MODERN MINING - Crown Publications...impression that Gold is an exhaustive history of gold mining....

February2014

Vol 10 No 2www.crown.co.za

MODERN MINING

IN THIS ISSUE… Kangala – SA’s newest coal mine Mwana Africa poised for growth Mining Indaba 2014 – a review Styldrift puts on a strong show

February 2014MODERN MINING1

CoverA 13-outlet flameproof GEB (gate end box) trailer. See page 16 for a full story on Kopex Africa, which supplies trans-formers and switchgear to the mining industry.

PublisherJenny Warwick

EditorArthur Tassell

Advertising ManagerBennie Venter

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Published monthly by:Crown Publications ccP O Box 140, Bedfordview, 2008Tel: (011) 622-4770Fax: (011) 615-6108e-mail: [email protected]

Average circulation(July–September 2013)

4 379

MODERNM I N I N G

CONTENTS

MINING NEWS4 Tormin ships its first concentrate

5 Vanggatfontein produces to plan

6 ABG delivers strong quarterly figures

7 Good progress on Tete project BFS

8 Kibali meets all its goals – and more

9 Kombat studies re-opening of copper mine

10 Paladin sells stake in Langer Heinrich

11 Discovery restructures at its Boseto operation

12 Locos and wagons for Beacon Hill completed

16COVERKopex Africa unfazed by the downturn in mining

20COALKangala hits the ground running

26COMPANIESMwana gears up for growth

32EVENTSSubdued Indaba reflects mining’s global pullback

ARTICLES

PRODUCT NEWS47 Anti-runback conveyor rollers selling well

48 Shaft systems business poised for growth

49 New Cat FWS range offers simplified design

50 IMS and allmineral now under the same roof

51 MCR® mill pumps prove themselves in Africa

52 Pre-assembled chutes shipped to Australia

53 Transportable AC units for mines

55 Atlas Copco set to launch ‘Easer’ rig

56 High efficiency submersible pump

40PLATINUMRobust Styldrift puts on strong show for the platinum sector

44URANIUMPaladin Energy suspends production at Kayelekera


COMMENT

Just over a decade ago, journalist Matthew Hart produced a spell-binding and highly praised account of the global diamond-mining scene entitled Diamond: The His-tory of a Cold-Blooded Love Affair. He’s

now back with a new book, this time on gold and the gold-mining industry, which exhibits the same breezy, readable style and which, like Diamond, is based on intensive research and travel to some of the most remote mining sites in the world.

Gold: The Race for the World’s Most Seductive Metal, Hart’s narrative of the gold industry, starts and finishes in Africa, with the open-ing chapter describing AngloGold Ashanti’s ultra-deep Mponeng mine and the final chapter dealing with the Kilo-Moto greenstone belt in the north-eastern DRC and, in particular, the Kibali mine of Randgold Resources (in which, of course, AngloGold Ashanti is also a partner).

Being a mining writer myself, I’m fascinated by the way in which Hart – who lives in New York – is able to make mining come alive by describing it in terms – and with analogies – comprehensible to the layman. Here he is on Mponeng’s cooling system: “It takes 6 000 tons of ice a day to keep Mponeng’s deepest levels at a bearable eighty-three degrees. They make the ice in a surface plant, then mix it with salt to create a slush that can be pumped down to underground reservoirs. There, giant fans pass air over the coolant and push the chilled air further down, into the mining tunnels. Cool air goes down at a temperature of thirty-seven and comes back, heated by the rock, at eighty-six. I walked past one of these hot air returns – a black, growling tunnel that exhaled rank air from the bottom levels.”

In between the opening and closing chap-ters, Hart explores a variety of topics, touching not just on the history of gold mining (in the second chapter, for example, he has a superb account of the Spanish interaction in the 1500s with the gold-rich Inca empire which stretched from modern-day Chile to Colombia) but also looking at the role gold has played in the world’s economy over the centuries. A particularly interesting chapter – Camp David Coup – analy ses in detail the circumstances surrounding one of the seminal events in gold’s history – President Nixon’s decision in 1971 to decouple the dollar from gold, the so-called ‘Nixon Shock’ that liberated the precious metal from the shackles of an artificially low price.

The discovery of the Carlin Trend in Nevada and its subsequent development into one of the greatest goldfields of modern times is dealt with at length, an account which inevitably also involves Hart delving into the history of Barrick Gold, a company founded in 1983 by Hungarian-born Canadian entrepreneur Peter Munk. Barrick subsequently bought the hope-lessly under-capitalised Goldstrike mine on the Carlin Trend in late 1986, turning it from a small ‘ma-and-pa operation’ – as one Barrick executive described it at the time – into a phe-nomenal million-ounce-a-year gold producer that is still going strong today.

The emergence of China as the world’s big-gest gold producer in 2008 also receives Hart’s attention. As he points out, the remarkable thing about this Chinese achievement is that the country has no real world-class gold mines, only a vast number of small gold mines (per-haps 11 000 in all), plus thousands of artisanal operations.

Hart has a flair for penning short pen por-traits of the personalities within the gold mining industry. He describes Randgold’s Mark Bristow, for example, as “a fifty-two year old South African with a PhD in geology and the build and temperament of a Cape buffalo. He has a weakness for such diversions as hurling himself out of airplanes for a thirty-second free fall; shooting Grade-V rapids on the Zambezi River; and bungee jumping at Victoria Falls, where you drop ninety-five feet before you reach the end of the cord. He has homes in London, Johannesburg and Mauritius and the ski resort of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. But mostly he lives on a succession of airplanes, crisscrossing Africa on the hunt for gold.”

I wouldn’t want to give my readers the impression that Gold is an exhaustive history of gold mining. Much is left out. The discovery and development of the Witwatersrand gold-field is largely absent, at least one major African gold producer – Tanzania – is scarcely men-tioned, and there is very little on gold mining in Australia and Canada. But to cover everything would have meant a much longer book. As it is, Gold is an easy read – 229 pages (exclud-ing references) in the paperback version – and I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in mining. It is published by Simon & Schuster and is readily available from local bookshops.Arthur Tassell

All you ever wanted to know about gold

Underground metropolis“Swarming the gold mines, a skilled rabble of impov-erished men and women siphon off hundreds of millions of dollars a year worth of ore. … Once they penetrate a mine, they may stay down for months. Deprived of sunlight, their skin turns gray. The wives and prostitutes who live with them turn gray. In South Africa they call them ghost miners. They inhabit an un-derground metropolis that in some goldfields can extend forty miles, a suffocating labyrinth in which the only glitter is the dream of gold.”

Matthew Hart on South Africa’s illegal miners

4MODERN MININGFebruary 2014

MINING News

Mineral Commodities Limited (ASX: MRC) reports it has joined the ranks of the world’s mineral sands producers with the first shipments of ultra-high grade zircon/rutile concentrate from its recently com-missioned US$16 million Tormin project, located 400 km north-west of Cape Town in South Africa.

The company recently loaded its first concentrate for shipment to its offtake partner, Wogen Pacific, and anticipates ramping up towards 4 000 tonnes a month during February 2014.

Commissioning of the beach mining and processing infrastructure began in October 2013. The processing plant is operating to plan and grade reconcilia-tion provides confidence of an annualised

production rate of 48 000 tonnes of zircon/rutile concentrate (grading up to 80 % zircon and 10 % rutile) which, at current world prices, would generate in the order of US$40-US$50 million per annum.

Since commissioning commenced, a 60 000 tonne high grade heavy mineral stockpile has been created providing a six-week buffer for the secondary concentrate plant (SCP).

Mineral Commodities Limited CEO

Tormin ships its first concentrate

Andrew Lashbrooke comments: “In recent months we have progressively and suc-cessfully commissioned Tormin and we are now generating all important revenue. We look forward to the ramp up continuing.

“Tormin is a unique high grade deposit – probably the highest in the world. The run-of-mine grades we have seen of 86 % Heavy Mineral Concentrate (HMC) are dou-ble the resource grade. This has allowed us to bypass the primary beach concentrator and simply run it through spirals and the secondary concentrator plant, reducing costs and risk.

“In addition to the zircon/rutile con-centrate, the company has to date (mid-January) produced 9 000 tonnes of ilmenite concentrate and 12 000 tonnes of garnet concentrate. The ilmenite remains the subject of ongoing sales off take dis-cussions and is being stockpiled pending the outcome, while delivery of the garnet concentrate will commence in February 2014 under the terms of that agreement.”

The Tormin mine plan and engineering processing design provides for primary beach concentration of 1,2 Mt/a producing approximately 48 000 tonnes of non-mag-netic concentrate. Phase Two of the project provides for further processing through construction of a dry mineral separation plant (MSP) to produce various magnetic concentrates, including up to 125 000 t/a of ilmenite and 100 000 t/a of garnet.

Aerial view of the Tormin site on South Africa’s West Coast . The operation recently loaded its first con-centrate for shipment (photo: MRC).

A Primary Beach Concentrator (PBC) at the new mine (photo: MRC).

Lucara outlines the year ahead at KaroweCanada’s Lucara Diamond Corp has provided operating performance and capital expenditure guidance for 2014. Lucara owns and operates the Karowe diamond mine in Botswana.

Revenue of US$150 to US$160 mil-lion is expected from the sale of 400 000 to 420 000 carats of diamonds in 2014, including the assumption that the com-pany will have two exceptional stone tenders.

Karowe’s operating cash costs are expected to be between US$31 to US$33 per tonne treated. Mining is fore-cast at 3,0-3,5 Mt of kimberlite of which it is anticipated that 2,2-2,4 Mt will be processed through the plant with the remainder being stockpiled. Karowe is forecast to increase waste mined during 2014, in line with the original feasibility mine plan, as it opens up the full extent

of the South lobe. The Karowe mine plan, therefore, expects that more than 10 Mt of waste will be stripped and stockpiled or used to expand the tailings in 2014.

Building and commissioning of a plant upgrade at Karowe to improve large diamond recovery following con-tinued occurrence of exceptional stones and to enable sustainable processing of harder ore in the south lobe is planned. This is forecast at an expenditure of US$45-US$50 million.

The Karowe mine has been in produc-tion since May 2012 and has conducted mining and processing operations broadly in line with the feasibility study. As of December 2013, 5,5 Mt of waste had been removed to allow for the extraction of 3,9 Mt of ore, 2,4 Mt of which was processed, yielding 441 000 carats of diamonds.


MINING News

Keaton Energy, which operates the Vanggatfontein opencast coal mine near Delmas in Mpumalanga and the Vaalkrantz anthracite mine in KZN, has released a quarterly production update for the period ended 31 December 2013.

The safety performance at Vang gat-fontein improved to a LTIFR of 0,09 whilst that at Vaalkrantz declined to 0,31.

Despite challenges with Christmas road transport embargoes, holidays and wet weather, Vanggatfontein delivered 521 078 t of washed 2- and 4-seam thermal coal to Eskom in the quarter, an increase of 26 % over the corresponding quarter in 2012. The colliery has thus delivered 1,66 Mt to Eskom in the first nine months of Keaton’s 2014 financial year compared with 1,15 Mt in the previous year, an increase of 44 %.

Keaton reports that 5-seam metallurgi-cal coal sales for the quarter increased by 66 % over the corresponding period in 2012 to 23 747 t. Sales for the year to date were 78 901 t, an increase of 73 % over the corresponding period in 2012.

No third party coal was washed during the period as plant capacity was fully uti-lised by own coal. Discard and slurry sales

New exploration programme at nickel projectAustralia’s IMX Resources reports that a multi-pronged exploration programme has commenced at its Ntaka Hill nickel sulphide project in south-eastern Tanzania, as part of an aggressive campaign to ‘crack the code’ of what it terms “this potentially outstand-ing project”.

