Arctic Platinum project – based in Finland.

It has a 12moz platinum and palladium resource with gold, copper and nickel by-products.

Gold Fields has been investigating the use of various hydro-metallurgical processing options, instead of off-site smelting, to recover the various metals from the flotation concentrates.

The preliminary test work has returned positive results and further engineering work was conducted to provide initial operating and capital cost estimates. Planning is under way to process metallurgical samples through a continuous pilot plant facility – this study is due to be complete at the end of 2012.

According to Holland, the 12moz feasibility was com-pleted in 2003 and significant upside on this volume has been determined since then.

A view of operations at South Deep.

Driefontein at night.

gold

At the Damang mine in Ghana, the emphasis was on extensional drilling to the south of the main mine, and between some of the smaller surface mines. Good indica-tions for extensional opportunities were highlighted and near-mine exploration during financial 2010 was directed at two core growth projects, Greater Damang and Greater Amoanda.

The Greater Damang project extends for about 5km from Huni North in the north to the Nyame prospect in the south, while Greater Amoanda extends for 2km from the Tomento East surface mine in the south of the Amoanda mine. The objective over the next 12 months is to advance the Greater Damang project, with additional in-fill drilling to support a feasibility study decision on an enlarged surface mining operation.

At its St Ives mine in Western Australia, the develop-ment focus during financial 2010 was on completing the portal at Athena and sinking the decline to the ore posi-tion, which was intersected in May. Full production from

Athena is scheduled for the end of this year.After completion of the Athena feasibility study, near-

mine exploration shifted to the Hamlet discovery, which is located about 1km east of Athena. Hamlet is a lode-style deposit similar to Athena. It has an indicated and inferred mineral resource of 1.03moz of gold. Drilling to further expand the mineral resource and support a feasibility study is under way and a construction deci-sion is planned in late calendar 2011. Other near-mine opportunities in the Argo-Athena camp were discovered and tested during the year with initial drilling undertaken to assess open-pit and underground mining opportunities. The intention over the next 12 months is to advance the exploration of at least two of these discoveries with infill and extensional drilling.

At Cerro Corona in Peru, the exploration programme at the Consolidada de Hualgayoc JV (a 50% Gold Fields, 50% Compania de Minas Buenaventura S.A. JV) was suspended in September 2009 due to opposition by the local community.

Within the Cerro Corona mine property, an initial re-view was completed in May last year to evaluate the po-tential. A data review is currently in progress and, should results be positive, a diamond drilling programme will be motivated as a proof of a concept drill test. m

Brownfields expansionTommy McKeith Executive vice-president: Head of exploration and business development

A view of Kloof operations.

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SA Mining March 2011 34 35 SA Mining March 2011

energy

“We are looking at all coal opportunities, especially in South Africa and Mozambique. In fact, about 30% of our annual turnover for 2011 could be from coal,” reiterates director Richard van den Barg.

He is, however, quick to point out that the projects divi-sion also has a keen eye on uranium projects, having had extensive experience working on Paladin Energy’s Langer Heinrich project in Namibia and its Kayakelera project in Malawi, where Group Five completed the Smeip installa-tion work.

Since Extract Resources’ Husab (formerly known as Rössing South) uranium project has recently received the go-ahead on its environmental impact assessment, it is gar-nering keen interest from a number of quarters, including Group Five Projects division. Located near Swakopmund on the west coast of Namibia, Extract Resources’ Husab project is the largest in-situ, and highest grade, granite-hosted uranium deposit in Namibia, and currently the fifth-largest uranium-only deposit in the world.

Extract plans to develop a large-scale load-and-haul, open-pit mining operation, with ore from the mine feed-

ing a conventional agitated acid leach process plant, at a rate of 15m metric tons of ore per year. With anticipated annual production of approximately 15mlb of uranium, the Husab project looks set to become the second-largest uranium mine in the world.

However, speaking about its recently acquired Groote-geluk contract, construction director Chris Willemse reports that the division won the 14-month contract in January this year and is already under way with detailing and fabrication of structural steel and plate-work.

Site erection will begin on May 1. For this R350m con-tract, the projects division has been contracted to erect the structural steel, mechanical equipment piping and plate-work (SMPP) for a ROM and waste handling facility. The division is hopeful of securing more work from this project.

Although it is on target to deliver on its portion of the project, Willemse notes that there are a number of chal-lenges associated with the project, including working within a tight time frame, interfacing closely with civil and electri-cal contractors and the coordination of the large number

Getting down and DIRTYA determination to re-establish a local presence, particularly in energy-related projects, has finally paid dividends for construction contractor Group Five Projects Division. It recently won some large contracts on coal-miner Exxaro’s Grootegeluk coal project located in Lephalale in the Limpopo Province and Riversdale’s Benga project in the Tete Province of Mozambique. The division’s strategy implemented two years ago of divesting of its 90% over-the-border presence in favour of developing local energy projects will see the division build up to a 40% local participation in 2011, contracts director Carlos da Silva tells Nelendhre Moodley.

Grootegeluk with Matimba in the background.


of overhead tower cranes. “Activity co-ordination is key, particularly in relation to the stringent safety policy.”

The aim of the contract is to increase ROM feed to local power producer Eskom’s Medupi power station located Limpopo Province. At contract peak, the projects division will employ about 250 people, 75% of whom will be local, while the reminder will come from the broader Gauteng region.

The Grootegeluk mine will supply the Medupi power station with an average 14.6mtpa of power station coal over the next 40 years.

The mine will start supplying coal to the power sta-tion from the second quarter of 2012, coinciding with its planned commissioning. Full coal production is anticipated from 2015.

The division also recently won a R75m contract for the coal handling and preparation plant from Sedgman Mo-zambique for ASX-listed Riversdale’s Benga coal project located 10km from Tete in Benga. Engineering project house Sedgman Mozambique is the client’s appointed EPCM contractor.

The plan for the first year is to produce 5.3mt of “run of the mine” (ROM) coal. This is the coal before it has been treated in any way. Once it has been sorted, the final product, for export or for domestic use, will be around two million tonnes a year.

Benga will produce three types of coal – world-quality hard coking coal, for use in the steel industry; export-quality thermal coal, and lower-grade thermal coal for domestic use (notably for a coal-fired power station which Riversdale plans to build at Benga).

Construction of phase 1 has commenced and is ex-pected to be completed in the second half of this year. “This is the first phase of several planned phases. The contract consists of a number of areas, including ten conveyors,

The Grootegeluk mine will supply the Medupi power station with an average

14.6mtpa of power station coal over the next 40 years.

A view of the Langer Heinrich project.

energy

sizing and transfer stations, tailings thickener, coal prepara-tion plant, stacker and services,” says contracts manager: projects division Carl Phenix.

To date, civil and earthworks are in progress on this greenfields site, with the projects division having already erected the tailings thickener steelwork, the erection of structural steel and installation of mechanical equipment for the coal process plant is also under way.

“This project is logistically challenging, as it is rurally located where transport infrastructure is limited, making equipment delivery to site difficult. Further, the border-cus-toms bridge from Tete to Benga has a weight restriction of 48t – this means that heavy equipment has to be barged across the river and then trucked onto site. Added difficul-ties arise from the fact that the river is running low so that barging has been suspended for the time being.”

Larger pieces of equipment therefore have to be trans-

ported via Zambia. Another challenge involves contending with temperatures ranging between 40°C and 45°C.

The original contract period on the Benga project is six months, however, the division anticipates more follow-on work.

In addition to the Benga coal project, Group Five Projects has managed to secure a R25m coal project from Sedg-man’s South African branch for diversified mining giant Xstrata’s Atcom coal plant located near Witbank, which requires upgrading for increased capacity from 350tph to 800tph. Site shutdown and induction to site activity started in mid-December last year. This, says Willemse, is a highly complex and challenging project which involves working within a congested small site on a tight schedule. To ensure that the contract is completed within time, the projects division has undertaken 24-hour day-night double-shifts. The division is working towards project completion by end-March. m

Aerial view of Grootegeluk plant.

energy

Sekoko recently signed a Memorandum of Understand-ing (MoU) with state power utility Eskom and Sekoko executive chairperson Tim Tebeila. The MoU will enable his company to supply Eskom’s Matimba power station with its growing need for coal.

“Coal production will commence in April 2012 from an open pit, reaching full capacity by April 2015.”

“The coal produced will be of a product mix quality that is in high demand from steel manufacturers around the world. It is the preferred feedstock for use in coal-fired powered stations, steel foundries and high-end custom coke manufacture,” says Tebeila.

He is confident that the coal supply contract to Es-kom’s Matimba power station will offer Sekoko Coal and its joint venture partner, Firestone Energy, a great opportunity to maximise value for their product as well as establish a track record for reliable, high-quality coal production and supply from the Waterberg District’s

Lephalale area in the Limpopo Province. IDC’s head of mining and beneficiation business unit

Abel Malinga says it is IDC’s long-term objective to develop and encourage a vibrant mining sector.

He says: “This partnership with Sekoko demonstrates our commitment towards increasing industrial capacity, and supporting Government’s New Growth Path.”

Power consumption has increased markedly over the past few years in South Africa, due to rapidly-growing economic activities.

Malinga estimates that the coal industry needs to grow by at least 4% a year to meet the increasing domestic power generation need in the next ten years.

“The industry will have to increase the current produc-tion of about 250mt to 350mt by 2020. This will require R100bn worth of new investment in the sector. The Sekoko project is one of the many steps the industry needs to take in meeting the country’s energy demand.” m

NEW COALThe Industrial Development Corporation’s (IDC) investment in Sekoko Coal is intended to ensure that South Africa’s coal supply will meet the country’s need for more power.

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energy

The transaction will result in Keaton Energy acquiring an export foothold; a new major shareholder in Plusbay, an affiliate of Gunvor Group – one of the world’s leading energy trading companies; and will also safeguard more than 400 jobs in LME’s operations.

LME’s founding shareholder JPI Leeuw and Associates (JPI) will remain a 26% shareholder in LME.

Keaton Energy MD Paul Miller says: “This transaction will be good for Keaton Energy shareholders; provide a partial exit for existing LME shareholders to, in part, pur-sue other mining initiatives; and contribute significantly to the economy of Northern KwaZulu-Natal, where LME’s assets lie.

“It will give Keaton Energy a controlling interest in an existing mining opera-

tion; significantly increase its portfolio of advanced

development

projects; provide vital access to export markets and a wider customer base; and will mark a major step towards Keaton Energy’s objective of becoming a mid-tier coal producer with a diverse range of projects to comple-ment our Vanggatfontein and Sterkfontein projects in Mpumalanga.”

The transaction consideration will be settled through the issue of new Keaton Energy shares, and R10m in cash through the settlement of an existing loan to LME.

The transaction – which is subject to relevant regula-tory approvals and fulfilment of various conditions prec-edent – will also see Geneva-based energy trader Gunvor, through its affiliate Plusbay, become a key shareholder in Keaton Energy, with the intention to obtain a seat on the Keaton Energy Board.

Commenting on the transaction, Filippo Faralla, Gun-vor’s coal manager in South Africa, says: “The transac-tion continues our expansion by sector and geography. It marks our entry into South African coal production, complements our growing non-oil energy business, and

is another significant step in our development as a leading integrated energy company.”

David Salter, Keaton Energy’s

Keaton takes a liking to LeeuwKeaton Energy Holdings has plans to refinance and acquire a 74% interest in South African export coal producer Leeuw Mining and Exploration (LME).

chairman, welcomed Gunvor’s introduction into the company as a mark of approval, adding, “It is pleasing that Gunvor has recognised the achievements of Keaton Energy’s management since listing and is joining with us to develop Keaton Energy into a robust and sustainable South African coal producer.”

“The team at LME has worked hard over a period of eight years to take a portfolio of prospecting projects up the value curve right through to producing coal for ex-port. We look forward to partnering with Keaton Energy and Gunvor to take the company and its KwaZulu-Natal projects to the next stage of development,” says Willy Leeuw, CEO of LME.

LME owns and operates the Vaalkrantz Anthracite Colliery (Vaalkrantz) near Vryheid in KwaZulu-Natal. Vaalkrantz has been in production since 2003.

In addition, LME has:• a 207 000tpa participation in Richards Bay Coal

Terminal’s (RBCT) Quattro export programme and a dedicated railway siding facility near Vaalkrantz;

• a number of new order prospecting and mining rights over other KwaZulu-Natal coal properties, including:

• the Koudelager anthracite project, which will provide a future run-of-mine anthracite supply to the existing Vaalkrantz plant;

• the Braakfontein thermal coal project, near Newcas-tle;

• the Balgray anthracite project near Utrecht; and • the Mpati anthracite project near Dundee.

REFINANCINGIn terms of the refinancing of LME, Keaton Energy will acquire: • various loans and claims in LME from Anglo Opera-

tions, acting through its Anglo American Thermal Coal Division, (AOL) for R47m, to be settled by the issue of 10 444 444 new Keaton Energy ordinary shares at R4.50 per share; and

• 40 preference shares in LME from Anglo Khula Mining Fund (Proprietary) Limited (AKMF) for R8m, to be set-tled by the issue of 1 777 778 Keaton Energy ordinary shares at R4.50 per share.

The total consideration for the acquisition of the AOL loans and claims and the AKMF preference shares is R55m. AOL and AKMF will then dispose of their Keaton Energy ordinary shares to Plusbay.

ACQUISITION In terms of the acquisition of 74% of LME, Keaton Energy will acquire: 54% from JPI and 10% from Anglo American Zimele (Anglo Zimele) for 14 177 778 and 2 444 444 new Keaton ordinary shares respectively, at a price of R4.50 per share, with a resulting total purchase consideration of R74.8m, and 10% through the settlement of a R10m short-term convertible loan recently provided to LME by Keaton Energy.

JPI and Anglo Zimele will then dispose of their Keaton Energy ordinary shares to Plusbay. m

energy

The utilities sector in Africa comprises a significant por-tion of Aggreko International’s overall business. Until late last year, Aggreko was generating 1000MW of installed power capacity on the continent. As a global business, the company has 6000MW of installed (on rental) power capacity in total.