The work will see joint venture partner MMG Exploration Holdings (MMG) conduct a comprehensive analysis of the extensive geophysical data acquired and the drill-ing completed late last year at Ntaka Hill, together with extensive historical drilling, in order to identify targets characteristic of the high-grade nickel sulphide intersections recorded in previous drilling programmes.

This work is expected to pave the way for the next key phase of drilling which is tar-geted to commence next quarter following the East African wet season.

By marrying the new geophysical data base with the existing high-grade drilling results, the ability to increase understanding of the geology and mineralisation at Ntaka Hill and replicate the existing high-grade results on a widespread basis will be greatly enhanced.

The Ntaka Hill exploration programme, which is being operated and funded by MMG under the terms of its US$60 million farm-in, is aimed at identifying the tube-like structures or ‘chonoliths’ which are believed to host the high-grade nickel sulphides at Ntaka Hill and the surrounding Nachingwea project.

These structures are thought to host the high-grade intersections, including 13,65 m at 3,46 % nickel and 0,62 % copper (NAD13-372) reported in recent drilling, and previous intersections drilled by IMX such as 17,25 m at 2,28 % nickel and 0,57 % copper (NAD10-226)2 and 15,95 m at 3,51 % nickel and 0,55 % copper (NAD10-220).

MMG is targeting a resource in the order of 27 Mt grading at or above 1,5 % nickel for Ntaka Hill and Lionja based on a geological model of chonolith-hosted high grade nickel sulphides within the large nickel rich mag-matic Ntaka Hill-Lionja intrusion.

The current measured and indicated resource for Ntaka Hill stands at 20,3 Mt at 0,58 % nickel and 0,13 % copper for 117 880 tonnes of contained nickel. The inferred resource is 35,9 Mt at 0,66 % nickel and 0,14 % copper.

were 87 969 t, down 27 % compared with the corresponding quarter in 2012 due to poor weather impacting on the reclama-tion process. Discard and slurry sales for the year to date were 643 932 t, an increase of 120 %.

Production at Vaalkrantz colliery contin-ued to be affected by difficult geological conditions. The colliery sold 61 496 t of anthracite to domestic and export custom-ers during the quarter, down 37 % over the same period in the previous year. Year to date, the sales have been 215 641 t, down 13 % over the corresponding period in 2012.

“Vanggatfontein continues to pro-duce to plan both in terms of production and, importantly, cash generation,” com-ments Mandi Glad, Keaton Energy CEO. “With the Xceed transaction due to close in early 2014, we look forward to devel-oping another successful mine adjacent to Vanggatfontein and integrating the two mines into a significant, long-term operation.”

She adds that the Vaalkrantz operations remain a challenge as they near the end of the life of mine but notes that replacement capacity projects are proceeding well.

Mining operations at Vanggatfontein. The mine delivered 521 078 t of washed 2- and 4-seam thermal coal to Eskom in the December quarter (photo: Keaton Energy).

Vanggatfontein produces to plan


MINING News

In its fourth quarter report for the three months ended 31 December 2013, LSE-listed African Barrick Gold (ABG), which owns the Bulyanhulu, North Mara and Buzwagi gold mines in Tanzania, says that it produced 165 374 ounces of gold during the reporting period at a pre-liminary all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of US$1 171 per ounce sold. This AISC was down 30 % on Q4 2012 and 8 % down on Q3 2013. Preliminary fourth quarter cash costs of US$774 per ounce sold were 19 % lower than Q4 2012.

Attributable gold production for the quarter totalled 165 374 ounces, a slight increase on the third quarter and a 9 % decrease on the corresponding quarter of 2012. Lower production was primarily a result of lower grades at Buzwagi com-pared to Q4 2012, reduced throughput at North Mara due to planned plant down-time, and the cessation of operations at the Tulawaka mine. This was partially offset by the increased production at Bulyanhulu driven by a 10 % increase in grade.

T h e i m p r o v e d p e r f o r m a n c e a t

Bulyanhulu was a result of largely address-ing paste fill delivery issues by improving paste plant availability and increasing the number of paste fill lines, which improved access to higher grade stopes. While tonnes hoisted and mill throughput remained in line with the corresponding quarter of 2012, head grade increased by 10 % to 7,9 g/t compared to Q4 2012.

At Buzwagi, the process plant contin-ues to operate at nameplate capacity of 12 000 tonnes per day, but overall throughput was impacted by predomi-nantly planned plant downtime during Q4 2013. As a result, throughput was 11 % lower than in Q4 2012. Mine grade for the quarter increased as expected, but was 10 % lower than the same quarter in 2012 due to focused mining of high grade ore zones in Q4 2012. This also resulted in a 2 % decrease in recovery.

At North Mara, as in Q3 2013, ABG con-tinued to see high grades from mining in Gokona, resulting in a 13 % increase in grade compared to Q4 2012. This was off-set by a 13 % decrease in throughput as

ABG delivers strong quarterly figures a result of planned crusher maintenance downtime in December 2013 and a 3 % decrease in recovery.

Tonnes mined for the quarter were 11,6 million compared to 13,9 million in the corresponding quarter of 2012. The decrease was primarily driven by the impact of the implementation of the opti-mised mine plans at Buzwagi and North Mara. Tonnes processed in the fourth quarter were 1,8 million, 12 % lower than the corresponding quarter of 2012. The decrease was mainly due to the plant downtime relating to scheduled mainte-nance at Buzwagi and North Mara.

The average grade processed for the quarter was 3,2 g/t which was 7 % higher than the prior year period. The increase in grade was predominantly due to North Mara and Bulyanhulu and was in part off-set by lower grade at Buzwagi.

For the full year, production of 641 931 ounces represented a 3 % increase on the prior year and 7 % higher than the upper end of 2013 production guidance of 540 000 to 600 000 ounces. Gold sales for the full year were 1 % above production at 649 742 ounces.

Bulyanhulu is African Barrick’s only underground mine. It produced 53 186 ounces in the fourth quarter (photo: ABG).

MINING News


In an update on activities relating to the Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) at its Tete pig iron and ferro-vanadium operation in Mozambique, AIM-listed Baobab Resources Plc says the 2013 drilling campaign has been suc-cessfully completed for an aggregate total of 5 940 m (diamond and RC), bringing the total metres drilled at the Tenge/Ruoni prospect since 2011 to 41 175 m.

Drilling has been prioritised to convert the upper portions of the Tenge resource block, representing a minimum 10 years of opera-tion, to a JORC-compliant measured category. Preliminary analytical results were expected in January 2014 with a revised resource estimation to be completed by the end of Q1 2014.

Two large bulk sample trenches straddling the Tenge mountain were excavated to an aver-age depth of 2 m. The trenches, providing a total of 317 m of mineralised exposure across the deposit, were systematically channel sampled and analysed with results reporting a weighted average head grade of 45,5 % Fe, 18,4 % TiO2 and 0,53 % V2O5.

Bulk samples collected from the trenches, along with bulk coal and carbonate samples, are being processed at the Mintek laboratories in South Africa before despatch to pilot plant facili-ties in the USA and Japan for reduction test work.

Un-fluxed bench scale smelting test work carried out by CSIRO earlier last year (2013) confirmed that a low impurity pig iron product could be produced using Baobab’s iron ore and

local Mozambique thermal coal. Further fluxed smelting test work is on-going and will provide the first empirical data on the composition of the vanadium and titanium slag by-products. Results are expected in early 2014.

Discussions with public and private sector entities regarding port and rail allocation are making solid progress and are expected to be formalised shortly by way of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) documentation prior to the drafting of term sheets in which access con-ditions and tariff rates will be established.

Mining title and industrial licence applications are being prepared for submission early in 2014. The environmental impact assessment (EIA) and associated resettlement plan and commu-nity and enterprise development programme are making good progress under the guidance of Ms Elisa Vicente, Baobab’s newly appointed Environment, Health and Social Manager.

“‘Baobab is pleased with the progress made in systematically addressing prioritised areas of perceived risk, which brings us several steps closer to the completion of the Bankable Feasibility Study in 2014,” comments Ben James, Baobab’s Managing Director. “The results of the current programmes will significantly strengthen the company’s position going into the next round of discussions with potential strategic partners during the coming months. The analytical results of the trench sampling are encouraging and indicate a higher grade cap to the Tenge deposit.”

Good progress on Tete project BFS

View of Tenge mountain from Ruoni North. A reverse circulation drill rig and a support vehicle can be seen on the lower slope with the northern of two trenches straddling the mountain crest (photo: Baobab Resources).


MINING News

The Kibali gold mine in the DRC, which in December completed its first quar-ter of operation, has more than met the objectives set for it at the time of its acquisition in September 2009, Randgold Resources Chief Executive Mark Bristow said at a recent media briefing at the mine. Randgold is developing and operating the project, in which it has a 45 % shareholding.

Randgold’s clear goals from the start, Bristow noted, were to define the ore-body’s full potential, redesign the existing feasibility study, create a supply line from Doko to the Ugandan border, secure the project area in partnership with the cen-tral and provincial governments, resettle more than 4 000 families from 14 villages in a new model town, and start production in 2015.

“There were few people outside the Randgold management team and the DRC who believed that we could achieve this. But in short order we produced a blueprint for a much larger operation than originally envisaged, among other things increasing mineral reserves to 11 million ounces of gold, accelerating the construction pro-gramme and bringing first gold production forward to December 2013,” Bristow said.

“ The enormous resettlement pro-gramme was completed successfully, construction went according to plan, the

infrastructure was upgraded, open-pit mining started, and with the oxide circuit of the metallurgical plant commissioned ahead of schedule, Kibali poured its first gold on 24 September 2013, with gold sales commencing the following month. This would not have been possible with-out the support and cooperation of the Congolese authorities and the local community.”

Kibali is still a work in progress, with shaft sinking underway at the complex’s underground mine, the first of four hydro-power stations due to be commissioned soon and the remaining sulphide circuit scheduled for completion at the end of the first quarter of 2014. Kibali is nevertheless expected to exceed its gold production for its first full quarter of operation, the three months to December, and meet its fore-cast of 550 000 ounces for the current year. Like all the other gold mines Randgold has developed, it should also make a net profit in its first quarter.

Bristow said that in line with Randgold’s policy of giving employment preference to local people and other nationals of its host countries, 6 065 of the 7 660 workers on site at Kibali at the end of December 2013 were Congolese. Teams of locally recruited operators have been sent for training at Randgold’s other mines.

“This world-class gold mining complex we are developing at Kibali will make a major contribution to the DRC’s economy as well as a significant improvement in the local quality of life. As part of our resettle-ment programme, for example, we have built 14 schools, five medical centres, five markets, 29 chapels for various religious denominations and 70 km of road. The increase in local economic activity can be measured at the nearby Durba trade cen-

Kibali meets all its goals – and more

A recent photo (taken in late January 2014) of the Kibali processing plant. The oxide circuit of the plant was commissioned in September last year (photo: Randgold Resources).


MINING News

tre, where the population has grown from 10 000 to 50 000 people over the past three years,” Bristow said.

“To ensure that Kibali’s full benefit potential is realised, however, Randgold requires the continuing cooperation of its Congolese stakeholders and partners. Locally, for instance, the authorities are being encouraged to build the admin-istrative capacity to manage the model town of Kokiza and its infrastructure. At the national level, government is urged to take care that its proposed revision of the Mining Code does not deter further invest-ment in the development of the country’s mineral wealth and rather work with us and other investors to build on what we have all worked so hard to deliver.”

Kombat Copper studies re-opening of copper mineKombat Copper Inc, listed on the TSX-V in Canada, says it is rapidly taking steps to determine the cost and schedule for bring-ing the former producing Kombat mine, located in northern Namibia, back into production.