“Demand for power is very shortly going to exceed supply – it’s a global phenomenon, only more amplified in developing countries like South Africa,” Foster explains.

“Aggreko’s purpose is to fill the supply/demand gap – which will intensify and escalate in the mining industry in the short and mid-term.”

While mining-related work only comprises 4% of Aggre-ko’s total business, locally, the company is allocating time to educating the mining sector on attaining critical load power to have on standby for power cuts and emergency power requirements.

MEGA megawatts Alternative power generation company Aggreko has spent the last 15 years delivering major power solutions to the African continent – largely to the utilities and oil sectors. With the completion of two significant projects for the mining industry recently, the company’s focus on the sector remains high as new and expansion projects going forward are being determined on the back of power supply – or lack thereof, country manager Martin Foster tells Laura Cornish.

“Our extensive knowledge of what specifics are required for what application has made the difference to winning a contract in the past,” Foster adds.

Because an Aggreko generator works on the ‘plug and play’ principle, and is hired as a complete turnkey package – including maintenance, servicing and repair – its appeal in the mining industry will continue to grow.

With major service and repair facilities in Dubai, Panama, Singapore and Holland, its lead times are, according to Foster, superior to any competitor, and as a rental service provider, its generators are designed bearing that aspect in mind.

“Our gensets are robust, reliable, easily re-locatable, and fully compliant with safety standards.”

Aggreko has strong supplier working relationships which further enable it to keep its lead times to an absolute mini-mum – particularly with key component manufacturers such as its engine and alternator suppliers.

to the rescue


Aggreko on site at Bisha mine.

Probably less familiar – to the South Africa/African market – is Aggreko’s second business arm – temperature control or cooling and heating services.

“We only had intentions to launch these products and services to the African market this year, but with our first order already com-pleted, we have made it available to all our local clients now, and immediately going forward,” says Foster.

Since mid-December last year, Aggreko has been providing 3000kWr (kW of refrigeration) of cooling to Harmony Gold’s Phakisa mine in Odendaalsrus in the Free State Province.

Like an Aggreko generator, the bulk air handlers are supplied as single units – for Phakisa – three coolers pumping 23m³ of cold air per second at a 9° decline angle, with a closed circuit bulk water chiller supplying the source of cold water.


Supplying a bulk air handler to Phakisa.


energy

This is a temporary cooling solution forcing cool air down the shafts for the miners while an ice-plant cooling package (including underground chilled water plants) is installed and scheduled for completion in October.

As a turn-key service provider, Aggreko provided all as-pects of the cooling package, including design, mobilisation, installation and operation. A team of Aggreko technicians is providing assistance to Harmony Gold and is on stand-by 24 hours a day to ensure that the temperatures inside the mine remain below the legal requirement.

“The knowledge and experience Aggreko can provide in this area will play an integral part in the operation of the mine until the in-house cooling system is operational next year,” adds Marius De Leeuw, project design engineer at Harmony.

Along its more conventional business line, Aggreko has successfully commissioned a 20MW rental power pack-age for Nevsun Resource’s Bisha gold mine (Phase 1) in Eritrea.

“Aggreko is extensively qualified to provide power to even the most remote lo-cations,” Foster notes, which assisted in securing the con-tract, as the Bisha mine is situated in an isolated region of Eritrea about 300km from the Red Sea.

Bisha has a high gold value of between 8g/t and 12g/t. For the first two years, gold will be extracted, and, once this has been completed, copper and zinc will be mined.

The 20MW power package provided by Aggreko was installed and commissioned in one phase, with final commis-sioning taking place in early October last year. The power package is now the mine’s only source of operational power

until a permanent power supply is established, with Aggreko technicians manning the site 24 hours a day to ensure a stable and reliable power supply.

“Being in a remote location meant that finding a reliable power supply was a critical factor; however, Aggreko’s lead time and modular flexibility fitted well with our planned production schedule,” says Cliff Davis, Nevsun Resources CEO.

Aggreko’s overall installed capacity in Africa dropped last year below 1000MW when one of its major contracts – with Kenya’s main utility company, KenGen – was reduced.

“Until March last year, we were supplying 290MW of power to KenGen. We have been providing power to them since 2000,” Foster states.

Because the majority of Kenya’s power is hydro-gener-ated, a three-year drought period in the country led to one of Aggreko’s largest supply contracts to date.

The return of heavy rains to the country saw the company relocate a large portion of the project to Bangladesh.

Looking forward, past last year’s World Cup, where Ag-greko supplied 70MVA of

power, the local operation has major growth aspirations, which will see its depot fleet stockholding expand – it houses around 80 generators at the moment.

“Part of our expansion strategy is to get closer to our customers by establishing a physical presence in key areas,” Foster points out.

The company is due to open its Durban branch shortly, which will be followed shortly by additional service centres in other parts of South Africa. m

Aggreko generators in the background at Bisha mine.

“With major service and repair facilities in Dubai, Panama, Singapore and Holland, lead times are superior to any competitor.”

– Foster.



energy

Hatch Africa associate and president of the South African Coal Processing Society, Gerrit Lok, says that the 20-year electricity capacity plan is crucial towards determining SA’s long-term electricity demand, as well as how this demand should be met in terms of generating capacity, type, timing and cost.

Based on an average 4.6% annual Gross Domestic Prod-uct (GDP) growth trajectory over the next twenty years; government has investigated three primary options, namely: the Low-Cost Scenario, the Revised-Balance Scenario, and the Low-Carbon Scenario. The scenario evaluation process confirmed that the Revised-Balanced Scenario represents the best trade-off between least investment cost, climate

role in 2030 energy mix

In October 2010, the Department of Energy made public the draft Integrated Electricity Resource Plan (IRP) for South Africa 2010 – 2030. The plan’s intention is to provide an indication of South Africa’s electricity demand; how this demand will be supplied; and what electricity will cost.

Coal’s

Always a pollutant, always necessary.


change mitigation, diversity of supply, localisation and regional development.

The Revised-Balanced Scenario proposes that by 2030, SA’s generation mix should include the following: 48% coal, 14% nuclear, 16% renewables and 9% peaking open cycle gas turbine. Lok notes that each one of these energy sources has a cost allocated to it – both from a capital investment cost perspective and from an operating cost perspective.

The IRP states that SA will require an estimated R850bn investment, which will see a 250% increase in the cost of power. At a rate of 100 US cents per kWh by 2020, SA will be placed in the top quartile of countries that are its main competitors in the beneficiation of minerals – namely India and China.

The IRP inherently contains significant energy efficiency savings, which are accounted for in the demand forecasts. An energy efficiency improvement of 35% is built into the IRP, based on the reducing energy intensities which are used to determine the future energy demand. The IRP as-sumes that over the next 15 years, most of the reduction in energy intensity will be derived from improved energy efficiency, driven by increased electricity prices.

As a result, the energy efficiency field will become hugely-influential and far-reaching. “From Hatch’s perspective, we have already built energy efficiency programmes into our projects and design philosophies, allowing our clients to make their projects more energy-efficient,” explains Lok.

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energy

NUCLEAR – A NECESSITYAlthough nuclear is only included in the energy mix from 2023 in the IRP, a decision must be finalised as soon as possible to allow the procurement process to begin.

Early in 2007, state utility Eskom’s board approved a plan to double generating capacity to 80GWe by 2025. This included the construction of 20GWe of new nuclear capacity so that the nuclear contribution to power would rise from 5% to more than 25%; while coal’s contribution would fall from 87% to below 70%.

Nuclear groups Areva and Westinghouse offered to build the full 20GWe, with a further ten large EPR units by 2025. However, in December 2008, Eskom announced that it would not proceed with either of the bids due to a lack of finance.

“If this had gone ahead in December 2008, SA would have been ‘ahead of the pack’. However, the situation now is that SA is going to be in the middle of the competitive bidding processes by trying to lock in suppliers of nuclear technology,” notes Lok.

He points out that although the IRP includes six 1600MWe reactor units coming online in 18-month intervals from 2023; Eskom has said that it would be looking for lower-cost options than the earlier proposals and would consider Generation ll designs from China or South Korea. Lok points out that this could result in the capital cost per MWe almost being halved.

“An important consideration is the time it would take to reach the 4.6% GDP growth rate, as well as the neces-sary 10 - 12 year horizon from when investigations begin to when the project would be complete.

“Considering this time line, SA would need to make a decision with regards to nuclear within the next year to meet the 2023 target,” explains Lok.

URANIUM – DEMAND TO OUTWEIGH SUPPLY?The need for nuclear energy as part of the energy mix is essential if SA is to meet baseload requirements for the future, says Lok.

“We do, however, need to look at the operating costs of these nuclear units – specifically with regards to the input requirement of uranium and the cost thereof,” he explains.

In addition to the capital required to build a nuclear power station, one also needs to consider the operat-ing cost. While it is commonly stated that the operating costs of nuclear power stations are cheaper than coal-fired power stations, this will not necessarily be true for the future.

Globally over the next ten years, there will be an addi-tional 91 reactors coming online. “The problem herein lies with the total demand currently, in that there is 180mlb a year of uranium (U

30

8) being consumed globally, while

production is only sitting at 140mlb a year. The shortfall is sourced from secondary sources, such as the nuclear arms programmes under treaties between the US and Russian governments.

“With the growth in the number of nuclear stations, we can quite possibly expect a significant hike in uranium prices, which will make the operating costs of nuclear power stations much more expensive,” notes Lok.

Meanwhile, emerging nations such as China and India are following a very similar approach to the IRP, which is to reduce coal as a percentage of the energy mix. Importantly, this doesn’t mean that less coal will be used – instead coal as a percentage of the energy mix will come down.

“Many countries are trying to minimise coal as an input into primary energy, but it is not possible to eliminate it.


It will actually more than likely grow with regards to the physical tonnage used,” Lok points out.

He adds that SA shouldn’t, however, lose sight of the fact that coal is by far the cheapest way to secure economic growth. “For a developing nation like SA, it is very important that we don’t lose sight of this, because if we get this plan wrong, then we won’t be competitive as a nation,” stresses Lok.

THE SOUTH AFRICAN COAL ROADMAP The South African Coal Roadmap (SACRM) study is an initiative that com-menced in early 2010, with the overall aim of clearly delineating the South African coal industry’s future. The SACRM is currently coordinated and ad-ministered by the Fossil Fuel Foundation and supported by the South African Government and many coal industry and related stakeholders.

The Fossil Fuel Foundation’s website outlines the following: “The initiative is intended to detail and assess options and scenarios for the future development of the domestic coal industry and extract recommendations to maximise the economic opportunities for coal as a valuable energy and chemical resource whilst ensuring a better quality of life for current and future generations.”

Lok urges that all players in the coal industry need to get involved with the SACRM for SA’s future. One of the key issues that the coal industry needs to address is: what happens if the IRP doesn’t work? The fallback position would be going back to coal, thus the widespread involvement of the coal industry will ensure the comprehensive planning of future scenarios of coal usage.

“At current projected GDP rates, SA is looking at another 120 – 140 years of coal consumption, which is twice as long as uranium will last. Within the next 150 years, or at least within the next 80 years, renewable energies will need a substantial investment in order to meet electricity demand and pick up the eventual shortfall of uranium and coal,” concludes Lok. m

Not just lumps of dusty black stuff.

energy

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In a bid to tap into this lucrative market, the price of which has nearly doubled over the past year, ASX-and Botswana-listed A-Cap Resources is keen to get into production stage.

A-Cap Resources MD Andrew Tunks reports that last year uranium traded at $40/lb and already this year the com-modity price has spiked to over $70/lb. He is confident that the years ahead will see uranium prices continue to rise.

A-Cap Resources is the first company in Botswana to explore for uranium in this modern exploration phase and at the Letlhakane Project ‘has discovered the country’s only JORC-compliant resource, which is already among the top 10 undeveloped uranium prospects in the world’.

At this stage the company is busy firming up its resource and continuing with its feasibility study with the aim of mine construction in 2012 and production by 2013 on its Lethakane uranium project located in north-east Bot-swana.

The company plans on completing its pre-feasibility study in quarter two of this year. “This will be a large-scale project producing upwards of 2.5mlb to 3mlb of uranium per annum. It is a simple process requiring low capex,” Tunk states.

“The initial design will be a large shallow open pit with a 10-15 year LOM with a heap leach operation alongside, producing around 3mlb per annum.”

In December 2010 A-Cap Resources raised $15m through the equity market and from shareholders. How-ever, the company will at some stage need to raise a further $200m to build the mine. This, Turk says, will be done through a combination of debt and equity.

In addition to capital raising and its feasibility study, A-Cap Resources is looking for a strategic investor in the uranium and power generation sector. “We are working on aligning ourselves with an expert partner from the nuclear industry to help create a level of credibility in the market-place and lift us onto the global stage.”

The company is already in talks with the Korean govern-

energy

Uranium’s regains favourThe soaring demand for energy worldwide, particularly clean energy, has recently seen uranium gaining favour from the pundits punting ‘clean green energy’. As a result the recent years have seen an unprecedented rise in the number of nuclear power plants recently constructed, in construction phase or being proposed.

‘clean act’


Bag sampling on site.

ment and international investors from the nuclear industry. “Ultimately we want to become one of the world’s largest, low-cost, long-life uranium producers.”

Speaking of the resource, Tunk says: “We have a massive resource of nearly 160mlb of uranium, which will ultimately grow to 300mlb with our planned regional exploration.”

With the massive resource’s multi ore types A-Cap Resources is investi-gating treatment of these ores. “We are looking at studies that involve radiometric sorting and those that treat all ore.”

The ore-body is ‘quite simple’ and shallow, all within 70m of the surface with the top 20m being highly oxi-dised.

“The rock is soft, it is amenable to bulk mining and we have chosen a low-cost method of mining and processing.”

Aside from being close to surface the operation is close to infrastructure – roads, rail, water and electricity.

A-Cap Resources is confident that the increasing number of proposed nuclear power plants will further drive the price of uranium. In fact, its Lethakane project will come online at a time when uranium prices are quite strong.

In addition, A-Cap Resources con-tinues with firming up its exploration

programme with further drilling. Focus over the next 12 months will be on its Gojwane mineral resource, located about a hundred kilometres from its Lethakane project. A-Cap Resources has about 7000km² of tenements in the area.