Extensive data related to past production and resource drilling is being compiled and Southern African consulting groups have been approached to scope out the require-ments for a technical report. This will enable the company to formulate a time line and budget to get the Asis Far West sector of the Kombat mine into production. This study is to be completed in the second quarter of 2014.

Based on the conclusions of the study, Kombat Copper plans to undertake a detailed budget, plan and schedule includ-ing but not limited to technical feasibility studies, detailed engineering, permitting and other aspects of putting the deposit into commercial production. A resource estimate is the first priority.

The Asis Far West area of the property was drilled from surface in the 1980s and a number of significant copper intersections were reported over a strike length in excess of 650 m, including 10,0 m at 8,05 % copper and 9,0 m at 2,67 % copper. Subsequently, it was decided to sink a shaft to the upper limits of the favourable stratigraphy. A large diameter, 800-m deep production shaft was completed in 2006 and limited under-ground workings were established. A limited amount of underground drilling was carried out with intersections including 18,0 m at 3,53 % copper and 6,15 % copper over 8,0 m. Unfortunately, economic conditions and a heavy inflow of water into the mine to the east (not interconnected with Asis Far West) forced a shutdown of commercial operations at Kombat and the operation has been on a care and maintenance basis ever since.

Kombat Copper is looking to define a

minimum of 4-5 Mt of copper mineralisa-tion averaging between 2,5 % and 3,5 % copper in the Asis Far West Zone

Comments Bill Nielsen, the President and CEO of Kombat Copper: “Very recent geo-logical investigations have indicated that a significant re-interpretation of the geo-logical model and emplacement of copper mineralisation at Kombat mine is being for-mulated. This new understanding can have long-term implications on the company’s exploration and mining outlook. We still have several kilometres of strike length to explore on our mining licence and believe that the favourable stratigraphic horizon hosting significant copper mineralisation is present to the west where a 1980s drill hole intersected 1,68 m assaying 11,7 % copper and 151,48 g/t silver.”

Kombat Copper is also looking at the feasibility of expanding the current milling facility from a 1 100 tonne per day operation to something larger that would allow for improved economies of scale. Past opera-tors looked at an area for potential open-pit mining and this blended with underground material could justify a mill expansion. Other operators in the area have intersected significant copper mineralisation that could also be used as custom mill feed, which may help improve project economics.

In addition, Kombat is studying the viabil-ity of disposing of non-core assets such as the potential mining of material from the tailings containment area resulting from past mining. It says that a number of groups have approached the company with respect to re-processing what has been estimated to be 10,6 Mt of material. Detailed drilling of the stacked tailings in 2012 indicated that the upper 15 m of the dump (total height 25-26 m) contains material assaying 0,25 % to 0,30 % copper, based on the average of the established regularly spaced drill holes.

The twin decline development at Kibali is currently running ahead of schedule (photo: Randgold Resources).


MINING News

Australia’s Paladin Energy signed an agreement on 18 January 2014 to sell a 25 % joint-venture equity stake in its flag-ship Langer Heinrich uranium mining operation in Namibia to China Uranium Corporation Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), the leading Chinese nuclear utility, for a consideration of US$190 million.

The offtake component of the agree-ment will allow CNNC to purchase its pro-rata share of product at the prevailing market spot price. There is also an oppor-

tunity for Paladin to benefit by securing additional long term offtake arrangements with CNNC, at arm’s length market rates, from Paladin’s share of Langer Heinrich production.

Langer Heinrich commenced uranium production in 2007 and has subsequently undergone two stages of expansion. It was the first successful conventional uranium mining operation to have been built in the world since 1992 when Areva established its McLean operation in Canada. The plant utilises a unique alkaline leaching process developed by Paladin.

The Langer Heinrich uranium mine, which is located 80 km east of Walvis Bay in Namibia (photo: Paladin Energy).

Paladin sells stake in Langer Heinrich to CNNCLanger Heinrich has a current design

capacity of 5,2 Mlb of uranium concen-trate per annum and, following successful optimisation and debottlenecking, Paladin is targeting 5,7 Mlb of production in FY14. This de-risked operation has a current 20-year mine life and, given sufficient ura-nium price incentive, is capable of being expanded further to produce approxi-mately 8,5 Mlb per annum.

“Paladin has conducted an exhaustive and wide-ranging process, which we are delighted to have concluded with the introduction of one of the world’s lead-ing nuclear industry participants into our world-class Langer Heinrich project,” says John Borshoff, Managing Director/CEO of Paladin.

“The significant cash injection from this minority interest sale will largely be applied to debt reduction, which the board considers an essential step during a time of unprecedented low uranium prices. This will help stabilise the company, establish-ing an incredibly strong platform that will enable us to maximise the value of our assets and ensure increased production of much needed uranium once the price is sufficient to support the planned future growth of nuclear energy in China and elsewhere.”

Briquetting plant ready for full productionAIM-quoted Armadale says it is pleased to note the recent announcement by Mine Restoration Investments Limited (MRI) in which it holds an interest of approximately 40 %, detailing progress on MRI’s briquetting plant.

MRI is listed on the Alt-X Exchange of the JSE and aims to develop profitable operations within the South African min-ing industry through its coal briquetting operation in KZN and acid mine drainage technology in the Witwatersrand basin.

MRI’s coal briquetting plant at the Vaalkrantz mine in KZN, which commenced

operations from run of mine coal in October 2013, has now been equipped with a re-suspension unit allowing it to operate from the fines stockpile of the plant. With this ini-tial ramp up now complete, the project can begin full commercial production.

MRI has also reported it is in advanced discussions with potential customers and offtake partners, including Keaton Energy, the owner of the Vaalkrantz mine, with a view to securing long term offtake agree-ments. It is currently market testing the final coal briquette product and expects to finalise arrangements shortly.


MINING News

ASX-listed Discovery Metals reports that it is undertaking a restructuring programme at its 100 %-owned Boseto copper mine in Botswana. The restructuring programme is designed to improve cost competiveness and further enhance production efficiencies.

According to the company, the restructuring follows extensive detailed discussions with key stakeholders, including employees, the relevant Botswana Government departments and the Botswana Mine Workers Union. The site restructuring programme complements the recent restructuring that has taken place across all other divisions of the Discovery Group, including the Brisbane and Gaborone offices, which have also been instigated to improve the cost competitiveness and the C1 cash cost of copper production.

The retrenchment exercise at Boseto will affect 85 of the 516 employees based at the site (15 % of the total workforce). Discovery does not expect that the restructuring will have a material effect on the production at Boseto.

“While the implementation of the above restructuring has been a difficult decision, the ongoing improvements in efficiencies and cost competiveness will help to enable the Boseto operation to maintain long-term sustainability in the world copper market,” says Discovery.

Brad Simpson recently stepped down as MD and CEO of Discovery and has been replaced on an interim basis by Bob Fulker, presently the com-pany’s Chief Operating Officer.

In its report on the December 2013 quarter, Discovery says that it mined 9,01 Mt of material, milled 627,7 kt and produced 4 353 tonnes of copper in concentrate. The equivalent figures for the September 2013 quarter were 8,96 Mt of material mined, 614,4 kt milled and 4 705 tonnes of copper in concentrate.

Pilot plant test proves successfulCanada’s Great Western Minerals Group Ltd, which holds the low cost, high-grade Steenkampskraal (SKK) rare earth project in the Western Cape, reports it has completed a mini pilot plant test with its proposed process flow sheet with extremely successful results. The pilot plant has confirmed the results from laboratory scale testing.

“This is a significant milestone for us,” says Marc LeVier, Great Western’s President and CEO. “We optimised the metallurgical process and suc-cessfully operated a pilot plant which produced a mixed rare earth carbonate product. We now have a process flow sheet that is being engineered in our ongoing SKK feasibility study. The study remains on track for completion around the end of the first quarter of 2014.”

The Boseto plant at night (photo: Discovery Metals).

Discovery restructures at its Boseto operation


MINING News

On 31 January 2013, Beacon Hill entered into a lease agreement with Thelo Rolling Stock whereby Thelo – in conjunction with RRLGrindrod Locomotives and Transnet Engineering – would provide five new Grindrod RL30SCC-3 diesel locomotives and 90 new Gondola-type rail wagons to transport coal on the Sena rail line in Mozambique.

The rolling stock has now been manu-factured in South Africa and is undergoing independent inspection regimes. The loco-motives will be inspected and certified in South Africa by CFM during January 2014 before being taken to Mozambique via the existing rail networks in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The rail wagons will be loaded on a vessel in Port Elizabeth and shipped to Beira. The deliv-ery of the locomotives and rail wagons to Mozambique is expected during the first quarter of 2014.

The rolling stock will be used to trans-port Beacon Hill’s coal – and coal from other producers – over a distance of 580 km from the Minas Moatize mine area to Beira.

The company will operate two train sets on the Sena rail line each consisting of two locomotives with 42 rail wagons (each rail wagon loaded with up to 63 tonnes of coal). The Interim Rail Access Agreement entered into between Beacon Hill and Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CFM), the parastatal authority that oversees the railway system of Mozambique and its con-nected ports, allows the company to rail

Updated resource estimate for New Luika Gold MineShanta Gold has announced an updated JORC (2012 Edition) compliant mineral resource estimate and ore reserve for the Bauhinia Creek and Luika targets of its New Luika Gold Mine in the Lupa goldfield of south-western Tanzania.

Highlights include an in-situ indicated mineral resource increase for Bauhinia Creek and Luika of 9 % to 692 koz with an average grade of 5,5 g/t; a total open-pit mineral resource of 2,6 Mt at 5,9 g/t for 501 koz (1,1g/t Au cut-off ); and a total underground mineral resource of 2,4 Mt at 4,5 g/t for 347 koz (3,0 g/t Au cut-off ). The new estimate puts the probable ore

reserve at New Luika at 2,56 Mt at 6,0 g/t for 487 koz.

Shanta notes that the Luika deposit is still open at depth, with a truncating structure identified at the Bauhinia Creek deposit approximately 350 m below surface.

Commenting on the updated resources and reserves, Mike Houston, CEO, said: “This is the first update on the company’s resource since July 2012 and follows our maiden reserves announced in October 2013. The updated resource, based on a fairly limited drilling programme, pro-vides robust evidence of the potential for an underground operation at both

Luika and Bauhinia Creek.“We have been particularly excited by

the pockets of high grade material inter-sected at depth which we believe could be enhanced with further evaluation work. This exercise is part of the ongoing study to optimise the life of mine at New Luika which will also increase our understand-ing of the other seven satellite targets and the on-surface auriferous gravels. We are confident that with the results received, the additional work being done and the prospectivity of the Lupa goldfields, our New Luika operation has significant poten-tial to extend its life beyond the previously announced five years.”

Locos and wagons for Beacon Hill completed

coal amounting to the greater of 500 000 tonnes per annum or 7,7 % of the capacity of the rail line.

The Interim Rail Access Agreement will automatically renew each year until Beacon Hill and CFM enter into a long-term take-or-pay agreement. In accordance with the Services Agreement that was entered into between MML and RRLGrindrod Train Operations dated 10 June 2013, all the train crews and other personnel are operationally ready and in place in Mozambique.

The five diesel locomotives are each of 3 300 gross horse power, rated 290 kN at 20 km/h. The locomotives are fitted with the renowned EMD 16-645 E38 engines of

One of the new Grindrod diesel locomotives (photo: Beacon Hill).

Electro Motive Division (General Motors), fully re-manufactured to EMD specifica-tions by the National Railway Equipment Company in the USA. The locomotives are equipped with on-board computers and end-of-train devices (all locomotives operating on the Sena line need to be fit-ted with computers for safe integration into the computerised Track Warrant train movement control system).

The rail wagons supplied to the com-pany are open-top type, multi-use wagons that will carry the coal to Beira. All are fitted with self-steering Scheffel bogie systems and Association of American Railroads (AAR) compliant couplers, drawgears and direct-release air brakes.


MINING News

Efficiency enhancement projects at the Tongon gold mine in Côte d’ Ivoire have boosted its performance significantly, and the planned expansion of the flotation process should lift the recovery rate to its feasibility study level, Randgold Resources Chief Executive Mark Bristow said recently. He was speaking at a quarterly media briefing coinciding with a mine visit by international investors.

Bristow said that while Tongon had increased production, its recov-ery rate, while slowly improving, was still struggling to break 80 % for the year. An additional 2 % was achievable by optimising the existing recovery circuit, but raising the recovery rate to the targeted upper 80s will require an expansion of the flotation process to capture most of the sulphide in the ore. Initial estimates of the cost to expand the float circuit amount to US$12 million. It is targeted for completion by the end of 2014 with a forecast payback period of eight to ten months.

“The standard CIL circuit is not recovering that portion of the gold associated with arsenopyrite which is bypassing the existing flash flo-tation cells. The original metallurgical testwork indicated that the bulk of the Tongon ore was amenable to cyanidation, with flash flotation in the mill circuit recovering the gold associated with the sulphides. In practice, however, we’ve seen that this process is not recovering enough of the fine gold associated with arsenopyrite. The expansion of the flotation circuit will address this issue by capturing the full spectrum of sulphides,” he said.

In the meantime, Tongon is forecasting production of approxi-mately 260 000 ounces for 2014, which is an increase on 2013’s gold output but slightly behind the internal target.

“It has been another challenging year for Tongon but its manage-ment has coped admirably with the operational challenges as well as with the need to adjust to the lower gold price. The continued optimisation of the grid power is delivering cost savings, three of the four new Vibracone crushers have been commissioned and the Ivorianisation of the team is making good progress,” Bristow said.

Flotation expansion project planned for Tongon

Drill-for-equity agreementNorth River Resources has announced a drill-for-equity agreement with the owner of the drilling and mining contractor operating at the company’s flagship Namib lead-zinc project in Namibia. Under the terms of this agreement, which also establishes an important local partnership for North River, Wilhelm Shali will be paid in shares of North River rather than cash for drilling programmes.

The agreement has initially been established to cover the first £175 000 worth of invoicing for drilling activities.

The company is drilling on double shift in the historic underground mine to quickly expand its resources, which currently stand at 917 000 tonnes at 2,4 % lead, 5,7 % zinc and 44,8 g/t silver. As part of this pro-gramme, work is about to commence on driving a 300 m exploration tunnel to create new drill pad positions under the Northern lodes.

Martin French, North River’s Managing Director, commented: “We are very pleased to be announcing today an investment from our local drilling partner. We have been working with Shali Mining for four months now at Namib and the decision to invest sends a strong signal to the market on the project’s potential.”


MINING News

ASX-listed Tiger Resources says it has achieved its 2013 production guidance of 41 000-43 000 tonnes of copper-in-concentrate at its Kipoi copper project in Katanga in the DRC.

The company produced 41 255 tonnes of copper for the 12 months to 31 December 2013 at the Stage 1 heavy media sepa-

Tiger achieves its production guidance

ration (HMS) plant at Kipoi. During the December quarter, Tiger carried out neces-sary maintenance work on the HMS plant. The work included replacing the liners on the primary crusher, the secondary crusher and the double deck screens.

Tiger ’s Managing Direc tor, Brad Marwood, said he was delighted with the

The SX area of Kipoi Stage 2, with ponds containing the first leached solution (photo: Tiger Resources).

2013 performance of the Kipoi plant. “For the plant to achieve our updated

production guidance of more than 41 000 tonnes – exceeding our initial guidance by more than 4 000 tonnes – is extremely satisfying and is testament to the commit-ment of our staff on the ground as well as our management team.”

The HMS has been operating well above nameplate capacity for most of 2013. Tiger’s 2014 production guidance for the HMS plant at Kipoi is 39 000 t of copper in concentrate, up 85 % from the original guidance of 21 000 t. The HMS plant’s aver-age operating cash cost for 2014 is forecast to be US$0,30/lb of copper produced.

In addition to the HMS operation, Tiger’s Stage 2 solvent-extraction electro-winning (SX/EW) plant at Kipoi is on schedule to commence production of copper cathode in Q2 2014. The company plans to produce 25 000 t of copper cathode in the first full 12 months of production at the SX/EW plant, and 50 000 t per year from then on.

Heap leach commissioning at the SX/EW plant began in December 2013.


MINING News

Petra Diamonds recently recovered an exceptional 29,6-carat blue diamond (right) at the Cullinan mine near Pretoria. According to the company, the stone is an outstanding vivid blue with extraordinary saturation, tone and clarity, and has the potential to yield a polished stone of great value and importance.

Blue diamonds are among the rarest and most highly coveted of all diamonds and the Cullinan mine is reportedly the most important source of blues in the world. This stone is one of the most exceptional stones recovered at Cullinan during Petra’s operation of the mine.

Cullinan earned its place in history with the discovery of the Cullinan diamond in 1905, the largest rough gem diamond ever found at 3 106 carats. This iconic stone was cut into the two most important diamonds which form part of the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London – the First Star of Africa, which is mounted at the top of the Sovereign’s Sceptre and which at 530 carats is the largest flawless cut diamond in the world, and the Second Star of Africa, a 317-carat polished diamond which forms the centrepiece of the Imperial State Crown.

The mine is famous for large, high qual-ity diamonds and has produced over 750 stones of greater than 100 carats and more than a quarter of all the world’s diamonds of greater than 400 carats.

“Exceptional” blue diamond recovered at Cullinan

Since tak-ing over the mine in July 2008, Petra has recovered several world-class diamonds, including a 39-carat blue diamond which sold for US$8,8 mil-lion; a 26-carat blue diamond which Petra cut into a 7-carat polished stone and sold for US$9,4 million in 2009; a 507-carat white diamond which Petra named the Cullinan Heritage and sold in 2010 for US$35,3 million, this being the highest price on record for a rough diamond; and a 25,5-carat blue diamond that sold for US$16,9 million in 2013.

Cullinan contains a world-class diamond resource of 200,8 Mct (including 17,0 Mct in tailings), and Petra is capitalising on this by undertaking an expansion programme at the mine to take annual production to 2,2 Mct by FY 2019 (comprising 2,0 Mct ROM and 0,2 Mct tailings). This expansion plan, known as C-Cut Phase 1, will estab-lish a new block cave on the western side of the orebody in the upper portion of the major C-Cut resource (estimated to contain some 133 Mct in total) and will also involve a large tailings operation. Petra’s current mine plan has a life of 17 years, but the major residual resources at the mine indi-cate that the actual LOM could be in excess of 50 years.

Triton reports Balama North assay resultsAustralian company Triton Minerals, listed on the ASX, has reported the assay results from its initial two-hole diamond drill pro-gramme at the Nicanda Hill prospect on Licence 5966 at the Balama North project in Mozambique.

These results confirm multiple zones of high grade graphitic material over significant widths, with mineralisation intersections with grades up to 28,6 % graphite being identified near to surface.

“These are tremendous initial drilling results from the Nicanda Hill prospect, confirming Triton’s belief in the overall prospectivity of the Balama North proj-ect,” says Triton’s Managing Director, Brad Boyle. “These drilling results follow on

from the previously announced rock chip sample results obtained from the Nicanda Hill prospect, which identified high grade large flake graphitic mineralisation, with graphite flake sizes up to 1 mm, and continue to support Triton’s belief that the Balama North project has the poten-tial to host multiple world class graphite deposits.”

A more detailed exploration and drilling programme is currently being designed to further delineate the graphite mineralisa-tion on the Nicanda Hill prospect. Triton will start work on the primary part of this highly promising target as soon as the wet season ends, and it is able to complete the necessary access roads.


COVER STORY

Roets attributes the health of South Africa’s coal mining sector to the fact that South Africa exports a far smaller proportion of its coal than competitor countries such as

Australia – which means that local coal mines have generally been less affected by depressed global demand for coal than their counterparts overseas. “The major part of South Africa’s coal production is used for domestic power generation and there has been little tailing off in demand from Eskom,” he says. “Given South Africa’s need for additional generating capacity, we don’t see this situation changing anytime soon.”

It helps, of course, that Kopex Africa, part of the global Kopex Group, produces a range of transformers and switchgear that is highly thought of by the mines. As Roets says, “Our products have a very high reputation for reli-ability, durability and efficiency which has been built up since the 1970s, when we first started manufacturing in South Africa.” He

adds that the fact that Kopex Africa’s product line is 100 % locally designed and manufac-tured means that the company’s customers are protected from the type of exchange-rate induced price increases that are already affect-ing many other categories of mining equipment.

While the Kopex Group internationally is emerging as an important global supplier of a wide range of mining equipment including longwall systems, conveyors, stacker-reclaim-ers, shuttle cars and pumps, the South African operation remains highly focused on dry type transformers, in either standard or flame-proofed versions, together with associated switchgear and distribution equipment such as load centres, gate end boxes and intrinsically safe protection relays. The transformers range in capacity from 50 kVA to 10 MVA while some of the other products are of formidable size – gate end boxes, for example, are up to 9 m in length, can weigh as much as 16 tons, and offer as many as 20 power outlets. Kopex Africa has also designed and manufactured a 10 MVA

KOPEX AFRICA unfazed by the downturn in mining

Kopex Africa’s Managing Director, Nico Roets.

A completed 10 MVA skid-mounted sub-station for an open-pit dragline, ready for delivery.

Despite the difficult conditions in South Africa’s mining industry, Kopex Africa, the East Rand-based manufacturer of transformers and switchgear, reports brisk demand for its products – to the extent that it has increased its employee complement by 50 % over the past year

and is currently contemplating expanding its production facilities. Says MD Nico Roets: “Our primary market – accounting for over 95 % of our

business – is the coal mining sector, which has proved to be very resilient when compared to gold and platinum mining. Certainly, we have grown

significantly over the last year and we’re budgeting for a further 25 % increase in revenue for the coming year.”


COVER STORY

KOPEX AFRICA unfazed by the downturn in mining

The internals of a dry type transformer showing coil construction.

Kopex’s well-equipped factory has a floor area of 5 000 m2.

sub-station skid for use in an open pit to supply power to draglines which weigh up to 50 tons.

“Most hard-rock mines in South Africa use oil-cooled transformers but in underground coal mining the dry – i.e. air-cooled – trans-former reigns supreme,” says Roets. “These units can cost up to three times as much as oil-cooled transformers but their use is mandatory for safety reasons.” He notes that flameproof-ing adds substantially to the already wide price differential. “A normal transformer uses 5 mm steel,” he explains. “With flameproof units, this 5 mm can become 50 mm, resulting in addi-tional cost and, of course, a much heavier unit.”

According to Roets, the Kopex transformer

can be seen as a ‘Rolls Royce’ product. “It is built by hand to the customer’s exact specifi-cation,” he says. “We don’t use machines and robots, as many overseas manufacturers do, because this approach generally results in infe-rior quality. Of course, if you manufacture by hand, you need skilled, experienced employees – your workforce is absolutely crucial. We have these people and indeed many of them have been with us for over 10 years. We also have a full engineering and R&D capability and the depth of expertise in this department is prob-ably unmatched in South Africa.”

Kopex’s transformers are subject to what is known as ‘type testing’ in which new designs


COVER STORY

are tested to near destruction. “Very few com-panies do type testing because it is extremely expensive – it can easily cost R1,5 million to test a new transformer model,” says Roets. “It is also very time consuming, with the process taking between three and six months. However, we believe it is essential as it gives our custom-ers the assurance that the product they have bought will perform exactly as we say.”