Expansion of the existing Gojwane Mineral Resource has focused on two areas – Gorgon South and Gorgon

NUCLEARDue to uranium’s high efficiency in generating low-cost power with mini-mal greenhouse gas emission, the number of nuclear reactors around the world is expected to double by 2020.

Currently there are 439 operating reactors, 149 planned reactors, 59 under construction and 344 proposed reactors.

Coupled with this growth, much of the world’s uranium production remains under high sovereign or technical risk, therefore uranium prices are expected to increase significantly over the next several years.


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North. Results from Gorgon South have been ‘particularly exciting’, de-fining new zones of high grade miner-alisation. This new drilling has defined an extension of the Gorgon South mineralisation in excess of 1.5km to the south by 1.6km east-west, and remains open in the southern and westerly directions.

There is also a potentially new uranium project at the Mea Prospect, which is 120km to the NE of the Letlhakane project. “The Mea pros-pect has large radio-active anomalies where we have collected surveys and assay results have delivered results of 600ppm of uranium,” Tunks enthuses. The company remains confident that the Letlhakane Mineral Resources can grow beyond 300m lbs of combined uranium. m


minerals processing

Fynes-Clinton’s experience in DRA extends back to 1990 when he joined as an electrical engineer and helped to develop the company’s electrical, control and instrumentation (EC&I) systems.

He has an impressive track record, with a project portfolio that includes De Beers’ Snap Lake and Vic-tor diamond mines in Canada, the Alrosa diamond project in Russia, coal DMS plants in China and Indonesia, as well as a number of local projects, including Sasol Mining’s Twistdraai coal mine, Ma-rikana platinum mine and Western Platinum.

“Filling Uys’ shoes,” says Fynes-Clinton, “will be a big responsibility, especially as the projects division has gone from strength to strength. Even the reces-sion was cushioned somewhat due to several large projects that were under way, including Nkomati Nickel, Ngezi Platinum, Unki Platinum, Zondags-fontein (Phola), DMO and KEP iron ore.

“We are currently involved in 19 projects at various stages of development,” says Fynes-Clinton, adding that “a substantial influx of projects, a large proportion of which are likely to be generated from Africa, is expected this year.

“Cultivating passionate and empowered engi-neers and project managers is as important as the systems we have incorporated into the company. The key driver is to maintain and improve on this cultural mindset, and a few other important fac-tors.”

A PASSIONATE new MD for DRA Mineral Projects

Angus Fynes-Clinton, newly appointed MD for DRA Mineral Projects (DRA-MP), the mineral projects division of major engineering and project management house DRA, aims to ensure that DRA maintains its strong foothold in the mining industry. “Our engineers are passionate about their work, this culture is the backbone of our success and I have every intention of reinforcing it,” Fynes-Clinton, who replaced former MD Leon Uys in January, tells Laura Cornish.



One of these factors is safety. “When it comes to safety we feel that empowering workers is as significant as em-powering managers – placing authority in the hands of the workers through the People-Based Safety (PBS) incentive. This has seen DRA-MP’s safety statistics improve dramati-cally,” says Fynes-Clinton.

“Our reportable incidents have halved since providing each employee with a high level of responsibility.”

A lot of hard work has also gone into producing DRA Management Systems (DRAMS). The division works on improving, enhancing and refining its management systems with the intention of developing programmes that work best for the company, and are therefore, ‘best for the client’.

“DRA-MP has an excellent team of engineers capable of designing, managing and constructing fit-for-purpose mineral processing plants. My intention is to retain its distinctive capabilities, improve on them where necessary and empower the company to deliver superior engineering

projects to the mining industry,” explains Fynes-Clinton.Talking of some of the company’s current, and what

Fynes-Clinton describes as “exciting” projects, the company has a team based in Ghana, where, in joint venture with Group5, it has designed and is now pre-forming the con-struction, as a turnkey project, for West Africa gold explorer, Perseus Mining’s Central Ashanti Gold project.

Situated 56km from the town of Obuasi, the plant con-sists of primary jaw crusher, single-stage SAG mill, gravity circuit, flotation circuit, regrind ball mill, concentrate CIL circuit and elution circuit.

The project is nearing completion and is expected to be operational by the third quarter of this year. The processing plant, which was designed and built on a tight schedule, will be able to process 5.5mtpa.

“Cultivating passionate and empowered engineers and project managers is

as important as the systems we have incorporated into the company. The key

driver is to maintain and improve on this cultural mindset, and a few other

important factors.”

Leon Uys, who remains CEO of the DRA Group of companies, will now focus on driving the business’s international growth and exposure. While the com-pany has already established a large footprint in Africa, as well as representative offices in Australia, Canada, India and China, its aim is to globalise the ‘successful’ DRA brand.

As part of the group’s growth initiatives, the African business has been strengthened through the creation of DRA Mining, a division focused on mine design, development and infrastructure, which works with DRA-MP and plant operator Minopex to offer a total solution to the mining industry.

Perseus Mining’s Central Ashanti Gold project: from left to right – Flotation plant, civils for regrind mill and CIL plant. SAG and regrind mill shells are in the foreground

minerals processing

Fynes-Clinton continues, “We are also involved in ex-panding Impala Platinum’s Zimbabwe operation (Zimplats) as a Phase 2 project, whereby the plant’s overall capacity will be increased to 270 000ozpm. The expansion of ARM and Assmang’s JV Khumani iron ore project (Khumani Ex-pansion Project), where DRA-MP was appointed overall manager, is 80% complete.”

The R5.5bn project will increase Khumani’s capacity from 10mtpa (ROM) to 16mtpa.

Further projects include the construction of Total Coal’s Dorstfontein East coal project in Emalahleni, including overland conveyor and plant. This project is part lump sum turnkey and part EPCM and, interestingly, includes launching an entire conveyor and access bridge over the

Olifants river.DRA-MP is handling the 2, 4 &

5 seam plants for Keaton Energy’s Vanggatfontein coal mine, also in Emalahleni. Minopex has been ap-pointed to run the plant, and will also assist in commissioning the main second plant, which is currently under construction.

Northam Platinum’s Booysendal platinum project, also under construc-tion, is one of DRA’s first total solu-tion projects, whereby DRA-MP was awarded the EPCM contract for the plant, and DRA Mining is responsible for the mine design and EPCM man-agement of the mining project.

DRA-MP currently employs over 850 people, and is expecting to in-crease in size in the near future. “I expect to see DRA-MP, along with all our other South African companies and our global regions, undergo phenomenal growth,” Fynes-Clinton concludes. m

Overall 3D CAD view of Perseus Mining’s Central Ashanti Gold project.


The end of last year marked the end of the recession and the beginning of a major business turnaround for the company. “We have taken on a lot of new project work, making the start of 2011 a really exciting time for us,” says Craddock.

It is the research and innovation aspect of Craddock’s company, however, which is sure to make a long-term ‘mark’ on the mining industry.

“We are spending a lot of time on research and investment on introducing innovative minerals processing products into the market,” Craddock notes.

MC Process is probably best recognised for constructing the settler tanks (as part of SX-plants for Ezulwini and Mine Waste Solutions (MWS)) from fibre glass – a concept proven to pre-vent the tanks from cracking due to its ultra-strong make-up.

Thanks to the incorporation of a new laboratory at MC Proc-ess head office facilities, the company is engaged in a variety of research projects for various mining houses and institutions.

“It is a little too early to get into detail at this point,” says Craddock, “but we are in the test phases of assessing a clarifier which will be able to separate fine minerals using ultra-sound. This would also be particularly ideal for extracting solids from pregnant leach solutions (PLS) processed from gold heap leach pads.”

While electro-winning plants (EW) are no new concept to the mining industry, MC Process is in the process of designing such a plant for an unusual and unique client.

The client is the South African Mint – and the plant will be used to assist in the recovery of nickel and copper from old coins, Craddock explains.

This alone is evidence of the price base metals, such as nickel and copper, are receiving at the moment.

In conjunction with research organisations such as Mintek and the Vaal University of Technology, MC Process has de-signed and constructed ‘miniature’ SX plant models – built to

Minerals processingtaking the initiative on innovation

Minerals processing equipment innovator MC Process is upholding its name as a technological trendsetter. The company is on the cusp of launching newly developed separation equipment and is fusing its core business with a new industry – water treatment, MD Mark Craddock tells Laura Cornish.

8m diameter high rate thickener at Nkomati.

minerals processing


scale and fully functional – which can be used to advance the technology in the field of solvent extraction.

Over the last six months, MC Process has also been focus-ing on delving into an entirely new area of business – water treatment.

“We can build water treatment plants incorporating a variety of different technologies, including the increasingly popular and more affordable reverse osmosis (RO) method,” Craddock explains.

The company is in fact already building its first RO plant for mining engineer contractor, DRA.

“When combining RO technology with our dissolved air flotation (DAF) technology and certain membrane reactors, the result is one of the most efficient solutions for removing wastes from water. When incorporated into an SX plant, it can even be used to float off oils from the solution,” Craddock claims.

A DAF unit combines conventional dissolved air flotation with an easily removable Lamella system which can treat any effluent stream to potable water.

While MC Process offers an extensive variety of minerals processing equipment, its most successful product range to date is the SX plant.

“These solutions – innovative and cost-effective – are expected to deliver substantial business for the company, particularly from the African continent.”

Craddock is in the process of spinning off a water division for MC Process, to be called ‘Scientific Water’.

The division will also include an association with waste management company Enviroserv, whereby it will look to treat the company’s waste and effluent streams to an ISO-recognised standard.

CONVENTIONAL MINING PROJECTSMC Process recently completed a flow-sheet design model for Jersey-based Noventa Resources – the world’s largest, low-cost industrial scale supplier of tantalum concentrate.

The flow sheet is for the company’s Mozambique-based project – the Marropino tantalite mine.

In June last year, Noventa announced a strategic plan for the mine to optimise the profitability and cash generation of the project and the company.

The flow sheet model – for the plant specifically – is aimed at increasing Marropino’s capacity to 500 000lbpa of tantalum pentoxide (for 2010/2011) from 300 000lbpa.

Construction on the plant’s expansion is under way, under the management of project management and engineering company Paradigm Project Management (PPM).

Through a joint venture agreement between PBA Projects and ELB Engineering, MC Process is manufacturing a 16m diameter thickener, a flocculant plant and a lime-slaking plant for the Maamba colliery in Zambia.

The company is also busy with the design and erection of an SX-EW plant for a cobalt project in the DRC – due to be completed in September or October of this year. m


“We can build water treatment plants incorporating a variety of different

technologies, including the increasingly popular and more affordable reverse

osmosis (RO) method.”

18m diameter high-rate thickener.


Sedgman takes

Engineering and project management company Sedgman has been rapidly growing from strength to strength as it advances two major coal projects and also undertakes numerous studies on the African continent, GM, Dirk Schenk tells Laura Cornish.

COAL PROJECTS UP A NOTCH

Large diameter cyclones installed within a small coal circuit at ATCOM East.



Although Sedgman’s local presence only became official a year and a half ago, the company’s African experience ex-tends back about seven years – largely with international clients developing mining projects in Africa.

“We established a local footprint to meet client de-mand, and drive our global expansion strategy,” explains Schenk.

The company’s two current major projects in Africa – ATCOM and Benga – facilitated a smooth entrance into the country. Both projects were in negotiation stages with Sedgman at the time.

Sedgman established its regional hub in South Africa close to popular business district Sandton, but in less than a year had outgrown its facilities and relocated to Centurion.

The company currently has 85 employees, most of which are local.

“We moved to Centurion because it suited a large portion of our staff, but also because it cuts trips to the eMalahleni coal project district to less than two hours.”

The coal mining sector is Sedgman’s forte which is com-plemented globally by increasing expansion into metals projects as well.The company was recently awarded the EPC contract for Discovery Metal’s Boseto copper project in Botswana.

Schenk explains that the company has a solid depth of knowledge in coal – from studies and resource valuation, to design, construction and operations.

While South Africa’s coal deposits are primarily thermal, the rapidly emerging Mozambique (Teté area and Moatize coal basin in particular) has both thermal and coking coal. Combination coal ore bodies are comparable to Austral-ia’s ore bodies, allowing Sedgman to deliver well-exercised processing solutions for both.

Sedgman in Australia has about 50% of the market share in coal handling preparation plants. The country is well-known for its massive coal resource, where projects are developed on an ever-increasing scale.

“Because we maintain a close working relationship with our global offices, Sedgman brings some of the more ad-vanced technological solutions and equipment into Africa,” Schenk points out, “particularly large diameter cyclones and reflux classifiers.”

Sedgman’s methodology is to design and erect plants which are large and modular in nature and which reduce plant footprint, an have the ability to reduce capital expendi-ture for the client. In this way it can design plants as small as 250tph to in excess of 4000tph.

Sedgman also routinely designs plants to run in operation for 7000 hours per annum – this is achieved by reducing the complexity of the overall plant.

Sedgman’s methodology is to design and erect plants which are large and modular in nature and which reduce

plant footprint, thereby reducing capital expenditure for the client.

New high-frequency dewatering screens at ATCOM East.

Upgraded screen floor at ATCOM East.

BENGAAustralia’s Riversdale Mining is developing the Benga green-fields coal mine in the Moatize basin in Teté province, Mozambique, and has awarded Sedgman the EPC contract for the plant. It will be a two-product plant (both thermal and coking) and is designed to process 800tph of material as a single modular plant

The nature of the modular design can easily be ex-panded, with design elements incorporated to upscale the plant to 3000tph.

To date, the civil work has been completed, and steel erection is under way.

The plant is due to be commissioned later this year. The process methodology being incorporated into this plant is what Schenk describes as ‘high cut/low cut’.

Only following a high-density separation process to remove the discards, the coking coal and thermal coal will be separated.

The process also includes a flotation circuit (specifically for the coking coal) and a recent technological develop-

ment, the reflux classifier (as opposed to a spiral).“Following extensive testing and modelling in Australia,

we chose to incorporate this classifier into the Benga plant because it will provide a better product yield,” Schenk ex-plains.