Roets also points out that Kopex Africa is audited every six months by SABS to ensure that its flameproofing meets the relevant stan-dards and adds that the company’s major clients – Sasol Mining, BHP Billiton, Exxaro and Anglo Coal, among others – also regularly audit the company.

One of the big selling points of the Kopex transformer range is the energy efficiency the units offer. “We have achieved major improve-ments over the past 20 years or so, with efficiencies increasing from around 85 to 88 % to 95 to 98 % today,” observes Roets. “Our belief is that no other manufacturer can offer the levels of efficiency our transformers achieve. If you ask me how we have attained efficien-cies this high, it is basically due to the years of experience we have in the repair, design and manufacture of transformers and our policy of continuously improving our designs based on this experience.”

Elaborating, Roets also points to the qual-ity of construction. Cores are manufactured from special, individually insulated plates of sheet metal to stringent standards while the windings consist of high-quality insulated copper conductors. The coil construction is separated by segments for cooling and sup-ported by insulating spacers. The MV and LV coils are impregnated with a silicone resin to ensure a solid construction with high moisture resistance. The transformers are all designed and manufactured according to the IEC (International Electro-technical Standard) 76, which applies in Europe and the UK.

Apart from manufacturing new machines, Kopex Africa also offers a full reconditioning service which can bring aged machines to an ‘as new’ condition. Refurbishment currently accounts for around 15 % of the company’s business but there are plans in place to grow this figure to 30 %.

On the subject of innovation, Roets says Kopex Africa is well advanced with a proj-ect to develop a new line of nitrogen-cooled transformers with the delivery of the first three units anticipated in June this year. “We’re working closely with one of our customers on this project,” explains Roets. “The benefits of

using nitrogen are that it is a more efficient cooling medium than air and – being an inert gas – the need for flameproofing is obviated, thus allowing savings on weight and size. This product definitely has the potential to revolu-tionise the industry.”

The company is also looking at the possibility of moving into the oil-cooled transformer busi-ness. “We already supply transformers of this type to customers but we have to outsource the manufacture to sub-contractors,” says Roets. “Although no final decision has been taken, there is every possibility that we will buy a company that makes oil transformers in order to give us a foothold in this market.”

Looking ahead, Roets says that Kopex Africa is currently nearing full capacity at its premises in Apex Industrial Park in Benoni, where the total property area is 15 000 m2. “If we want to continue to grow we need to address this issue,” he states. “One solution would be to buy a new property but it is difficult to find suitable premises in this area, particularly given the fact that we need a high-capacity electrical sup-ply because of the tests we have to undertake on our products. The search for a property is ongoing but if we are unable to secure suitable premises we could look at moving the steel fab-rication side of our business elsewhere, which would allow the present factory – which has a floor area of 5 000 m2 – to be dedicated to final manufacture and assembly, which is a more high-tech process involving complex tasks such as coil and panel winding.

“One way or another, we will resolve the problem within the next few months. Putting it in perspective, I think we’re fortunate that the main challenge facing us is not selling our products but ensuring that we have the capac-ity to meet growing demand. Not many other companies can say this in the present economic climate!”

A Kopex worker puts the finishing touches to a dry type non-flameproof transformer.


COAL

Described by Universal as a “de-risked domestic thermal coal op-eration”, Kangala will supply the bulk of its product – 2 Mt/a – to Eskom in terms of a coal sales

agreement executed in March last year with a further 100 kt/a of approximately 6 000 kcal coal being produced for the export thermal market, which will be partially catered for via Universal’s 51 000 t/a RBCT Quattro allocation. Contractually, Universal was obliged to deliver its first coal to the power utility in April this

KANGALA hits the ground runningyear but in fact the first deliveries will be tak-ing place two months early, following the start of hot commissioning of the BC1/BC2 crushing and screening circuit on 23 January this year.

When Modern Mining was on site recently, the 350 t/h crushing and screening circuit – fabri-cated off-site in Middelburg – was working well (there have been only minor ‘teething’ prob-lems with it), while work was well advanced on the second stage of the plant, a 200 t/h DMS unit which should have been installed on site by the time this article is published. The con-tractor responsible for the design, procurement and construction of the plant is MRD (Mineral Resource Development), which is also respon-sible for plant operation. The plant features a compact footprint and has been designed to allow a doubling-up of capacity.

Mining operations were proceeding satisfac-torily with the mining contractor, Stefanutti Stocks Mining Services, having started the first boxcut in July last year and producing the first ROM coal in October last year. The company has deployed an all-Komatsu mining fleet consist-ing of 60-ton RHD465 rigid dump trucks, 40-ton HM400-3 ADTs, PC850 and PC870 excavators, D275 track dozers and a WD500 wheel dozer. Stefanutti Stocks will be moving 450 000 m3 of

Universal Coal plc, listed on the ASX but with a manage-ment team that is wholly South African, has commissioned

its first mine, Kangala. Located 65 km east of Johannesburg in the Delmas area on the western edge of the Witbank

coalfield, Kangala has already produced its first coal and will ramp up over the next several months to a run-of-mine production rate of 2,4 Mt/a, which will translate

into 2,1 Mt/a of saleable coal. The mine, costing a modest A$49 million to develop, has been brought into production

in just nine months although final completion will not be achieved until April this year.


COAL

KANGALA hits the ground runningoverburden and an average of 210 000 t of coal each month over the initial life of mine. The mining operation has been designed as a typi-cal roll-over operation. The mining is still in the boxcut phase but will move north and south in a figure-of-eight configuration.

Stefanutti Stocks is mining a four-seam package – the export coal mid-seam (which is actually the top seam); the BA/BB seams, which constitute a composite seam with a width of 2,5 m; and the bottom BC1 and BC2 seams, with an overall thickness of between 8 and 9 m. All the seams occur within 55 m of surface. The bulk of the reserve is contained within the BC1 and BC2 seams.

Universal’s CEO, Tony Weber, is well pleased with the progress at Kangala. “When we listed in 2010, our mantra was three mines in three years,” he says. “We’ve not met that over-opti-mistic projection but our first mine is up and running and the other two are waiting in the wings. We’ve really performed well at Kangala and the mine, when fully complete, will have been delivered on time and well within budget. We’re expecting the life of mine operating cost to be A$15/tonne with payback being achieved in four years.”

The initial life of mine at Kangala – which is

Above: The first coal was fed to the plant on 24 January this year (photo: Universal Coal).

Top left: The crushing and screening circuit at Kangala has been successfully com-missioned (photo: Universal Coal).

Left: Pictured on site are Kangala’s GM, Piet van Zyl (left), and Universal Coal CEO Tony Weber.

owned 70,5 per cent by Universal – is 9,5 years based on the 21,5 Mt reserve on the first prop-erty, Wolvenfontein, to be developed. There are two other properties, however, within the project, Middelbult and Modderfontein, and the total JORC-compliant resource over the three properties is 146,5 Mt. “Clearly there is the potential to develop similar-sized pits to the existing one on both Middelbult and Modderfontein and we envisage that we could eventually be mining here at Kangala for at least 20 years,” says Weber.

Universal’s team responsible for develop-ing the project is led by Kevin Donaldson, the company’s Chief Development Engineer, who started his career with the then Rand Mines in operations where he reached the level of mine overseer, subsequently moving on to Anglo American where he was involved in the planning and technical side of mining and project development. Kangala’s GM is also in place. He is Piet van Zyl, highly experienced in coal mining with his previous career being with Coal of Africa, Shanduka and Anglo Coal.


COAL

Above: The boxcut at Kangala. The upper seams have already been mined and the Komatsu 850 excavator is standing on the BC1 seam.

Left: Location of Universal Coal’s thermal and coking coal projects.

Below: Looking towards the plant with the DMS area in the centre of the photo, the crushing and screening circuit on the right and the ROM tip retaining wall in the background.

He is running an operation which will even-tually total around 250 employees, including contractors.

The role of Stefanutti Stocks in the develop-ment of Kangala has been substantial. Not only is the company acting as the contract miner, but it has provided a ‘one-stop’ solution for the mine’s infrastructure, has been responsible for the mine design, and also acts as the materi-als handling contractor tasked with hauling and processing coarse discard. Its work has included terraces for the process plant, the office complex and workshops, a stormwa-ter management system, a 25 ha co-disposal discard facility, a 200 000 m3 HDPE-lined pol-lution control dam (including a pump station and concrete-lined silt trap), a power distribu-tion system and a sewerage and water system.

Also within its scope of work has been a 3,5 km product haul road consisting of 2,6 km of double-seal black top and 900 m of gravel road, all linking to the nearby R42 provincial road, via an upgraded intersection. The road will handle around 100 loads a day. This aspect of the contract was handled by Stefanutti Stocks Roads & Earthworks.

With Kangala now operational, Universal will soon be transferring some of its focus to its two other projects in the Witbank coalfield, Roodekop and Brakfontein, both of which it is hoping to start developing this year for pro-duction in 2015 (subject to the conclusion of successful feasibility studies).

Brakfontein, in which it currently has a 50,29 per cent stake (potentially expandable up to 74 per cent) could be a low-cost ‘bolt-on’ to Kangala, as it is located just 15 km to the east of the mine. It has a JORC-compliant resource of 87,66 Mt, of which 70 Mt is in the indicated category. Universal envisages developing it as an open-pit, thermal coal project, with product being produced for both the export and domes-tic markets. A mining right application was submitted in December 2011 and accepted by the DMR in March 2012.

Roodekop, for its part, is located 35 km

south of Witbank in the Kriel district and has a coal resource of 84,3 Mt (82,9 Mt in the mea-sured category). Owned 74 % by Universal, the project hosts bituminous coal that would have to be beneficiated to produce a primary 26,5 MJ/kg product suitable for the export market and a secondary 20,5 MJ/kg product for Eskom. In addition, low phosphorous coal


COAL

can be produced for the metallurgical market from the No 1 and 1A seams.

The big news with respect to Roodekop, announced early in February, is that Universal has entered into an agreement with Exxaro Resources to buy the neighbouring New Clydesdale Colliery (NCC), which has a resource of 54,5 Mt.

NCC is one of the oldest coal mines in South Africa – the earliest operations on site date back to the late 1940s – and historically has pro-duced just over 700 kt/a of thermal coal from both open-pit and underground operations, primarily for the export market. The mine was contracted to produce export thermal coal with the following specifications: 28 MJ/kg calorific value, 25,8 per cent volatile matter content and 13-14 per cent ash. Exxaro established that NCC was no longer strategically aligned with its growth strategy and embarked on a public disposal process in April 2013 before plac-ing the operation on care and maintenance in December 2013.

The mine is fully equipped with mining machinery and infrastructure able to oper-ate three underground mining sections and has a run-of-mine beneficiation facility with a capacity of approximately 2 Mt/a. It also has a private rail connection with Transnet Freight Rail, allowing for direct export of its coal. The remaining life of mine based on the current reserve estimate is approximately 3,3 years at a production rate of 70 000 t/month ROM.

Weber says the NCC acquisition will allow Universal to incorporate Roodekop into the NCC infrastructure and allow the extension of NCC’s life of mine to 2030, as Roodekop has an estimated LoM of 15 years, eight of which will be open pit. “The synergies are obvious,” he says. “Integrating the two properties as a single integrated mining complex will reduce capital, operating costs and overheads and improve profitability.” He adds that Roodekop has a mining right and NEMA (environmental authorisation) granted for a 1,5 Mt/a ROM oper-ation and is currently awaiting its water licence, which is expected by mid-year (or earlier).