It operates through an entirely different process to a spiral, and comprises a fluidised bed separator incorporat-ing lamella plates. m

“Following extensive testing and modeling in Australia, we chose to incorporate this classifier into the

Benga plant because it will provide a better product yield,”

– Schenk

Sedgman SA is engaged in various studies across a variety of projects at different phases, with mining majors, mid-tiers, and even BEE groups, where small-scale, relocat-able modular plants will be extremely attractive.

ARTHUR TAYLOR COAL OPEN-CAST MINE (ATCOM) EAST The eMalahleni-based ATCOM thermal coal project is a brownfields expansion which will increase the project’s processing capacity from 1100tph to 1700tph.

“We have been working with client Xstrata Coal South Africa on this project since concept phase, and have taken the project through all stages, including pre-feasibil-ity, bankable feasibility study, detailed design and now, overseeing its construction and commissioning as well,” Schenk describes. Sedgman SA was awarded the full EPC contract in 2010.

The project specifically sees the re-construction of

ATCOM’s two existing 550tph plant modules, where the capacity of both new modules will be larger but will still exist within the same footprint.

The first new 850tph module is currently being commis-sioned, having been shut down, “gutted” and then re-built using larger pieces of equipment.

This form of expansion enables Xstrata to continue producing coal throughout the upgrade, just at lower capacities.

“It also means we have to interface with existing equip-ment and work in confined spaces where a production team is still responsible for delivering coal,” says Schenk.

The same process for the second module is due to start shortly, and is set to be completed mid-year.

Larger replacement equipment items includes cyclones, pumps, screens, spirals and an upgrade flocculant plant for the thickeners. It also includes a new greenfields ROM tip, sizing stations and overland conveyors.

Erection of coal preparation plant and thickener for Benga.


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AD_SA-Mining-Future:Layout 1 27.01.2011 12:06 Uhr Seite 1

The mine in question – Steenkampskraal – was originally operated through a subsidiary of Anglo American between 1952 and 1963, making a monazite concentrate that was sold mostly for its thorium content rather than its rare earth content. It was the largest thorium source in the world be-tween 1951 and 1963.

In 1989, Rareco acquired the mine with the intention of becoming a rare earth elements (REE) producer. However, the fundamentals for the REE sector deteriorated significantly during that time, as China took control of the global rare earth industry.

The dynamics of the industry have returned to normal, and the REE market has become competitive again, bringing players like Rareco back onto the scene.

Steenkampskraal is located 70km north of Vanrhynsdorp in the Western Cape.

It is a 474ha property, which, according to Rareco chairman,

Trevor Blench, is fully compliant with all government mining legislation.

“This includes a new mining licence, environmental programmes, social and labour plans, a workers’ trust deed allocating 26% of the mine to HPDSAs, and even a nuclear licence.”

In addition to thorium, the presence of uranium further secures the necessity for a nuclear licence – specifically for storage.

“We have 30 000t of known quantified ore reserves ac-cording to historical data – and are planning on mining about 2700tpa for 10 years,” says Blench.

The area also has significant exploration potential – at depth – the mine is currently developed to a depth of about 120m.

A specific timeline has been drawn with regards to bringing Steenkampskraal back into production.

A feasibility study is currently under way, and is due for

A Western Cape rarityRare earth metals – the name implies it all. Finding viable deposits is as rare as the metals themselves. A Canada-based company, Great Western Minerals Group (GWMG), through its 70.2%-owned South African company, Rareco, is set to re-develop and re-open a significant rare earth metals project in the Western Cape, writes Laura Cornish.

The historical site of Steenkampskraal in the Western Cape.

minerals processing


Entrance to the historical site.

Uranium became the more popular metal of choice (next to thorium) because when processed, plutonium is produced

as a by-product, and is a necessity in manufacturing atom bombs.

completion in the last quarter of this year.Construction and upgrades should commence at the begin-

ning of next year, and be completed within 12 months.“Estimations at this point indicate it will cost around

R300m in total to return Steenkampskraal to production,” says Blench.

2013 will signify production start-up, after which a second phase expansion will be introduced to increase production to 5000tpa.

In terms of getting the mine ‘up and running’ – the shaft needs to be re-equipped, a processing plant built and extensive rehabilitation performed on a number of slimes dams – which contain additional REE materials.

Monazite is processed using a conventional process method – crushing, milling, flotation and gravity separation – producing a monazite concentrate.

The rare earths can be separated from the concentrate product at this stage – this will not take place on site.

GWMG CORPORATE HOLDINGS:• Rare Earth’s former producing mine, Steenkampskraal; • Rare Earth’s processing plants: Less Common Metals

(LCM) in Birkenhead, UK, where a substantial amount of Steenkampskraal REEs will be extracted, and Great Western Technologies in Troy, Michigan;

• Rare earth’s exploration projects in North America:o Hoidas Lake (Saskatchewan);o Douglas River (Saskatchewan);o Deep Sands (Utah);o Benjamin River (New Brunswick);o True Blue JV with True North Gems (Yukon);o Red Wine JV with Search Minerals (Labrador);o Chaleur JV with Cornerstone Resources

New Brunswick). m


Monazite unearthed.

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D 297x103.indd 1 1/5/11 9:54:13 AM


Using a pilot plant at Anglo Platinum’s Mogalakwena South concentrator facility in Limpopo province, engi-neers and scientific company SRK Consulting, together with engineering consultants, Paterson & Cooke, devel-oped a simple model for estimating overall water con-sumption on the mine – and how to improve it.

The tests showed that substantial water savings of can be made by increasing the concentration of solids in the thickeners, especially when material density reaches 65% to 70% (conventionally, material reporting to tailings storage facilities will register densities of around 55%).

“For solid concentrations between 65% and 75%, there is a rapid decrease in the release of free water,” says SRK’s principal geotechnical engineer, Johan Boshoff. “This results in a dramatic improvement in water consumption as pool

size at the tailings facility – and hence evaporation and seepage losses – are reduced.”

One of the main constraints to raising throughput in mining plants is the lack of enough potable water, explains Boshoff. “The water saved by implementing thickened tail-ings technology can allow plants to improve their through-put, and this is a key factor in determining the profitability of a mine,” he further adds.

There are other important benefits to be derived from recovering more water at the plant, rather than from tail-ings:• Better structural stability of the tailings makes it safer

and easier to access;• This, in turn, allows rehabilitation of tailings dams to be-

gin earlier – speeding up compliance with environmental

Recent testing on a South African platinum mine has shown that saving water through paste and thickened tailings technologies is not only good for the environment, but can allow higher throughput and boost profitability.

One of the numerous open pits at Mogalakwena

Saving water can boost MINE PRODUCTION


This model of overall mine water consumption, developed through pilot testing by SRK and Paterson & Cooke at Angloplat’s Mogalakwena mine, quantified the following factors: headfeed (HF) and raw water entering the plant; the volume of water (T

w) reporting to the tailings facility; the volume of water that is ‘freely

released’ (Fw) when discharged at the tailings facility; the outflow of interstitial water

(Iw) remaining in the tailings after placement (that seeps out – S

p – via the base

of the tailings dam); the rainwater landing on the dam; the amount of water that evaporates from the pond (E

p), the beach (E

b) and the return water dam (E

d); and,

finally, the flow rate of water recovered (R) to the plant from the return water dam.

The graph plots key aspects of the water consumption at Mogalakwena’s south concentrator. Note in particular the sharp drop in water consumption – from 0.8m3 of water per tonne of headfeed to 0.4m3/t – as solids concentration is raised from around 65% to 70%. This, the tests show, can be achieved without expenditure on new equipment.

rehabilitation requirements;• It reduces the danger of mine

water seeping into groundwater resources, which has become a growing concern in South Africa’s mining industry.The technology related to water

extraction in mineral processing plants is well advanced in many countries where water is a highly-valued resource and environmental regulations are very stringent. There is little doubt that SA is headed in this direction, Boshoff continues.

“Despite our concern about the lack of water in this country, the price is still too low to make users address the problem more assertively.”

He suggests that thickened tail-ings technology may become more widely adopted as a conservation strategy when water prices increase beyond a certain level. However,

MINE WATER CONSUMPTION MODEL

MOGALAKWENA SOUTH CONCENTRATOR WATER CONSUMPTION CURVE

there is also scope for the technology to contribute to profit enhancement in the short term, as mines can conserve water even without augmenting exist-ing equipment.

The tests found that further im-provements can be made in terms

of free water released from solids (beyond 73% solids), but that the operational impact becomes less sig-nificant. There is also a point at which more specialised pumping equipment would be required to move the drier solids to the tailings facility. m


green

Anglo American has many tools for delivering sustainable operational and closure solutions. Key amongst these are the Mine Closure Toolbox and Socio-Economic Assessment Toolbox, which have been rolled out to all of the company’s operations globally.

The company is working on delivering sustainable environ-mental solutions through its Environment Way (AEW) perform-ance standards, and through industry research initiatives such as CoalTech 2020. Several of these initiatives are focused on find-ing solutions to prevent and treat acid mine drainage (AMD), and to develop sustainable post-mining closure solutions for rehabilitated areas.

Over the recent months the impact of AMD has become a hot topic, with industry at large and government in particular finally working to implement interventions before the prob-lem spirals out of control.

In his recent budget speech, Finance Minister Pravin Gord-han allocated R3.6bn for water infrastructure and services, including funding for AMD.

In line with Anglo American’s sustainability focus and com-mitment to mitigate the risk of AMD, the miner, in collaboration with other mining companies and the eMalahleni municipality, established the eMalahleni water reclamation plant in Mpu-malanga in 2007.

The plant currently treats 25m litres per day (Ml/d) of acid mine water to potable standard, for supply to both the local

municipality and to meet some of its mining operation needs. Of that amount, approximately 16ml/d is sold to the local mu-nicipality, with the remainder used at the company’s operations and the excess discharged to the local stream.

As eMalahleni is a water-scarce region, the plant is soon to enter its second phase of development, enabling it to double its current capacity to 50M litres a day (Ml/d) and in doing so also facilitate future mining. “This is certainly a good example of strategic planning to convert potential perpetuity liabilities into positive sustainable post-closure opportunities,” states Rudolph Botha, manager: sustainable development, technical

services.As the requirement for

treating excess mine water in the Witbank coalfields grows, several water treatment plants like the eMalahleni plant will be required to provide water with qualities suitable for potable do-mestic use, water for industry, and also water fit for release to

rivers for downstream users and for maintenance of healthy stream ecology in the long term.

Anglo American has been rolling out its Mine Closure Tool-box since 2008 – a strategic mine closure planning tool which encapsulates understanding and managing potential liabilities, developing a closure vision and land use plan that ensures that the closure of an operation remains within the capacity of the environment. The tool requires operations to do a gap analysis and provides guidance for high-level action plans to

Exploring new GREEN FRONTIERS

Diversified mining house Anglo American remains at the forefront of green mining, and has taken the lead in promoting green mining initiatives and setting benchmarks. Aside from being an active member of the International Council for Mining and Metals (ICMM) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), to name just two, the company is also involved in a range of industry initiatives and is spear-heading a number of significant research and development proposals, Mark Aken, manager: environment standards tells Nelendhre Moodley.

Anglo American continues to investigate ways to use waste products such

as gypsum and inert slag wastes as building material for construction

purposes.

An animal trail on the vegetated store on Lisheen mine.


ensure that closure liabilities are minimised and opportunities are optimised.

A key part of the approach is ongoing consultation with interested and affected parties, including the relevant govern-ment authorities, neighbouring communities, and employees during the life of the operation as well as intensive consultation with these parties in the last five years of mine life.

This focuses on issues ranging from appropriate decommis-sioning and rehabilitation approaches post-mining land use, to re-skilling for sustainable post-mining land use.

A significant part of preparing for mine closure involves understanding the level of dependence on mining and work-ing towards reducing the dependence by re-skilling employees where appropriate, and developing socio-economic opportu-nities outside of, or in tandem with, mining. The aim is that with careful mine closure planning and creating sustainable opportunities, the communities are able to establish viable and sustainable income sources.

Through the use of the Mine Closure Toolbox, Anglo’s operations are designed with closure in mind. For example; by designing and developing waste disposal facilities to the appropriate final closure profiles as part of the day to day op-erational rehabilitation activities, provides for a more sustainable closure solution for these structures.

“The basis of the mine closure toolbox is to design, plan and operate in such a way that we manage our closure liabilities, optimise on opportunities, and, where possible, turn liabilities into opportunities at every step of the mining process, including deciding early on how to mitigate risks,” explains Rudolph.

For example, Anglo American continues to investigate ways to use waste products, for instance – gypsum, a by-product of water reclamation from AMD for the construction of houses – as well as the use of inert slag wastes as building material for construction purposes.

Another example of working towards being more envi-ronmentally conscious is Kumba Iron Ore’s Sishen mine in the Northern Cape’s commitment to develop a rehabilitation

strategy as part of the closure plan that will focus on chang-ing the future waste rock deposition strategy, and, in doing so, minimise future re-shaping costs and facilitate ongoing rehabilitation.

The physical and chemical properties of mining waste determine the rehabilitation approach to sustainable closure. Coal discard dumps, for example, were historically heaped structures which were an eyesore and a great source of dust and water pollution, however the modern approach is to design and rehabilitate these facilities with a topsoil cladding and grass cover, which, although more expensive, produces a significantly more sustainable and environment-friendly end result.

Going forward, whaleback-shaped dumps will likely become the standard practice, because they can be more easily maintained as they have flatter slopes that allow access

with agricultural equipment for essential fertilisation and defolia-tion activities.

“An example of a world-class closure plan is the Lisheen zinc mine in Ireland, which was recently sold to Vedanta Resources. Anglo American was proud to have developed

a sustainable engineering solution for the site’s tailings facility,” Mark enthuses.

The tailings dam is lined with a geo-membrane to contain tailings waste that contains sulphides that have the potential to produce acid mine drainage (AMD). This facility has been redesigned to have a dry capping over saturated tailings (this prevents it from forming AMD). This was achieved by covering tailings material with a geo-fabric and inert rock to provide a foundation for a layer of topsoil that could be planted to grow pasture for livestock farming.