While Universal’s current focus is very much on its thermal coal properties in the Witbank coalfield, it also has two coking coal properties – Berenice-Cygnus and Somerville-Donkin – in Limpopo Province. Berenice-Cygnus, adjacent to Coal of Africa’s Makhado project, is the more advanced being at feasibility stage whereas Somerville-Donkin is still in exploration. With a resource of 1,35 billion tonnes, Berenice-Cygnus has the potential to be an extremely big project. Says Weber: “The project would

require a considerable capex commitment and this, in combination with current conditions in the coking coal market, means that it is not our immediate priority. But it is an outstand-ing project – indeed, one of the best coking coal projects around.”

Weber, a mining engineer whose has pre-viously been with Nkwe Platinum (where he was an Executive Director) and Anglo Platinum (where he was Operations Manager at Mogalakwena), worked extensively in coal ear-lier in his career, including at New Clydesdale and Greenside. He is assisted in running the company by a management team that includes (apart from Kevin Donaldson) Chief Financial Officer Daryl Edwards, a CA with a long back-ground in mining, Chief Geologist Jaco Malan, who has a Masters in Exploration Geology and who has played a major role in assembling Universal’s coal portfolio, and Minah Moabi, Chief Environmental Manager, who has a Masters degree in Environmental Science from Wits and who previously worked for Exxaro and the Department of Water Affairs.

Says Weber: “Our strengths lie in our highly experienced in-country management team and, of course, the quality of our assets. We’re still a junior but well on our way to mid-tier status as a thermal coal producer and, ulti-mately, a coking coal producer as well. In short, Universal is poised to start delivering value to its shareholders.”

Report and photos (unless otherwise acknowledged) by Arthur Tassell

Kangala managers with members of the mining team (photo: Universal Coal).


COMPANIES

Both Freda Rebecca and Trojan are located in the Bindura area north of Harare. Mwana has an 85 % in-terest in Freda Rebecca while its control of Trojan, a high-grade,

long-life underground operation, stems from its 76,3 % interest in Bindura Nickel Corpora-tion (BNC), which owns not only Trojan but

also the Bindura smelter and refinery complex, as well as other assets such as the Shangani nickel mine. Trojan was brought out of a four-year long care and maintenance programme in September 2012 but both the smelter and refin-ery, as well as Shangani, are currently inactive.

While Freda Rebecca and Trojan are Mwana’s only significant operating assets, the company is more than just a Zimbabwean player. In the DRC it holds the Zani-Kodo gold project in the north-east of the country, as well as a 20 % interest in MIBA, the DRC’s state diamond miner, and an extensive package of copper explorations tenements in the south of the country in Katanga. In Angola it has an 18 % free-carried interest in Camafuca, said to be the largest known undeveloped diamond-bearing kimberlite complex in the world, while in Botswana it owns a 55 % interest in the BK16 diamond exploration concession. In South Africa it has a 65 % stake in the Klipspringer diamond mine, 35 km south of Polokwane.

MWANA gears up for growth

Kalaa Mpinga, Chief Executive Officer of Mwana Africa.

After enduring a torrid few years in the aftermath of the global financial crash

of 2008, AIM-listed Mwana Africa – which operates Zimbabwe’s Freda

Rebecca gold mine, as well as the Trojan nickel mine – sees better times ahead.

According to its CEO Kalaa Mpinga, the company is now well-placed for growth

and value delivery to investors.


COMPANIES

restarted in 2009, with Mwana Africa embark-ing on a two-phase programme to return the mine to a sustainable state. The first phase of the programme included the re-capitalisation of the mining fleet and refurbishment of one of the two mills while the second phase (completed

Opposite page: The processing plant at Freda Rebecca. The mills have been refurbished and the leach circuit expanded. Above: Loading underground at the Freda Rebecca gold mine.

BNC’s Trojan nickel mine was brought out of a four-year long care and maintenance programme in September 2012.

The main activity currently at Klipspringer is a programme to retreat the Marsfontein slimes dam. This is a JV with Greenhurst Mining & Exploration. The operation started in October 2013 and by 20 January this year had produced just over 6 000 carats at an average price of US$22,75 per carat. Steady-state production of 22 560 tons per month is planned from this month (February) onwards.

Mpinga is a citizen of the DRC (his father was the country’s prime minister in the late 1970s) but has been based in South Africa for a number of years. Although mining is now his passion, he has a BSc in Agricultural Economics from McGill University, Canada, and an MSc in International Agricultural Development from the University of California at Davis. Early in his career he worked for Bechtel Corporation in San Francisco but in the early 1990s joined Anglo American where he was later respon-sible for the exploration and acquisition of resources in Africa. In 1997 he was appointed to the Anglo board. He left the group in 2001 and in 2003 founded Mwana Africa Holdings, which led to the formation of Mwana Africa as an AIM-listed entity in 2005.

Mpinga’s vision is to create a true multi-commodity, multi-country African resource group. To achieve this goal, the Zimbabwean assets are crucial. While many observers regard the Zimbabwean mining environment as being highly dysfunctional, Mpinga disagrees. Indeed he is highly bullish on the country’s prospects, saying “he couldn’t dream of a better place to be running a mining operation” and arguing that it has gone from being one of the most over-regulated mining jurisdictions in Africa to one of the most liberal.

He also points to other positives including good infrastructure, an “educated, modern and committed labour force”, foreign exchange lib-eralisation, an established and efficient banking system and (after the ravages of hyper inflation, which peaked in 2008) single-digit inflation.

Freda Rebecca, which is Zimbabwe’s cur-rent flagship gold operation and which Mpinga describes as an “underground quarry”, is obvi-ously key to Mwana’s plans. Developed by Cluff Resources in the 1980s, the mine poured its first gold in 1988 and by the late 1990s (by which time it was in the Ashanti Goldfields fold) had evolved from an open-pit operation into an underground mine. It was bought by Mwana in 2005 from AngloGold Ashanti (the successor to Ashanti Goldfields).

Adverse economic conditions in Zimbabwe led to Freda Rebecca being put on care and maintenance in 2007. Operations were then


COMPANIES

BNC’s concentrator plant with the smelter/refinery complex in the background.

Mwana Africa’s operating Zimbabwean assets are clustered around the town of Bindura, north of Harare.

in mid-2011) involved refurbishment of the second mill and expansion of the leach circuit.

Although production for the quarter ended 31 December 2013 was 25 % off the pace due to mill downtime, Mpinga says the mine has been on a generally upward trajectory since 2009. In the year to March 2013, some 65 350 ounces were produced, a 36,8 % increase on the pre-vious year. In the six months to 30 September 2013, the mine produced 45 324 ounces. All in sustaining costs (C3) for the December quar-ter increased by 22,6 % from US$1 053/oz to US$1 291/oz. This was mainly due to the lower gold production during the quarter and Mpinga says the mine is targeting a C3 cost of below US$1 000/oz.

With a JORC-compliant resource of 2,4 Moz and a 10-year life of mine, Freda Rebecca is looking to augment production from its under-ground longhole stoping operation, accessed by ramp systems, with dump retreatment. An evaluation of the potential to treat some 13 Mt of gold-bearing tailings is underway and a pilot plant to retreat tailings is now in the commis-sioning phase.

Mwana Africa is ultimately hoping to become a 200 000 oz/a gold producer but, to achieve this, it will need to develop Zani-Kodo in the DRC as Freda Rebecca, with the addition of a third mill, probably has a production ceil-ing of 100 000 oz/a. Located in the Kilo-Moto greenstone belt 60 km south-east of Randgold Resources’ Kibali project (now entering pro-duction) and 70 km from the Ugandan border, the Zani-Kodo property extends over an area of 1 605 km2 which includes the historic Kodo mine which ceased operations in the 1960s.

The project has a nearly 3 Moz gold resource at 2,43 g/t (roughly 634 000 ounces in the indicated category and the balance inferred) and Mwana is looking at developing it in two phases, phase one being a small gravity gold plant able to produce 40 000 oz per annum and phase two a much larger operation able to produce up to 200 000 oz per annum. Mining would be by underground methods. Mpinga says that – tentatively – Mwana is looking to be in phase one production at Zani-Kodo in 2016 with phase two following in 2017. This phase could involve the introduction of a joint ven-ture partner to the project.

While Freda Rebecca has been the main-stay of Mwana over the past several years, the Trojan mine is now emerging as an impor-tant – in fact, the biggest – contributor to the company’s revenues since being restarted in 2012. A trackless mining underground opera-tion with access provided by a vertical shaft

sunk to 45 Level (nearly 1 300 m), Trojan has a JORC-compliant resource of 114,9 kt of nickel and a 10-year life of mine. It shipped its first concentrate to Glencore (with which it has an offtake agreement signed in 2011) in April 2013 and has subsequently performed well. In the December 2013 quarter, it produced 2 016 t of nickel in concentrate and recorded nickel in concentrate sales (including some accumulated stock) of 2 651 tonnes, an increase of over 76 % compared to the previous quarter. Quarterly revenue was 74 % higher at US$24,5 million.

During the quarter work commenced on the Trojan shaft re-deepening project, which had been suspended when the mine was put on care and maintenance. The re-deepening will extend the operating horizon of Trojan from


COMPANIES

35 Level to 45 Level and, according to Mwana, “secure the life of mine of the Trojan asset.”

Total (C3) cash costs increased during the quarter from US$10 390/t to US$11 819/t, with this being attributable to the continued pro-duction ramp up and the re-deepening project. Underground tonnage improved marginally and should improve further with the imminent delivery of two new LHDs to the mine.

Looking at the future of Trojan and the BNC operation, Mpinga says that Mwana’s inten-tion is to refurbish and restart the smelter and refinery, which were originally built by Anglo American in the 1960s. He says that the smelter has the capacity to treat 175 000 t/a of concen-trate. This capacity is far in excess of BNC’s own requirements so there is a potential for the smelter to be adapted to enable it to also handle concentrate – potentially up to 100 000 t/a – from Zimbabwe’s platinum producers, which is currently being transported to South Africa for smelting and refining.

Mpinga believes the refurbishing and reopen-ing of the smelter (excluding the refinery) could cost in the region of US$25 million but says the savings on Mwana’s transport costs – currently running at approximately US$1,2 million a month – could see the project paying for itself within two years. He adds that Hatch has been retained to investigate the feasibility of bringing the smelter back on line.

Further down the line, Mwana is also con-templating recommissioning the Shangani underground mine to the west of Gweru, which has a resource of nearly 68 000 tonnes of nickel, and developing the Hunters Road deposit north of Gweru, where the resource totals 200 kt of nickel at a 0,55 % grade. Hunters Road is mine-able by open-pit methods with water, transport links and power readily accessible.

While Mpinga is the driving force behind

Mwana, he has gathered around him a strong team that includes one-time DRDGold CEO Mark Wellesley-Wood as Non-executive Chairman and James Arthur (whose previ-ous posts include a stint as GM of Botswana’s Mowana copper mine) as Executive VP – Operations. Exploration is in the hands of well-known geologist Charl du Plessis, pre-viously responsible for African exploration at AngloGold Ashanti, who is Executive VP – Exploration, while Chris van Aswegen, pre-viously GM at the Blue Ridge platinum mine in South Africa, is VP – Mining and Projects. David Murangari, with over 35 years’ experi-ence in Zimbabwe’s mining industry (among other things, he was Chief Executive of the Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe), runs BNC as MD. At Freda Rebeccca, the MD is Toindepi Muganyi, a graduate mining engineer with a background in Botswana’s nickel/copper min-ing sector.

Mwana Africa has disappointed in the past but the company now seems to have a very real prospect of emerging as a prominent player in the junior to mid-tier mining market. With over 5 Moz of gold and over 386 kt of contained nickel in its portfolio, it clearly has an impres-sive resource base when compared with many of its peers. In addition, it has forged strong strategic relationships with China International Mining Group Corporation (CIMGC), Hailiang (its JV partner in Katanga on its copper licences) and Glencore. Add to this its solid operational or near operational assets (in the form of Freda Rebecca, Trojan, Shangani and the smelter/refinery complex) and the future looks good for the company. But mining is an uncertain game and it will be interesting to revisit Mwana in a year or two to see what success it is having in realising its undeniable potential.Report by Arthur Tassell, photos courtesy of Mwana Africa

Another view of Freda Rebecca’s metallurgical plant. In the six months to 30 September 2013, the mine produced 45 324 ounces of gold.


EVENTS

Although the number of delegates was a very respectable 7 250 – not too far below the record-breaking figure of last year – the ‘buzz’ that one normally associ-

ates with the Mining Indaba was muted – at least in the view of this writer. The main exhi-bition area, however, was as crowded as ever. Continuing a trend that has developed in re-cent years, many of the exhibitors were equip-ment suppliers and service providers to the mining industry rather than the mining and exploration companies who dominated in the early years of the Indaba.

In terms of the conference side of the Indaba, it is increasingly difficult for delegates – and journalists – to attend the many excellent pre-sentations on offer, given that there are so many

sessions, seminars and workshops running in parallel. As always, however, there was an excellent turnout for the opening address by Susan Shabangu, South Africa’s Minister of Mineral Resources, who gave – as one would expect – a highly positive view of South Africa’s mining scene and of the achievements of her department, mentioning the labour unrest cur-rently afflicting the industry only in passing.

Outlining the positive effects of the post-apartheid regulatory framework, she said this had “unleashed the potent potential for the mining industry of the future, transformed ownership patterns, diversified mining, created employment as well as ended the century-old male domination of the industry. Furthermore, the number of mines in operation has increased exponentially, as well as the corresponding revenue generated, while women mineworkers grew from an insignificant number to 10 per cent currently.”

Looking back on the ten-year history of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA), she said the intro-duction of the legislation in 2004 “took all of us into uncharted territory” and added that the revised MPRDA bill, currently being finalised through parliamentary processes, would build on the lessons learnt over the past decade. She argued that it would “improve the ease of doing business in the industry by, amongst others, streamlining and integrating mining, environ-mental and water authorisation processes” and said the process committed government to “a turnaround time of up to 300 days for a mining right.” In addition, the new legislation would

The mood at this year’s Mining Indaba in Cape Town, the 20th in the series, was more downbeat than at most of its

predecessors, reflecting not only the global pullback in min-ing but the dire circumstances in South Africa’s own mining

industry, where labour problems have savaged the plati-num mining sector in particular. Modern Mining’s Arthur

Tassell attended the event and filed this report.

Susan Shabangu, South Africa’s Minister of Mineral Resources, addresses delegates.

Delegates at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town. Numbers were slightly down on last year’s event.

Subdued INDABA reflects mi ning’s global pullback


EVENTS

“address loopholes identified in various court judgements” and “further entrench and aug-ment the principle of security of tenure as an integral part of South Africa’s mining regula-tory framework.”

On the subject of beneficiation, she pointed out that “continued exportation of unprocessed minerals denies South Africa the possibility for skilled employment, skills development and contribution to the fiscus needed to address our developmental imperatives” but emphasised that “no mining company is either required to beneficiate or is forced to subsidise the manu-facturing industry.”

Turning to transformation within the South African mining industry, she described this as “a societal imperative to redress centuries of deliberate exclusion of the black majority from the mainstream economy” and told her audi-ence that the process would continue. As she said, “I have established that some companies have designed interim transformation solu-tions that end this year, with the expectation that 2014 would mark the end of transforma-tion. Nothing could be further from the truth – in fact, transformation remains an imperative of government and must be seen as a business imperative in the South African context.”

Shabangu’s speech had a mixed reception from delegates, with some saying that it had been disappointing and had made very little effort to address the critical issues surrounding the beleaguered mining industry (a charge she has since refuted in a letter to ‘Business Day’).

Tony Zoghby, Partner and Southern African Mining Leader: Assurance at professional ser-vices firm Deloitte, expressed a typical view when he said – from the sidelines of the con-ference – that the Minister had not decisively addressed continuing labour relations chal-lenges in the mining sector, especially the platinum sector, which was recently brought to a halt by 70 000 striking members of AMCU. “The Minister talks about the labour framework and policies that are meant to govern the sec-tor, but we are not seeing the benefits of that framework on the ground just yet,” he said. He did, however, commend the Minister’s positive attitude to shale gas and petroleum exploration and development.

In a keynote panel discussion on the outlook for African mining just after the Minister’s speech, Roger Baxter, Chief Operating Officer of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa, put the cost of the strikes in platinum mining to the country as a whole at R400 million a day. He said 45 % of the platinum mining sector was either marginal or loss-making and warned that AMCU’s wage demands were unafford-able. One of his co-panelists, Chicago-based economist David Hale, in a speech peppered with statistics, presented a generally optimis-tic view of Africa’s future, but noted that its growth was coming off a low base with sub-Saharan Africa being responsible for just 2,5 % of global economic output. He noted also that Nigeria – which recently, in a bold and sig-nificant move, had privatised its electricity

Far left: Jonathan Moore, Senior Vice-President and Managing Director of Mining Indaba LLC, with Patricia de Lille, Mayor of Cape Town.

Left: Ivanhoe’s Robert Friedland gave an account of his company’s three key projects in South Africa and the DRC.

Subdued INDABA reflects mi ning’s global pullback


EVENTS

Above: Economist David Hale from the US, always a popular speaker at the Mining Indaba.

Right: Roger Baxter, COO of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa, participated in a keynote panel on the outlook for African mining.

generating industry – had now ousted South Africa as sub-Saharan Africa’s leading eco-nomic power. Controversially, he suggested that Nigeria represented Africa’s future and South Africa its past.

Moving on to other speakers, the “reputa-tional degradation” of the mining industry was discussed by Khanyisile Kweyama, an Executive Director of Anglo American, in a well argued and persuasive keynote presen-tation. While she acknowledged that mining had left many unwelcome environmental and health legacies for many communities and employees, she said the industry nevertheless had a highly positive story to tell. She pointed out that while mining disturbed less than 1 % of the earth’s surface, it contributed more than 40 % of its economic activity.

Turning to the specific contributions of Anglo American, she said it was the largest mining company in Southern Africa with over 95 000 employees and contractors.” We are one of the largest contributors to the South African fis-cus – in 2012, our South African companies generated direct and indirect taxes of over R14 billion to help address the evil triplets of poverty, inequality and unemployment. In addition, in 2012 alone, Anglo American’s South African business units spent R777 mil-lion directly on mine community initiatives, covering healthcare, education and infrastruc-ture development. Between 2008 and 2012, the total was R2,6 billion,” she said.

Referring to the challenges facing miners, she said these included deposits at greater depths and more remote locations, declining

ore grades, declining productivity, rapidly ris-ing costs of inputs such as energy, water, fuel and machinery and operating models that were years behind other industries.

As always at the Mining Indaba, Australia was represented by a sizeable contingent, including Colin Barnett, Premier of Western Australia, who was a keynote speaker. Outlining the scale of Australia’s involvement in African mining, he said there were about 236 Australian mining companies operating in Africa. “Of these, 168 (or over 70 per cent) are Western Australian,” he observed. “These Western Australian com-panies are active in 807 projects spread across 33 of the 54 African countries. The range of minerals is extensive covering iron ore, gold, uranium, other base metals, and rare earths, mineral sands and coal.

“Australian mining companies are significant employers in Africa, with the majority of proj-ects mainly staffed by locals, providing secure and well paid jobs for thousands of Africans,” he told delegates. “Many Australian companies involved in African mining projects actually have more African employees than Australian. An example is Ausdrill, which has 2 600 employees in Africa, 2 400 of which are local, while it has 1 900 employees in Australia.”

On the subject of sovereign risk, Barnett noted that the phenomenon was not confined to developing nations. “Australia has had a recent experience of a Mineral Resource Rent Tax being imposed by the national government on top of existing state royalties,” he told his audience. “This new tax applies only to iron ore and coal. As China is the major buyer of


EVENTS

The busy Expo Hall at the Mining Indaba. There were approximately 400 exhibi-tors at the event this year.

these commodities, the Chinese saw it as a tax imposed on them. In my more than 20 years in the resources sector, it is the first time I have heard the term ‘sovereign risk’ used in Asia in relation to Australia. Fortunately, the newly elected national government is committed to repealing the tax.”

Of the mining company presentations made at the Mining Indaba, two that particu-larly stood out – for this writer – were those by Robert Friedland, Executive Chairman of Ivanhoe Mines, and Mark Bristow, who heads Randgold Resources – arguably two of the min-ing industry’s most dynamic chief executives. Both have some incredible successes behind them – the Voisey’s Bay nickel project and the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project in the case of Friedland and a string of successful gold mines in Africa, including the prolific (in its heyday) Morila mine in Mali, in the case of Bristow – and neither is afraid to speak his mind.

In his address, Friedland – who also partici-pated in a panel discussion on South Africa’s mining prospects with Neal Froneman of Sibanye Gold and Sipho Nkosi of Exxaro – said he was “profoundly optimistic” about Africa and added that “anybody who thinks the minerals supercycle is dead is profoundly mis-guided.” He argued that the world’s rapid and relentless urbanisation virtually guaranteed the supercycle’s continuance and also made the point that PGMs had a particularly bright future given the future demand likely from the car industry – not only for catalytic converters but also from the burgeoning fuel cell market.

As he did at last year’s Mining Indaba (and

indeed the one before), Friedland focused on Ivanhoe’s three key projects, the Platreef proj-ect near Mokopane in South Africa (including the so-called Flatreef, which has an average 24 m thickness and is amenable to large-scale mechanised underground mining methods) and its two DRC projects – the Kamoa copper deposit just west of Kolwezi in Katanga and the historic Kipushi zinc-copper mine near Lubumbashi, also in Katanga. The Platreef and Kamoa projects are undeniably impressive in terms of the resources defined and appear even better when described by Friedland, who is a magnetic speaker with an ability to make each of his company’s discoveries seem like the big-gest in the history of world mining.

Referring to the Platreef, where there have been as many as 30 exploration rigs on site at any one time in the past and where an 800 m deep, US$80 million bulk-sample shaft is being sunk, he said Ivanhoe would be creating an ultra-safe, modern mine which would be “as clean as a hospital”. Kamoa he described as the first Tier-1 discovery in the Congo “since Leopold gave up his ghost” (a refer-ence to the best-selling book ‘King Leopold’s Ghost’ authored by Adam Hoschchild describ-ing the early years of colonial exploitation in the Congo) and said it represented – with a resource of 24 Mt of copper – “an unparalleled copper endowment”. As for Kipushi, he told Indaba delegates that the primary target was an undeveloped zinc deposit known as ‘The Big Zinc’ at a depth of around 1 200 m. In typical fashion, he talked up the prospects for zinc, pointing to its use as an additive in fertilisers

“... anybody who thinks the minerals supercycle is dead is profoundly misguided.”Robert Friedland, Executive Chairman, Ivanhoe Mines


EVENTS

Left: Anglo American’s Khanyisile Kweyama touched on the “reputational degradation” of the mining industry in her address.

Far left: Colin Barnett, Premier of Western Australia, was a keynote speaker.

as being one potentially huge driver of the zinc market in future.

Turning to Bristow, he expressed the view that growing uncertainty about the regulatory environments and tax regimes in Africa’s min-ing jurisdictions was discouraging investment in many African countries. He noted that the Fraser Institute in Canada, which annually surveys some 100 mining jurisdictions across the world to rate their overall attractive-ness to investors, had recently downgraded Africa’s average PPI (Policy Potential Index) for the fifth year running. Survey respondents cited increasing uncertainty about African countries’ intentions regarding their mineral resources as the key factor in diminishing investor confidence.