With its eye to a sustainable future, Anglo American continues to evaluate mine design and develop improved environmental standards to deliver a mine that uses resources efficiently, maximises profit while minimising its environmental footprint, and leaves a lasting positive legacy for society and the communities within which they operate. m

An example of a world-class closure plan is the Lisheen zinc mine in Ireland,

where Anglo American developed a sustainable engineering solution for the

site’s tailings facility.


Aerial view showing the rehabilitated area on top of the tailings facility at Lisheen, with their wind farm.



Since the launch of the Diamond Route nine years ago, the programme is one of the few projects in South Africa which will be profiled 10 years later at the next World Summit on Sustainable Development. In fact, MacFadyen reports that more than 70% of projects launched failed within the first two years.

The Diamond Route programme is a broad-based initiative using skills development, education, research, monitoring and tourism development to deliver a range of environmental and socio-economic benefits to communi-

ties in and surrounding nine E Oppenheimer, De Beers and Ponahalo conservation areas.

The purpose of the Diamond Route, which extends from Limpopo in the far north to the west coast of South Africa, is to ‘make a lasting contribution to conservation, research and to enhance environmental awareness in communities in the areas in which the miners operate’. For these reasons, the Diamond Route was awarded the prestigious Nedbank Green Mining Award for sustainability in 2010.

Going forward, the strategy remains to increase the

DO-GOODERS

green

Diamond

Since launching the Diamond Route at the World Sustainable Summit in Johannesburg in 2002, diamond miner De Beers, E Oppenheimer & Son and BEE partner Ponahalo Group are in the process of expanding the concept to their operations in Namibia and Botswana, research and conservation manager Duncan MacFadyen tells Nelendhre Moodley.

The conservation of species at risk is an important objective of the Diamond Route.

The Diamond Route makes a huge contribution to the conservation of species and the SA environment.


green

focus on the environment, water, climate change and the community. “All these properties have wonderful historical and cultural site value, with Namdeb and Debswana adding hugely to conservation and the environment with different ecosystems and heritage history,” MacFadyen says.

In Botswana, De Beers is looking at a Diamond Route linking the two diamond operations, Orapa and Jwaneng diamond mines. De Beers already has established game farms on its mining properties in Botswana. In Namibia, De Beers will incorporate the Diamond Coast and its ‘number of different habitats’ into the Diamond Route mix.

Aside from being one of the oldest diamond miners in South Africa, De Beers also happens to be one of the forerunners in conservation consciousness and protecting the environment. Even though the mining business has an environmental impact on the energy and water resources, as well as having a footprint on the landscape and biodi-versity, the miner is careful to establish a balance between the negative impact on the environment by creating socio-economic value and protecting the environment beyond the mining boundaries.

Through the establishment of the Diamond Route De Beers is able to create sustainability with educational pro-grammes, promoting biodiversity, cultural and heritage practices and job creation through tourism.

The programme also facilitates biodiversity research, such as a wide variety of invertebrate studies on all the sites, vultures and Cape foxes in the Kimberley region, cheetah in Jwaneng in Botswana and brown hyena in Namibia.

In addition a Birdlife South Africa partnership has been established with the Diamond Route as well as the rock art and cultural guide development project. Another project stemming from the establishment of the Diamond Route is the establishment of the Maharishi Ezemvelo Rural University (MERU) aimed at educating students from disadvantaged backgrounds in conservation, tourism and hospitality.

The Diamond Route programme currently employs 261 people, spends R26m annually to maintain and manage its properties, keeps 22 000 wild animals in well-preserved natural habitats and encourages the growth and develop-ment of red data plant and animal species. m

The Jwana Game Reserve adjoins the Jwaneng mining area.

Gemsbok at Dronfield Nature Reserve just outside Kimberley.


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green

Building a sustainable platinum future


Platinum major Impala Platinum (Implats) has over recent years attained a heightened awareness of how all aspects of sustainability – financial and non-financial – impact on its stakeholders and on its business.

The company has been a constituent of the JSE’s Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Index since its inception in 2004 and it firmly believes that the integration of sustainable development into the business strategy will move the group beyond reactive compliance to an integrated and holistic ap-proach that will ensure the sustainability of not only the busi-ness, but also of the environments and communities within which it operates.

Implats understands that its view of its business process must be integrated across the life cycle of operations, from exploration, mining and mineral processing to refining, market-ing and recycling. It also understands that while it does not control its products through their full lifecycles, responsibility for ensuring safe delivery and recycling lies with the company as much as possible.

The company’s business has a direct impact in a number of areas which all have to be managed to ensure sustainability.

Environmentally, the group’s activities contribute to air, water and land pollution and increased noise levels, as well

“As one of the largest producers of platinum in the world, Implats has a significant impact on its greater environment. It is vital therefore that our business strategy is informed by national and international trends in sustainable development. For this reason sustainability forms the cornerstone of our value system – it is an essential component of our board’s mandate and underpins our focus on continued, cost-effective growth; it guides our approach to attracting, retaining and developing our people; and it directs our actions in caring for and preserving our environment.”David Brown: Implats CEO

as impacting on the availability of future resources of platinum group metals.

Socially, this mining organisation is mindful of the con-sequences of the migrant labour systems and the inherent dangers involved in its core activity for both its employees and communities. Economically, Implats also addresses issues such as the loss of land for community farming and animal grazing, as well as local communities’ ability to generate income.

Integrating climate change into core business processes is critical and the company is committed to the low carbon agenda and is proactively addressing this challenge. Implats’ strategy in this regard is driven by the efficient and responsible use of energy in a carbon-intense and electricity-constrained economy, bearing in mind the need for the sustainable de-velopment and application of cleaner energy.

More specifically, the focus remains on establishing and maintaining energy and carbon baselines for the group, raising awareness of this issue amongst all its stakeholders, improving operational and design efficiencies incorporating technological and process alternatives, reducing emissions through diversifying energy sources, progressing carbon offset projects and ensuring adequate monitoring of energy and carbon emission information. m


green

Since its inception in 2007, Optimum Coal has success-fully developed strategies that will add value to the Steve Tshwete local municipality in the Mpumalanga province, which is located near to the company’s operations. These strategies include investing in infrastructure that will serve both the environment and the local communities long after mine closure.

One of Optimum Coal’s most recent undertakings was to increase the knowledge and understanding of the effect of coal mining on climate change by participating in an industry-wide research study, conducted by the Coaltech Research Association. The comprehensive study aimed to establish international accredited data for fugitive emissions in open-cast coal mining operations.

In 2010, a study was conducted by Coaltech, aimed at obtaining data about methane gases from SA’s open-cast coal mines. Optimum Collieries, South Africa’s second larg-est open-cast coal mining complex, was one of the test sites monitored for this study.

The results from the study were submitted to the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and were accepted by the panel, to be utilised for future greenhouse gas emission calculations.

In 2010 Optimum Coal illustrated its environmental commitment through a major infrastructural investment

OPTIMUM COAL

Committed to climate change, communities and the environmentOptimum Coal, South Africa’s sixth largest coal producer and fourth largest coal exporter, follows a clear mandate to increase shareholder value, while operating in a manner that is respectful and sustainable to the environment and the communities in which it operates.

in which the mine, as well as the local municipality and its surrounding communities, will benefit.

Optimum Coal spent R550m to construct a water purification plant that treats 15m litres of processed mine water per day to potable standards using reverse osmosis technology. The project added significant value to the water availability in water-scarce Mpumalanga, by provid-ing drinking water to the Steve Tshwete local municipality and restoring the region’s aquatic balance. In addition, it presents a sustainable solution to address the company’s surplus affected mine water during operation and beyond mine closure.

“Mining companies do not operate in isolation of the environment and the community. Optimum Coal continues to engage with employees, communities and environmental stakeholders in a meaningful manner to create a business that is sensitive to the environment and demonstrates social best practice,” says Dr. Cogho.

Optimum Coal operates two large mining complexes – Optimum Collieries and Koornfontein Mines – near Middelburg in the Mpumalanga province, and owns a robust pipeline of greenfield and brownfield development projects. The group is strategically positioned to become SA’s benchmark black economic empowerment coal min-ing company. m

The R550m Optimum Coal water reclamation plant illustrates the mine’s commitment to infrastructure investment that seeks win-win environmental solutions for the mine, the community and the local municipality.



green

The Kabwe underground mine, closed today, operated from 1906 to 1994 and produced about 2.6mt of high grade zinc and lead.

The result is 57 tailings dumps, and 7.1mt of tailings mate-rial located on 79ha of property. BMR is in the process of concluding the acquisition of the dumps from Dorset Solu-tions. While processing such a vast array of dump material will deliver a profitable company, it will simultaneously be eliminating a major environmental hazard.

The environmental legacy from 80 years of mining at Kabwe is widespread pollution in the region. Toxic water and silt from the dumps and mine is seeping into the Kabwe lake and other near-source waterways, which, together with wind-blown dust, is causing major problems to the Kabwe communities.

These problems are being addressed within the Cop-perbelt Environment Project (CEP), which the Zambian Government is carrying out with support from the World Bank and the Nordic Development Fund.

Through BMR’s ‘clean-up’ project, it will play a significant part in fulfilling the objectives of the CEP.

The CEP’s main tasks are:• To protect public health and safety; • To reduce or prevent damage to the environment; • To restore mine land, and, where possible, make it avail-

able for productive use;

• To promote better environmental practices in the mining sector.The Zambian government, through ZCCM Investment

Holdings, has retained responsibility for a wide range of environmental concerns which have not been passed on to the subsequent mining entities. BMR is only responsi-ble for future environmental waste which will come from reprocessing the tailings.

Within the CEP, a Kabwe Scoping and Design Study (KSDS) has carried out three phases of a plan to determine the extent of the effects of historical mining activities in the Kabwe region and suggest remediation.

Phase 1 was executed in the period July 2004 to June 2005 and evaluated contamination of soils, air, water, crops and levels of blood lead in the local population, especially in children aged up to seven.

Phase 2 traced the source and pathways of lead and other polluting hazards.

Phase 3, carried out in September 2005 to March 2006, determined a Site Rehabilitation and Environmental Man-agement Plan (SREMP) to rehabilitate the Kabwe mine site and achieve a sustainable reduction in exposure to lead in the region.

The dumps at Kabwe consist of overburden (from mining); tailings (from the concentrator); slimes (from the

KABWE cleans upAIM-listed Berkeley Mineral Resources (BMR), established today purely as a tailings recovery company, has secured its first major project in Kabwe, Zambia. The company is going to recover substantial amounts of zinc and lead from dump material, while simultaneously solving a major environmental crisis in the area, BMR chairman Masoud Alikhani tells Laura Cornish.

One of the dumps to be rehabilitated at Kabwe.


refinery) and slag (from the smelter). The KSDS has already identified that significant waste material stored in the dumps on site is classifiable as toxic.

Specifically, in accordance with the specifications laid down by the CEP, BMR will, after processing the dump material to extract the contained minerals, re-locate the final waste to designated areas downwind, downstream and distant from urban regions thus removing a pollutant environment.

“South African research companies Mintek and SGS have both already confirmed the wash plant slimes re-source, with an average 12% zinc content, and 9% lead content. Within months we are looking to start construct-ing a process plant and position BMR as a zinc and lead producer,” says Alikhani.

Metanza Mineral Processers has been appointed lead engineer for the project, and will oversee and manage the construction of a 60 000tpm ROM processing plant

– comprising two streams for each metal. Alikhani estimates a construction time of around 11 months.

At this rate, the project has a lifespan of 12 or 13 years.The cash required to advance this project has already been raised, about $8m in total.

Equipment procurement is already imminent, and the entire project will be managed through selected contract workers – likely to be employed from South Africa.

“The success of this company can already be measured,” Alikhani indicates, “as second-time miners, we have no mas-sive exploration budgets, no significant development costs, and capex and opex figures will be low.”

Outside of the Kabwe dumps already mentioned, the longer-term potential for BMR is limitless.

“We might to look to re-open the mine, which still has 22mt of un-mined resource,” Alikhani points out.

Looking for additional dumps at other mine sites in Zam-bia is also on the medium to long-term priority list. m

Equipment procurement is already imminent, and the entire project will

be managed through selected contract workers – likely to be employed from

South Africa.

The old Kabwe mine shaft.

Drilling at Kabwe is a labour-intensive operation.



Financial preparationFinancial preparationThe basic understanding of mine rehabilitation is the necessary actions required to revive the environment during mining, and post mine closure. But having a detailed environmental management plan approved by the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) is only the tip of the iceberg. “A combination of the right mix of investment portfolio and guarantees to match these liabilities is just some of the challenges facing SA miners,” says Nedbank Capital transactor, Laura van der Molen (right).

Decant of copper-rich AMD in the town of O’Kiep, Northern Cape.

AMD formed owing to interaction between water and mine residues on the surface, exposed in a surface tailings reclamation operation in the Western Basin.

The core rehabilitation issue

green – corporate briefing


One of South Africa’s biggest and most critical mining environmental hazards currently is the acid mine drain-age (AMD) crisis resulting from past decades of deep-level gold mining across the three main basins on the Witwatersrand.

These interconnected mines have a complex history of ownership dating back to the 1890s.

Most of the past owners of the mines no longer exist, and hence there is no clear obligation as to who should be responsible for the management of this water. This is further complicated by the fact that no specific legislation was in place to manage such environmental impacts until the early 1990s, when the Department of Mines introduced the requirement for the development of environmental management plans by mining companies.

Unfortunately, the mining companies responsible for not rehabilitating the Wits basin as far back as decades ago, were not bound by tight South African government legisla-tion, which today has become, according to Van der Molen, some of the most advanced legislation in the world.

“While solving the AMD problem is a significant problem on its own – solutions can and will be found,” she says.

Providing financial solutions for mine rehabilitation has been a business focus area for Nedbank Capital for the past eight years.

Van der Molen joined this niche division three years ago, and works in close conjunction with the Mining and Resources division of Nedbank Capital – which today is a leading mining financier.

The ‘Mining and Resources’ book is today in excess of R10bn through the bank’s exposure to numerous clients, ranging from diversified majors to aspirant juniors, over numerous commodities.

“Today, our rehabilitation division has about R2.5bn of funds invested into various customised solutions,” Van der Molen explains.

This figure has grown substantially from around R400m about three years ago, and is expected to grow as mining companies take a more promising and active stance on being financially prepared for rehabilitation, and Nedbank’s exposure to African mining operations becomes a bigger reality.

THE SOLUTION IN THE CONTEXT OF MIN-ING LEGISLATION: In South Africa, the DMR has specific mining reha-bilitation planning criteria that a mining company must meet when applying for mining rights. The mining company is required to provide for the reha-bilitation liability in the form of bank guarantees or cash held in a ring-fenced rehabilitation trust. Thus the majority of South African mining companies have a rehabilitation fund or trust set up for this purpose. Companies receive a tax deduction for funds allocated into the rehabilitation trust.

A long-term liability driven strategy with careful management and growth of ring-fenced assets is essential to meet these future cost obligations and avoid significant negative cash flow implications for mining companies.

In line with current legislation, Nedbank Capital offers both investments across multiple asset classes, as well as is-sued guarantees to the DMR, and can tailor an asset/liability profile of investments and guarantees to suit the client, the mines and life of mine projections.

“Today, our rehabilitation division has about R2.5bn of funds invested into

various customised solutions.This figure has grown substantially from around

R400m about three years ago.” – Van der Molen

Water pumped from the Eastern Basin to the treatment plant at Grootvlei Mine.

Decant of AMD from the abandoned Transvaal and Delagoa Bay Colliery close to eMalahleni in Mpumalanga.


“Legislation with regard to long term environment sus-tainability is non-negotiable, and full financial compliance is required up front. Mines need to provide for the full cost of closure today.”

Rehabilitation costs therefore have to be, and are re-flected as real liabilities on a mining company’s balance sheet, and can have an incremental effect on company and shareholder value if not managed proactively.

“Key to a sound investment approach is the timing of investments which needs to tackle head on, ever-changing market conditions, commodity prices, company operational profitability and ultimately free operating cash flow.”

At the same time the strategy needs to target a perform-ance benchmark that approximates mining inflation and the consequent real growth of this rehab liability.

In this context, Nedbank Capital, which has a qualified team of mining and investment experts, offers an all-encom-passing end-to-end asset and liability solution.

Mining companies are offered strategic, tailored, solu-tions to meet future cash flow requirements thereby limiting future unexpected cash flow implications. This is particu-larly relevant in the mining sector where the projects are

large and the cash flow impact of poor management of rehabilitation commitments could threaten the retention of existing mining rights and hinder the opportunity to attain additional mining rights.

The benefit to communities around mines is in the form of the timeous, comprehensive implementation of adequately funded rehabilitation projects. As a world which is intent on becoming greener and protecting scarce re-sources, it is imperative to ensure that mining companies can meet the cost of this process.

THE NEDBANK CAPITAL MINING REHABILITATION SOLUTION: Investments• A tailored investment offering – cash; fixed income; capital guaranteed equity;• A profile of future cash investments to match the Life Of Mine liabilities.

Guarantees• Issued by Nedbank to the DMR;• Tiered pricing based on investment profile.

“In a nutshell, Nedbank Capital can beat inflation and deliver real returns,” Van der Molen recaps.

Financial provisioning for mine closure is com-pulsory, but Van der Molen believes the mining industry as a whole is taking the issue seriously. “At Nedbank Capital, our mining rehabilitation solutions mirror our own commitment to the environment and we choose to partner with companies that demon-strate strong environmental values and ethics,” she concludes. m

“Legislation with regard to long term environment sustainability is non-negotiable, and full financial

compliance is required up front. Mines need to provide for the full cost of

closure today.”

Decant of AMD from 18 Winze — a shaft in the Western Basin. AMD in the West Rand.

green – corporate briefing

“The Nedbank Investment Solution offers mining companies an end-to-end mechanism to manage mining rehabilitation liabilities according to DMR requirements.” The company was ranked 4th globally in “Mining and Resources Project Finance Arranging’ by value in the 2009 Ernst & Young report.


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Have channelled 30 years experience in Dust Control Management. Operating in 7 different countries and managing 71 mines. Employ 450 employees.

The Dust Control Management System consists of a range of environmentally friendly dust binding products, with a comprehensive stabilization and continuous maintenance programme.

The robust sealed haul road surfaces allow optimal production for haul trucks and other vehicles to operate safely in all weather conditions. This is achieved �� mechanical wear. Water saving remains ��Dust-A-Side and in excess of 90% saving has been recorded on certain mines.

��dedicated and skilled personnel to build, maintain and manage the mine-site road surfaces and fugitive dust. The fugitive dust technology includes an innovative mist spray system, proprietary chemical �� maintenance.

Dust-A-Side is a black empowered company with 25% shareholding held by our BEE partner Namaria Trading.

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The Dust-A-Side and BHP BillitonEnergy Coal Partnership at the DMO Project

Our Dust A Side relationship with Douglas Colliery began in 1994 at the underground section. We initially started with 48 000 m2 of travel ways that were established for faster and safer access to the working sections on three of the coal production seams. The main surface access road was also built and maintained, this road was used for private and medium to heavy mine vehicles, this added another 6km of road. Prior to the mine closure at end of underground mine life, the total square metres that Dust A Side managed was 111 000m2.

With the Douglas Middelburg Optimization (DMO) Project under construction, Dust-A-Side’s services were requested to treat the surface haul roads for dust by establishing a stabilised and sealed haul road. In January 2010, Dust-A-Side started a dust control management programme on the mine’s surface production haul roads. We currently treat a total of 489 000m2 at the DMO Project, with an additional 260 000m2 in the plan to be established. We have a total of seven employees working full time on the mine, with a Site Manager which oversees our operations and the continuous maintenance service we offer to the mine.

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Dust-A-Side manages the mines permanent haul roads which run from the top of the ramp to the coal tip. Our relationship with the mine is that which achieves a win-win long term business partnership �� are to assist the mine with their total dust control needs which will look at a complete Dust Control Management for their non-permanent and pre-strip roads, as well as the material handling application processes.

Dust- A-Side is pleased to be associated with a project such as this one and we look forward to using our expertise, technical experience and our unique total offering to assist the mine with their future developments. “We are proud of our company’s safety record, and are proud to be considered a Total Dust Control Management Contractor of choice in the mining industry” says Guy Crichton, the Operations Manager of our Eastern Region.

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Have channelled 30 years experience in Dust Control Management. Operating in 7 different countries and managing 71 mines. Employ 450 employees.

The Dust Control Management System consists of a range of environmentally friendly dust binding products, with a comprehensive stabilization and continuous maintenance programme.

The robust sealed haul road surfaces allow optimal production for haul trucks and other vehicles to operate safely in all weather conditions. This is achieved �� mechanical wear. Water saving remains ��Dust-A-Side and in excess of 90% saving has been recorded on certain mines.

��dedicated and skilled personnel to build, maintain and manage the mine-site road surfaces and fugitive dust. The fugitive dust technology includes an innovative mist spray system, proprietary chemical �� maintenance.

Dust-A-Side is a black empowered company with 25% shareholding held by our BEE partner Namaria Trading.

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The Dust-A-Side and BHP BillitonEnergy Coal Partnership at the DMO Project

Our Dust A Side relationship with Douglas Colliery began in 1994 at the underground section. We initially started with 48 000 m2 of travel ways that were established for faster and safer access to the working sections on three of the coal production seams. The main surface access road was also built and maintained, this road was used for private and medium to heavy mine vehicles, this added another 6km of road. Prior to the mine closure at end of underground mine life, the total square metres that Dust A Side managed was 111 000m2.

With the Douglas Middelburg Optimization (DMO) Project under construction, Dust-A-Side’s services were requested to treat the surface haul roads for dust by establishing a stabilised and sealed haul road. In January 2010, Dust-A-Side started a dust control management programme on the mine’s surface production haul roads. We currently treat a total of 489 000m2 at the DMO Project, with an additional 260 000m2 in the plan to be established. We have a total of seven employees working full time on the mine, with a Site Manager which oversees our operations and the continuous maintenance service we offer to the mine.

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Dust-A-Side manages the mines permanent haul roads which run from the top of the ramp to the coal tip. Our relationship with the mine is that which achieves a win-win long term business partnership �� are to assist the mine with their total dust control needs which will look at a complete Dust Control Management for their non-permanent and pre-strip roads, as well as the material handling application processes.

Dust- A-Side is pleased to be associated with a project such as this one and we look forward to using our expertise, technical experience and our unique total offering to assist the mine with their future developments. “We are proud of our company’s safety record, and are proud to be considered a Total Dust Control Management Contractor of choice in the mining industry” says Guy Crichton, the Operations Manager of our Eastern Region.

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Optimising process systems for the mining industry

Your partner in minerals processing

plant design, implementation and

commissioning

For over a decade, the Enviroplus Grouphas been a respected player in process plant engineering.

Our experience over the past 10 years has highlighted the necessity for clients to optimise their production facilities.

We have assisted clients with the following:l enhanced equipment reliabilityl improved production capacityl safety of operationsl� ��l environmental compliance

The Group consists of two units:Enviroplus Design specialises in process plant

engineering, project management and execution. Enviroplus Energy focuses on developing energy

solutions: we are among the few engineering companies in sub-Saharan Africa that has the expertise to design and implement bio-energy projects.

Comments CEO Brad Williams, “The Group has a ��and compliant designs and technologies. We have also formed strategic partnerships with a number of companies which have a global reputation for using resources in an environmentally sustainable and ��leading catalyst manufacturer.”

The Enviroplus Group provides full EPCM services, taking responsibility for projects from conception to completion and commissioning.

Contact the Enviroplus Group:email: [email protected]

tel: +27 (0)11 838-8765

fax: +27 (0)11 832-3283

cell: 082 852-5793

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Samancor House, 88 Marshall Street, Johannesburg

www.enviroplus.co.za

Project and Engineering Excellence

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“The compact system, capable of recycling any raw or con-taminated water, will provide potable water for drinking and plant cleaning fluid for the optical lens system,” says MC Process MD, Mark Craddock.

“To date we have supplied water systems specifically to the minerals industry. However, as part of our diversification pro-gramme, we have designed this system, which is not only ideal for remote mining sites, but can be used in any industry, such as marine, industrial, abattoirs as well as outlying and remote rural regions. There is a huge necessity for water to be recycled in every aspect of mining, industry and day-to-day living.”

The company has a unit operating in a very remote area of the DRC, where the water used is being recycled for drink-ing and bathing purposes. It is also containerised within an insulated reefer container, which keeps the equipment secure, hygienically clean and cool as well as making it quick and easy to install.

It operates on low energy, which is yet another advantage for a commodity that has become scarce. The rapid recycle programme, control automation and optional remote monitor-ing ensures ease of operation.

Fully automatic operation and minimal maintenance is a further bonus. “This is not only for remote sites but any op-eration where the staff focus should be on other duties, such as running the mine or factory,” says Craddock. “The system back-washes the filters, chemically cleans the reverse osmosis ‘RO’ membranes and flushes the system with permeate after every shut-down.”

It has been designed using brackish water semi-permeable spiral wound membranes that separate and remove dissolved solids, organics, pyrogens, sub-micron colloidal matter and bacteria from the water.

Another system that offers the industry cost-effective water treatment is the company’s “simple-to-operate-and-maintain” dissolved air flotation DAF system. It is the most accepted method worldwide for treating effluent streams, sewage, fats oils etc.

DAF removes fine suspended material from an aqueous suspension. This specific design integrates two technical proc-esses – flotation and clarification. This intrinsically means that capital investment is lower and the plant’s footprint is smaller, therefore operational costs are reduced as well. Here again the saving on energy is vast, as it eliminates the need for an entire pumping system.

“We are also supplying an ‘oil water separator’ to another client in Zimbabwe, where all the oil and grease from their re-fuelling depot and vehicle wash station, as well as any other hazardous material such as reagent spills etc, will be sent to a coalescing and lamella separation section. The oils and solvents are separated, collected and then contained for either re-use or disposal in an environment-friendly manner. The system is designed to control levels automatically. This absorbs fluctua-tions in flow during occurrences such as rain, when flows are significantly higher than normal operational flows,” concludes Craddock.

The primary purpose is to clean the bulk water for re-use on the plant. A variety of feed streams can be processed and will allow consistent output.

There are some very interesting technological advanced processes available to the market such as membrane bio-re-actors, ozone and ultra violet. Another emerging technology is bio-membranes, which convert waste effluent streams into electrical energy using bacteria.

The company has formed a new division, namely MC Proc-ess Scientific Water. It will specifically concentrate on water reclamation, recycling and purifying. m

Containerised Mineral process engineering and design company MC Process is commissioning an order for a containerised reverse osmosis (RO) water treatment system, further entrenching its interests in water engineering within the mining industry, industrial waste and effluent market.

reverse osmosis system

View of the containerised RO system.



mc_process_ad_to_print.indd 1 2011/03/04 5:20 AM


green

The plant, which was commissioned in November last year, treats all water out-flow on the smelter’s site, includ-ing industrial storm water, contaminated groundwater, treated sewage water and industrial effluent containing a high concentration of dissolved salts.

According to Frank Rosslee, engineering manager for Tubatse Ferrochrome, the true value of the plant lies in the fact that by treating all waste water sources, a large volume of water is re-used, without releasing anything harmful into the surrounding environment.

“The volume of water that the smelter needs to extract from the Steelpoort river is then reduced, which translates into more fresh water for the residents in the fast-developing rural areas downstream. The plant is evidence of Samancor’s unfailing commitment to environmental conservation and the future well-being of its surrounding communities.”

The smelter’s process water quality has improved con-siderably, which assists in enhancing the life expectancy of all its major process equipment.

“Most components in the smelting process have to be water-cooled, and harsh water can cause damage, due to corrosion, embrittlement, stress-corrosion cracking, chemi-cal deposition, fouling, organic growth and other negative effects of dirty and saline process water.”

Gunter Rencken, MD of Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies South Africa, says that the plant, modelled on the successful ZLD plant designed and constructed by the company for ArcelorMittal in 2006, has the capacity to

ZERO-effluent plants

treat 5000m³ of water per day. “The basic processes that the waste water and groundwater are subjected to include adding ferrous chloride, removing silt and oil residue, clari-fication, ultra-filtration, reverse osmosis and a combination of thermal and solar evaporation.”

The plant captures all industrial storm water on site and channels it via a silt-trap to an HDPE-lined storm water dam, capable of holding 35 000m³ of storm water with a spill frequency of less than 1%. The storm water is stored and treated for use by the plant as process water. It is fed to the water treatment plant at a rate of 1000m³per day.

The plant-process-effluent water is routed from the plant via an automated self-cleaning silt trap to the water treat-ment plant balancing dam, while the sewage water is piped to the plant’s own licensed sewage treatment works from where the treated effluent flows to the water treatment plant balancing dam.

The contaminated groundwater is evenly extracted from eight boreholes situated over the spread of the aquifer, and is pumped directly into the water treatment plant balancing dam.

The four sources of water are fed from a balancing dam into Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies’ patented high-rate package plant Actiflo clarifiers, which are configured to remove all suspended solids and some precipitated salts.

A portion of the clarified water flows to the clean water dam for re-use by the smelter, while the remainder of the water flows to the desalination section of the plant. m

Water and waste water expert Veolia Water Solutions and Technologies South Africa has partnered with KV3 Civil Engineers in a R100m project to transform Samancor Chrome’s Tubatse ferrochrome smelter in Steelpoort into a zero-effluent plant, aimed at conserving the water in the Steelpoort river by assisting in the re-use of waste water without the risk of salinating process water.

a growing trend

Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies South Africa’s patented high-rate package plant Actiflo clarifiers remove all suspended

solids and some precipitated salts from the treated water.


68358 VWS Name change ad SAM.indd 1 2011/03/09 2:36 PM


A changing environmentDigby Wells Environmental is looking at the next 12 to 18 months as critical to fulfilling the company’s strategic objectives in South Africa and Africa.

The focus on African resource projects is expected to continue to deliver expansion opportunities to the com-pany and its partners. The company is actively engaged in projects from Sierra Leone, Guinea, Mali, The DRC, Mozambique as well as all the major mineral areas in South Africa, like the Waterberg coal field and Eastern Limb (platinum).

With the company’s expertise and experience, it is ca-pable of undertaking projects across the continent, with a thorough understanding of the sensitivities and realities.

Digby Wells opened its doors in January 1995, a very different time for both the mining and the environmental industries. The need to show the benefit of sound envi-ronmental management practices was then paramount; these benefits are now held as self-evident and have been replaced by a greater focus on legal compliance and inter-national best practice.

This change in the industry is driven by a number of factors including: • Legislative changes in South Africa (and other African

jurisdictions);• Introduction of the Equator Principles for funding institu-

tions and the adoption thereof by all major South African Banks;

• Increasing pressure from various environmental activists and NGOs, and

• The financial implications of providing for closure. South Africa has managed to develop some of the

most progressive environmental and mining legislation since 1994, although criticism can be levied regarding implementation and failure to stimulate industry growth within the last number of years. The new Mineral and Petroleum Resource Development Act, coupled with the various environmental law changes, has resulted in a number of mining companies finding themselves in a legal

minefield with the risk of prosecution against all levels in the organisation. Digby Wells is placing a greater focus on ensuring that all legal aspects are addressed from the initiation of a prospecting, pre-feasibility or feasibility phase. The requirement to incorporate expert legal advice from the start of any project (pre-prospecting) is expected to be seen as standard going forward.

With the adoption of the Equator principles by all ma-jor South African Banks, adherence to the principles may not require a drastic change in approach for projects, but failure to specifically cater for them could lead to major delays once funding is sought, or studies are scrutinised. All capital-intensive projects should be categorised in terms of the World Bank standards and the full scope of all ancillary development defined at the outset.

The vocal environmental activist lobby has arisen due to a number of factors. The threat of prosecution is very real. Meaningful public consultation is critical to identify and address real project issues and to prevent escalation of negative sentiment against a project.

Financial provision for actual closure costs will be one of the biggest pressures in changing the current mining culture. Where production was ( and still is – in many cases) the main focus, the accurate accounting for closure costs will require better planning and a focus on sustainability issues. The change in balance sheets of major mining companies, or sale of ageing operations, is leading to the realisation that relatively minor gains in productivity can bring with it major increases in liability. Mining with closure in mind will become more than just a catchphrase in future.

This changing focus on environmental matters has led to Digby Wells Environmental being invited to present on various topics the past few months at international events, and from the interest shown it is clear that environmentally responsible mining will be a reality in Africa. m


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Social License to Mine??FULL Environmental Authorisation??

Water Use License??Equator Principle Compliant??

African Mining Specialistswww.digbywells.com

Johannesburg – London – Perth

green

In the current year, Mintek is working on asbestos mines in the Northern Cape and Limpopo provinces, a coal mine in Mpumalanga and a stone quarry in the Eastern Cape. The organisation has been assisting the DMR since 2009 with the rehabilitation of abandoned asbestos mines, but the terms of the new contract sees this responsibility expanding to also include mines that are not technically ownerless, but which pose a significant risk to the safety and health of the surrounding communities.

The DMR is providing the funding for these operations, while Mintek designs the rehabilitation projects and manag-es their implementation through third-party contractors.

The successful completion of the first year’s trial projects – five asbestos mines, all located in the Northern Cape Province – have cemented the relationship between Mintek and the DMR, and work is currently proceeding on a new crop of mines to be rehabilitated.

In a related development, the DMR is also in the process of concluding a contract with the Council for Geoscience (CGS) to work on the ranking of ownerless and derelict mines across the country. This work will form the basis for future work and the CGS will provide the research that will underscore the national priorities for mine rehabilitation, which Mintek will then implement.

While several open asbestos mines remain in the coun-try, they are typically not very large in comparison with modern mining operations. The rehabilitation of these mines, while technically not a difficult undertaking, is usu-ally comparatively expensive due to their typically remote locations and difficult terrains for access of equipment. m

for rehabilitationGovernment-funded mining research company Mintek is managing a programme to rehabilitate several mines on behalf of the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) across South Africa. The programme follows on from earlier work performed on a year-long contract which started in 2009. This programme, and the collaboration between Mintek and the DMR, will continue until 2013 under the current contract.

DMR mines


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Rehabilitation under way.

Since its inception 60 years ago, occupational risk man-agement services and solutions provider Nosa has been working towards creating healthy and safe work environ-ments for employees in the high-risk mining sector.

With new appointments in its mining division, Nosa now offers its mining clients more than 130 years of experience through the joint knowledge and skills base of its mining team members.

With a renewed focus on assisting its mining clients with world-class services and products, Nosa’s expanded mining team is looking forward to working with govern-ment, the Chamber, its clients and all affected parties, to create healthy, safe and green workplaces for all in the mining industry.

The implementation and management of a risk man-agement programme and continuous up-skilling and empowerment of employees are the two focus areas that Nosa promotes and where it offers services and products accordingly.

The Nosa ‘Integrated Five-Star System’ is available in customised audit guidelines, including open-cast, surface plants, workshops and general, quarries and works, under-ground coal mine, underground hard rock and other mineral

mines. Certification services (e.g. ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001) are offered and are fully integratable with the Nosa standards.

Through consistent implementation of such programmes, health and safety risks and environmental impacts are identi-fied timeously and risks can be prioritised and addressed in a systematic manner. The obvious benefit is the preven-tion of incidents and fatalities. Further benefits include reduced absenteeism, claims and insurance assessments. Proper risk management also enhances stakeholder value and employer/employee relationships, and provides for transparent and consistent sustainable reporting.

Promoting “zero tolerance”, consistent awareness campaigns, training and a culture of life-long learning and self-development are essential components for success. Nosa’s accredited training programmes are customised for the mining industry and provide the necessary and up-to-date knowledge and skill to reduce occupational incidents, create healthier workplaces and identify and manage environmental impacts. Its flagship training course SAMTRACR is also available in a customised version, spe-cifically dealing with mining risk and mining legislation and regulations. m

Reducing incidents for people and the environment

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materials handling

The Jwaneng pipe was discovered in 1972 by De Beers prospectors. In 1978 an agreement was signed between the Government of Botswana and De Beers to establish the mine, which means “a place of small stones” and was officially opened on 14 August 1982.

The mine is owned by Debswana, a partnership between De Beers and the Botswana government. The mine contrib-utes 60% - 70% of Debswana’s total earnings.

In November 2009, Debswana gave the green light to proceed with a major expansion project at Jwaneng, the world’s flagship diamond mine.

The project, known as Cut-8, will secure approximately 95m more carats and extend the life of the mine to 2025. This investment ensures continuity of supply from the world’s richest diamond mine, and could be worth in excess of $15bn over the life of the mine.

Based on its expertise in its field, fluid and lubrication

equipment provider Flosolve Solutions manufactured and supplied (on a turnkey basis) numerous hose reel stands fitted with Graco self-retractable hose reels and Wiggins Service Couplings.

The company also supplied various electrical fluid transfer and evacuation pumps, waste oil tanks, Wig-gins ZZ9A1 diesel nozzles as well as two mobile Skid units that will be utilised in the EMV & LDV workshops respectively. The equipment supplied by Flosolve will be used for the Komatsu 930e trucks that the mine is procuring. By 2016 the mine will have 80 of these trucks in operation.

Debswana opted for the Graco & Wiggins product ranges because of their low maintenance costs as well as the products’ superior performance, all of which were very important factors to Debswana as part of its lifecycle costing on the Cut-8 expansion project. m

A perfect fit for Jwaneng Cut-8 projectDiamond major De Beers’ Jwaneng kimberlite lies in south-central Botswana on the fringes of the Kgalagadi desert, 160km south-west of Gaborone and 80km west of the traditional capital of the Bangwaketse district, Kanye village.


Numerous hose reel stands fitted with Graco self-retractable hose reels and Wiggins Service Couplings, manufactured and

supplied by Flosolve Solutions.


(011) 389 5300 I E-mail: [email protected] I www.flosolve.co.za I 16 Borax Street, Alrode, Ext 7, 1449

Securing aGreener FutureWiggings Fast Fueling - FAST, SAFE, CLEAN AND ECONOMICAL Dry Break quick couplings eliminate fuel loss and spillages.

green

B100668 AEL Print Ad Plat 146X210_FA.pdf 1 3/4/11 2:21 PM

The Research and Development (R&D) Department at AEL Mining Services, an international expert and innova-tor in blasting solutions, has proactively taken the Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) concept further to add value down the supply chain to provide a potential solu-tion for the Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) problem through its eco-friendly products.

By supplying environmental solutions developer Earth Metallurgical Solutions (EMS) with nitric acid, AEL has un-locked a source of ‘Mixed Metal Nitrates’ (MMN), which includes magnesium, sodium and calcium.

According to Larry Wilson, AEL Explosives’ group tech-nical manager, when the MMN solution is included in the oxidiser solution of AEL’s bulk explosives formulation, a number of key benefits are gained. The explosive product’s shelf life stability is improved, the re-pumpability of the emul-sion explosive is enhanced and additional recycled waste oil can be incorporated into the formulations.

“From the work AEL’s R&D group has done, we have successfully demonstrated that we can incorporate up to 30% of the MMN solution into our formulation. Trials have proved successful,” comments Wilson. AEL is currently ne-gotiating sufficient volumes from EMS to make field trials in the near future possible.

Various universities in South Africa are currently

conducting research on the treatment of AMD. Possible solutions, including electrical evaporation, eutectic freeze crystallisation, reverse osmosis and ion exchange have been proposed. These technologies focus on concentrating the salt and therefore minimising the problem, however, in all of the proposed methods, the problem of the mineral salt concentration still persists.

EMS has completed trials proving that AMD and AMD brines could be converted to potable water and saleable by-products, including fertiliser, explosives and the thermal salts for concentrated solar power plants by making use of ion exchange to clean the water. Regeneration of the filters is then tailored to ensure that value-added products are being produced and could potentially be used in the current market.

EMS’s initial AMD pilot programme was conducted at a Randfontein gold mine during 2009, followed by an extensive Coaltech-funded trial programme on coal, AMD and brines at four of South Africa’s largest coal-mining companies in 2010. The EMS technology does away with the need for waste storage, and can, in fact, remediate existing waste pools, such as brine ponds, which hold the waste from other processes, such as reverse osmosis and others currently used to treat some acidic mine waters in the coal sector. m

AEL takes on AMD

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materials handling

“Aurecon’s South African mining and industrial team has enhanced its skills in the area of bulk materials handling by working in close conjunction with the Aurecon team in Australia, who represent a centre of excellence in the field of materials handling for ports,” says global mining industry leader, Ross Nugent.

To date, Aurecon has been involved in the design and construction of seven of the 10 largest coal terminal ports in the world. Nugent, who is based in Australia, believes Africa

holds a substantial amount of opportunity for projects in the sector as the continent develops its mining industry.

A round-up of the group’s latest bulk materials handling projects appears below.

Plans to increase the capacity on the Sishen to Saldanha iron ore export line have been ‘on the cards’ for a while. It is almost entirely dependent on Transnet’s capacity to expand the Orex Line – the railway running directly from Sishen to the Saldanha port.

Going LARGE on logistics

Engineering, management and specialist technical service group Aurecon is becoming increasingly significant in the development of improved bulk and freight movement and logistics operations within the mining sector. The company has recently been involved in a number of rail transport and new port/port expansion study projects set to lift South Africa and Mozambique’s export capacity in the mid-to-long term future, Aurecon mining and industrial sector leader, Dr Pieter Viljoen, tells Laura Cornish.


A view of Dalrymple Bay, one of Aurecon’s massive port projects in Australia.

Aerial view of Dalrymple Bay.

Last year Aurecon completed a concept study on how the railway line and port facilities for the Sishen-Saldanha corridor might be expanded beyond its current capacity. “The study also looked at improving the operational ef-ficiency of the line,” Viljoen adds.

Aurecon has also been appointed by Vale to complete basic engineering design for the Nacala Rail project. The Nacala Rail Corridor will enable the transport of coal from Vale’s Moatize coal mine in north-eastern Mozambique, with possible expansion in the future. The project involves the construction of 250km of track between the Moatize mine and existing railway in Malawi, rehabilitation of 690km of existing track between the existing railway and the new coal terminal and Nacala. Construction on this project is due to commence this year.

Prior to the development suspension of CIC Energy’s Mmamabula coal mine and power station complex project, Aurecon also did a pre-feasibility study for the Trans-Kalahari Line – to connect the Mmamabula coal fields to Namibia’s Walvis Bay port.

AngloGold Ashanti recently appointed Aurecon to develop a transportation pre-feasibility study for the es-

Aurecon has been involved in the design and construction of seven of the

10 largest coal terminal ports in the world.

Saldanha port.

tablishment of an underground gold mine in Mongbwalu in the north-eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The focus of the Mongbwalu transportation study was to investigate various options for the transportation of equipment, supplies and people for the establishment and operational stages of the planned mine, requiring exten-sive investigation into predicted transportation and logistics costs; availability of suitable infrastructure; transportation infrastructure construction, maintenance and upgrading costs; existing local and regional transportation planning; and existing transportation operational costs.

All modes of transport were considered, including road, rail, air and water transport, as well as a variety of combina-tions of these modes. “Options tested ranged from flying

in all freight to a newly established airfield at Mongwbalu to trucking everything by road from South Africa,” explains Aurecon engineer Bernard van Biljon.

“The routing options presented numerous challenges mainly due to the high number of possible options and combinations of options that had to be refined to a short-list of low-risk, low-cost, reliable and sustainable options,” he adds.

The operational cost, capital cost, maintenance cost, transportation time, number of border crossings, number of required mode changes and a subjective assessment of risk were all used to arrive at an initial list of 25 options, which were later reduced to six feasible options.

The findings then had to be further refined through on-site investigations.

In addition to the consideration of different transportation options, the design of the actual transporta-tion vehicles as well as the neces-sary packaging required careful selection.

“What resulted is a set of trans-portation options which are feasi-ble, affordable and sustainable,” says Van Biljon, adding: “What this study demonstrates is the im-portance of thorough foundational planning. Conducting a thorough transporation pre-feasibility study will have a direct impact on mine productivity, reduced operating costs, improved product quality and sale value and the removal of limiting bottlenecks.” m


Nacala Rail project.

Abbot Point port in Australia.

materials handling

297x210 UG LH205-8 SA Mining 9/3/10 1:56 PM Page 1

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materials handling

According to Marc Kleiner, GM of Condra Cranes, these three factors are interconnected and directly responsible for the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) recent recording of an increase in the number of import applications for hoists, cranes and crane components from China.

“The economic downturn is forcing local companies to spend as little money as possible, so the business is going to China, where labour is cheap, the currency is kept artificially low, and where steel is subsidised,” says Kleiner.

As an example of the price differential, Kleiner cites a quotation recently tendered by Condra for the repair of a Chinese crane damaged in transit.

“Our price was three times the price of a brand-new replacement crane from China. We simply cannot compete with prices like these,” he says.

Kleiner explains that steel prices in South Africa are the higher than in the rest of the world.

“We are paying 25% more than any other country worldwide, and we will probably be paying 35% more by the end of February. Importing steel is not an option, because the local duties make it equal to the local price,” Kleiner adds.

CEO Josef Kleiner says that a change of attitude within government would be helpful.

“Preference should be given to the locally made product, because it is the local product made by the local company

that fills the South African fiscus,” he notes.To combat the disruptive effect caused by the flood of Chi-

nese imports, Condra has for some time focused on specialised crane applications.

The company has been successful in Canada, and has long enjoyed a reputation for solid crane performance in the demanding operating environments that characterise African mines.

Kleiner says that the specialised technology and engineering capabilities needed to customise design and manufacture for these markets do not yield the manufacturing volumes attrac-tive to Chinese and European companies.

“European cranes additionally suffer from a design phi-losophy that is too sophisticated for the African market,” he further adds.

“The European product incorporates frequency drives that make it more likely to fail in an environment prone to power surges. The Condra product, on the other hand, uses the simpler slip-ring design that can be more robust and reliable during these surges,” he continues.

“Our service department is also structured to respond more rapidly to service requests when they do occur.

“With the European cranes, there is often nobody at hand with the necessary repair expertise, and in Zambia I have seen European cranes standing idle as a direct result of this,” Kleiner concludes. m

Local cranes CRY OUTRand strength, high local steel prices and cheap, poor-quality Chinese imports are likely to be the biggest obstacles to growth for local crane and hoist manufacturers this year.

Final crane assembly at Condra’s factory.


Avusa Condra Corp 210 x 297 p 3/12/09 11:36 AM Page 1

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Jwaneng mine is situated 120km west of Botswana’s capi-tal city of Gaborone and on the fringe of the Kgalagadi desert. The project – known as the Jwaneng Cut-8 project – is earmarked as the largest single investment in the history of Debswana and the country’s mining industry as a whole.

Big shovelling at JWANENGDebswana has placed an order for two giant 495HR2 Bucyrus electric rope shovels – Africa’s largest – to remove millions of tonnes of overburden and provide access to a rich bounty of diamonds at its Jwaneng mine in Botswana.

In total, Cut-8 will remove 658mt of overburden to give the diamond miners access to 91mt of ore that will yield 102m carats of diamonds.

The 495HR2 Bucyrus electric rope shovels chosen by Debswana will be delivered to the mine during April.

Towering over 20m in height and weighing in at 1382t,


materials handling

these massive machines boast payloads of 110t each – 50% larger than the largest rope shovel currently operating in Africa. Jwaneng’s 495HR² machines are believed to be the first new rope shovels employed in southern Africa in 10 years and the first-ever to use AC electrics.

The 495HR² model is a market leader in machines sold, according to Fernando Armas, GM of Bucyrus Africa, who is based in Johannesburg.

“While the 495HR is new to Africa, there are currently 25 of them operating in Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru in conditions similar to Jwaneng’s, and over 130 495 Series shovels are currently operating in a variety of mining ap-plications around the world. Bucyrus’ model 494HR2 sets itself apart from its competition with its AC electric drives, newly designed operator cab and optimised front-end design,” Armas said.

The units destined for Jwaneng will be shipped unassem-bled from the Bucyrus manufacturing plant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and assembled on-site by factory specialists, supported by a team from the Bucyrus southern African operation.

Following the commissioning of the machines, a team of three Bucyrus shovel experts will remain at Jwaneng for three years to provide technical support and train local mine personnel to maintain them.

In addition to the on-site presence, Bucyrus has four back-up maintenance facilities in South Africa to support its surface and underground customers and these facilities can be called on for a variety of services, including heavy duty fabrication and mechanical repairs.

“Bucyrus is known for its AC drive systems which have gained strong industry acceptance by providing shorter cycle times, greater reliability and reduced maintenance when compared to DC systems,” says Armas.

According to him, Bucyrus has been producing AC drive shovels for over 25 years and over this time AC motors and drives have proved extremely reliable, with the latest IGBT system providing up to 99% electrical availability in mines around the world.

Bucyrus’ new operator’s cab is the product of a multi-year collaboration between Bucyrus, mining companies, and shovel operators. The cab provides excellent visibility with excellent line of sight supplemented by five optimally mounted cameras and display screens. It provides enhanced safety through dual access/egress doors and an optimally placed trainer seat with independent e-stop.

Finally, Bucyrus’s new cab offers the smoothest, most comfortable ride available with an ergonomic, fully adjust-able operator’s seat with fully pneumatic suspension system, low effort joysticks, and dual display screens optimised for operator comfort.

Bucyrus provides a robust, proven rope crowd front-end design that affords the operator superior line of sight. Its deck-mounted crowd machinery minimises front-end weight, reducing swing inertia and cycle times.

Wide-set boom point sheaves stabilise the dipper in the bank for easier and more efficient digging. Finally, the free-floating tubular dipper handle design eliminates torsional loading reducing boom and handle cracking.

Mining at Jwaneng is done in a series of cut-backs into areas that surround the kimberlite pipe and allow mining to continue at increasing depths. The Cut-8 project will be the largest in Jwaneng’s history and will deepen the mine from 330m to 624m by 2017.

De Beers and the Botswana government, joint owners of Debswana Diamond Company, will each invest R12.5bn over the next 14 years to extend the life of the mine. The mine is important to both parties, providing about half of Botswana’s diamond production and 70% of Debswana’s earnings.

The mammoth task of removing the overburden began last year with Phase One of the Cut-8 project – the re-moval of 60mt of waste by December 2012. Phase Two begins this year with waste removal ramping up to up to 110mtpa. m


Ian Farquhar, dewatering manager at Weir Minerals Af-rica, say that this is a natural evolution and follows on the success achieved with the locally manufactured Multiflo Waterspider, which was commissioned at Anglo Gold Ashanti in Klerksdorp some eighteen months ago.

“The larger pontoon allows greater versatility in applica-tion, and while design of these has been done in conjunc-tion with our counterparts in Australia and Canada, specific attention has been paid to the African operating conditions and all components used are readily available,” Farquhar says. “This is obviously one of the key issues, especially with equipment operating throughout Africa.”

Manufacture of the Weir pontoons is being done in South Africa under strict quality control systems, and while the majority of the pontoons used in Africa are middle-sized units, Weir Minerals Africa has the ability to produce units for larger applications which include workshops and sleep-ing quarters for personnel.

Selection of components is dependent on the application at hand, and the final product can include Warman slurry pumps as well as submersible pumps, which are either diesel or electrically driven.

The product is offered in a heavy duty steel construction with steel flotation tanks as well as a lightweight option where LDPE flotation tanks are used. This latter option is ideal where more mobility is required.

“Each pontoon with its walkways and ancillary equip-ment is custom-made for the application where it will be used. This allows the mine to select the most appropriate solution for its application,” Farquhar says.

For example, in a large operation where efficiency is critical, two or three separate pontoons with a common docking station would be placed in the middle of the dam or pit and would be accessed by a floating walkway. The walkway holds the cable and piping from the docking sta-tion to the shore.

Farquhar says the most recent orders for pontoons have been received from mines in Ghana and Rustenburg, and the company is currently completing a number of designs for other operators.

Weir Minerals Africa has also included a range of stand-ard-sized pontoons in the rental fleet to accommodate cus-tomers who have the need for this equipment, but do not currently have the capex available. m

Pontoon POWER play

making mines work

Weir Minerals Africa has expanded its slurry and mine dewatering equipment solution to include a range of locally manufactured pontoons. These will allow dewatering of large expanses or volumes of water as well as lightweight dredging and maintenance of settling dams.

Each pontoon, with its walkways and ancillary equipment, is custom-made for the application where it will be used.


Insamcor ad 190 x 282 p 11/19/08 6:44 PM Page 1

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INDEX OF ADVERTISERS 113 SA

Mining February 2011

Advance Group of Companies ......................................................49AEL..................................................................................................... 100Amec......................................................................................................3ArcelorMittal ......................................................................................15Atlas Copco..................................................................................... 103Barloworld Metso........................................................................... 6, 7Bateman - Comminution ............................................................. 101Bateman - Delkor .............................................................................27 Bateman - Special mech .................................................................39BHP Billiton.........................................................................................73Bell Equipment ............................................................................28, 29Booyco Electronics ...........................................................................10Brelko...................................................................................................50Bucyrus ................................................................................................63Career Junction............................................................................... 112CMG ....................................................................................................36Condra Cranes................................................................................ 107De Beers..............................................................................................70Delba ................................................................................................ 113Digby Wells & Associates................................................................95DRA Mineral Projects.......................................................................56Dust-A-Side ..................................................................................84, 85Dymot..................................................................................................79Dynamic Fluid Control .................................................................. 111Environmental Assurance ................................................................88Enviroplus............................................................................................86EOH Mthombo................................................................................ IFCEskom...................................................................................................33Exxaro ..................................................................................................37Flosolve................................................................................................99Gijima ...........................................................................................5, 8, 9Hansen Transmissions ......................................................................11Horne South Africa ...........................................................................32Impala Platinum.................................................................................75Linatex .................................................................................................13M&J Engineering................................................................................12MC Process ........................................................................................91MDM Engineering.............................................................................19

Mintek..................................................................................................96Monotoring & Control Laboratories .............................................53Murray & Roberts Cementation.....................................................14Nedbank Capital Investment ................................................. 80 - 83New Concept Mining.................................................................. OBCNOSA ..................................................................................................97Optimum Colliery .............................................................................77Polysius................................................................................................26 Sandvik ............................................................................................. 105Sarens South Africa...........................................................................23Scania South Africa...........................................................................45Scaw Metals .......................................................................................16Schenk Process ..................................................................................25Sedgman South Africa............................................................. 60 - 62SKF........................................................................................................47Softline Accpac..................................................................................21ThyssenKrupp.....................................................................................57Trollope Mining Services .............................................................. 113TWP......................................................................................................65UDHE...................................................................................................41Veolia Water Solutions ....................................................................93Voith.....................................................................................................38Weir Minerals.....................................................................................51

SITE AND ROADA Shak Epoxerite ............................................................................ 116Barloworld ....................................................................................... 118Beacon Plant Sales ......................................................................... 119Blackwood Hodge ......................................................................... 115BLC Plant.......................................................................................... 114Cast Turn Services.......................................................................... 119Conveyor and Plant Services....................................................... 118East Rand Plastics ........................................................................... 119ESP..................................................................................................... 116Gear Rebuilding Centre ................................................................ 118Rocktech ...........................................................................................IBCSir Meccanica.................................................................................. 120The Seat Connection..................................................................... 119Toma Equipment ............................................................................ 117

114 SITE AND ROAD March 2011 SITE AND ROAD March 2011 115

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CONTACT US: 56/58 13th Road KewTel: +27 11 555 2000 CO-ORDINATES s 26°07.100Fax: +27 11 555 2266 E 28°05.270Mick: 082 568 4451 Mike: 082 508 2908Michael:082 905 8983 / [email protected]: 084 207 6515 / [email protected]

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GALLION 3 POINT STEEL ROLLER WITH

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SUPPLIERS AND MANUFACTURERS OF CIVIL/CONSTRUCTION PLANT

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4174 Hydrabolt Ad CMYK.indd 1 16/02/2011 4:47 PM