“The mining code reviews of the past few years and those currently underway in a num-ber of African countries have undoubtedly aggravated this uncertainty by creating the impression that their governments not only want a bigger slice of the pie, they want to take that before the pie is even baked,” he said. This, he added, was happening at a time when the gold mining industry was severely pressured by the drop in the gold price and was cutting back on exploration and project development.

“Randgold’s own experience has shown that, despite the stresses on both sides, mutually beneficial partnerships between governments and miners are still possible,” Bristow said.

He cited Randgold’s involvement in Côte d’Ivoire as one example of such a partnership. Thanks to strong local relationships, the com-pany was able to develop its Tongon mine in

the aftermath of a civil war and then commis-sioned it successfully during another period of strife. It also worked with the government in its revision of the country’s mining code and this cooperation has resulted in an investor-friendly final draft currently being ratified.

Both Friedland and Bristow referred to the need for mining companies to engage with communities and to design sustainable projects and both these themes were prominent at this year’s Indaba. The ICCM (International Council on Mining & Metals), for example, co-hosted a sustainable development session which saw Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane – the man who succeeded Archbishop Desmond Tutu as Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town – deliver the keynote address. He said mining had to address negative environmental and social impacts but he also emphasised the need for the industry to grow, urging governments to facilitate investment and development in the industry through fair regulation and taxation.

According to the ICCM, the sustainable development session is designed to provide a forum for open discussion between Mining Indaba delegates and civil society stakehold-ers. Such a forum is probably needed as the Indaba has been attacked in recent years for being “irrelevant” with a number of civil society and faith groups even holding an ‘Alternative Mining Indaba’ – now in its fifth year – in parallel with the Indaba itself. The agenda of the Alternative Mining Indaba – which this year was held across town at the Ritz Hotel – is predictable enough and at the end of its proceedings its organisers delivered a ‘Declaration’ expressing their “deep concern in how development is shaping investment including extractives and the continued lim-ited contribution of the extractive sector in the


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The Mining Indaba – an alternative viewWhile it is an extremely popular event on the annual mining calendar, the Mining Indaba has its share of detractors and critics. To take one example, the ‘Financial Mail’s’ Sonzego Zibi, in a trenchant opinion piece published in ‘Business Day’ during Indaba week, had this to say: “The Mining Indaba, a gathering at which the voices of workers and affected communities are expressly missing, is just another expensive junket. It is where those who already benefit from a flawed system pretend to have a serious discussion but in reality are just in Cape Town for a paid holiday. The Indaba has carried on for too long, has achieved little to nothing and its relevance and format

need serious re-evaluation before it is disrupted by a protest one day.”

development agenda of African countries espe-cially to the lives of ordinary people.”

The criticism of the mining industry – and of the Mining Indaba – delivered by delegates to the Alternative Mining Indaba tends to be ‘over the top’ but the views expressed are likely to grow ever more strident in the future. It is dif-ficult to know exactly how the organisers of the Mining Indaba can address this issue, beyond what they are already doing. The Mining Indaba is unashamedly an investment confer-ence and to place too much emphasis on social, labour and environmental issues could be fatal to its character, diluting the very things – the deal-making and networking, among them – that have made it such a huge success in the first place. It will be interesting to see how the organisers view this challenge and how they respond to it in future events.

Finally, an interesting question is whether – in terms of delegates – the Mining Indaba has peaked, given the decline (albeit modest)in attendance seen this year. The likelihood – at least in Modern Mining’s view – is that the event’s future is secure and that it will resume its upward trend the moment the mining industry

itself does. Certainly there is nothing else on the horizon with the potential to rival it and it looks set to remain as Africa’s premier mining confer-ence and expo for years to come. As Jonathan Moore, MD of the organisers, Mining Indaba LLC, said after the conclusion of the event, “We are proud of this 20th edition in which we were able to launch many important initiatives to ensure that Mining Indaba continues to be the leader for mining investment events globally.”

Photos courtesy of Investing in African Mining Indaba™ (photographer: Anthea Davison)


PLATINUM

This expansion initiative leverages off the success of its ‘older sister’ operation, the Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum Mine (BRPM), a joint venture with Anglo American

in which Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) holds two thirds, which has been in produc-tion since 1998

This has allowed the necessary funding arrangements to be put in place, with a capital-raising likely at an opportune time in 2014 or 2015. In the meantime, RBPlat has R2 billion of funding available – almost half of which is cash on hand and the other half in an unuti-lised revolving credit facility.

The impact of the Styldrift project will be a substantial boost to the company’s fortunes. Having spent over R2 billion of its total proj-ect budget of around R10,7 billion by the end of 2013, Styldrift will double the company’s production by 2019 after it hits steady state production levels of 2,8 Mt/a.

In November 2013, RBPlat was able to shave R750 million off the original R11,4 billion bud-get by opting for a brownfields solution to its processing requirements. Jettisoning the idea of a 230 000 tonnes per month (tpm) standalone plant and associated upgrades to the BRPM concentrator (for UG2 blending and treat-ment), the company will now increase BRPM’s concentrator capacity by 50 000 tpm – from 200 000 to 250 000 tpm. This will be hiked another 100 000 tpm by the construction of a module alongside the existing facility, bringing total capacity to 350 000 tpm.

RBPlat Chief Executive Steve Phiri said the decision took into account the pressure that platinum prices were under, as well as rising costs in the industry. While all projects need to

be similarly vigilant, Styldrift has probably less reason than most. The confidence around the project, enhanced by its location on one of the last known blocks of shallow Merensky Reef, is based on the fact that the reef here has the highest grade outside the long-established oper-ations of the platinum majors. The measured Merensky resources (attributable to RBPlat) total 48,49 Mt at a 4E grade of 7,49 g/t for 11,68 Moz. Indicated resources equate to 39,34 Mt.

The UG2 Reef also shows considerable prom-ise, with measured resources (attributable to RBPlat) at 51,6 Mt with an average 4E grade of 5,31 g/t for 8,82 Moz. The current estimate of indicated resources here is an impressive 55,98 Mt at similar grades, with a further 27,96 Mt inferred. It is therefore not surpris-ing that, while the initial investment proposal considered only the Merensky Reef for exploi-tation, the plan is now to bring in UG2 at some stage. For this purpose, a footwall infrastruc-ture will be developed below the UG2 horizon.

While the UG2 at Styldrift 1 was not part of the original mine design, the optimisation study undertaken during the shaft sinking stage of the project showed that the long term plan pre-sented the UG2 as a viable future replacement

Royal Bafokeng Platinum’s Styldrift project near Sun City in North West Province is well on its way to completion,

boasting the shallowest new shaft in the industry with its mean mining depth of just 661 m below surface. Modern

Mining contributor Paul Crankshaw reports on the nearly R11 billion project, which is now just over a third complete

and running slightly ahead of schedule.

STYLDRIFT puts on a strong show for platinum sector

In November 2013, RBPlat was able to

shave R750 million off the original

R11,4 billion budget by opting for a

brownfields solution to its processing

requirements.


PLATINUM

Shaft sinking in the main shaft showing the Merensky 600 m level station. The shaft-sinking contractor is Shaft Sinkers.

for the Merensky Reef, including a period of co-extraction as the Merensky Reef depletes.

“The revised design now makes provision for mining the UG2,” said Velile Nhlapo, General Manager at Styldrift. “Separate silos – under-ground and on surface – have been designed for this purpose. The UG2 needs to be transported to the concentrator separately from Merensky, then blended.”

Nhlapo said a full feasibility study has been completed into the mining of UG2 as an expansion project to fill the 50 000 tpm excess hoisting capacity designed into the shaft. “This study concluded that pursuing the mining of the UG2 at this time would possibly compro-mise the success of the Merensky ramp-up and should only be considered again when the Merensky ramp-up is well under way,” he said.

While the replacement of Merensky by UG2 ore will only take place from when the Merensky orebody starts depleting in 2037, mining of UG2 as a top-up to the Merensky could be done at any time during the life of the Merensky mining programme, said Nhlapo.

The orebody lends itself to a combination of mechanised bord-and-pillar mining and con-ventional breast stoping. The trackless mining

sections will each comprise 13 panels and 13 pillars. Regional pillars are designed on dip and, where possible, to coincide with geologi-cal losses. The primary extraction layout will see 8 m bord widths (down from the original design width of 13 m) separated by pillars 8 m wide and 8 m in length.

In an innovation planned to save elec-tricity and water while reducing capex and costs, Styldrift will employ hand-drills using high-pressure water in those stope panels not suitable for mechanised mining.

“The drills are driven by high pressure water from power-packs situated in the crosscuts,” Nhlapo explained. “We have developed the term ‘hydro-pack drilling’ to differentiate this system from the normal hydro-power driven by potential energy gained from the depth of a shaft.”

He said this system was chosen over the normal compressed air, hydro-powered and electrical systems based on a comparative study that considered capital expenditure, electricity consumption, reticulation costs, operating costs, productivity and maturity of the technology.

“While the original hydro-pack system involved substantial amounts of water being


PLATINUM

Left: Surface infrastructure at Styldrift.

Right: The 5,5 m diameter man and material winder installed at Styldrift (photo: FLSmidth).

pumped back to surface, the recently developed hydro-pack drill that we will use re-circulates the driving water and will mean significant sav-ings in pumping costs,” he added.

Rising electricity prices are, of course, a growing concern for all mining operations, and Styldrift has had to plan ahead for further hikes.

“The project has been designed and costed with the increased Eskom rates schedule in mind,” said Nhlapo. “Energy efficiency strate-gies have also been developed and included in all aspects of the design. Total planned con-sumption of 50 MVA has been secured, and will be available from the first quarter of 2016 in time for the planned production ramp-up; until then, 22 MVA is available from the BRPM allocation.”

Styldrift’s underground workings will be accessed by a twin, concrete-lined vertical shaft system; the 10,5 m diameter main shaft will reach 740 m while the services shaft – at 6,5 m diameter – will be 705 m deep. The primary footwall infrastructure, mainly for the trans-porting of ore to the shaft, will be developed 25 m below the Merensky Reef horizon. Apart from travelling ways, all footwall infrastructure will be developed by mechanised methods.

This includes tipping points on the reef horizon, from which ore will be sent through boxholes to the underlying main conveyor belt decline transporting the ore to the shaft. Ore will be hoisted to surface through the main shaft by two 22-tonne rock skips.

The shaft system will be linked to the up-dip and down-dip on-reef roadway clusters on both the reef horizon and the footwall level. A network of on-strike haulages will underlie all sections for the transportation of ore to the main shaft.

At the time of writing, the sinking of the main shaft had reached 708 m (loading) level, the ser-vice shaft was down to 642 m level, and over 1 700 m of lateral development had been carried out on all three levels. Piloting of the first raise bore ventilation shaft began in August 2013, with raise boring starting in November 2013.

On surface, the workshops have been com-pleted and the rock winder commissioned; the company reports that the project’s surface construction continues to progress according to plan.

No discussion of platinum mining in South Africa is complete without considering the complex array of labour issues that flared so violently at Marikana, and which lurk around the current uneasy calm in the sector. Styldrift is not immune to but is less likely to face the militancy of a lower-skilled workforce, how-ever, as its mechanised methods will require higher skill levels.

“An interesting observation during the recent strikes was that the mechanised room and pil-lar shafts worked throughout,” Nhlapo said. “This can be attributed to the fact that the work-ers are generally more skilled and higher paid, with more to lose when not at work. Styldrift is planned to be a mechanised room and pil-lar mine for its first seven years; only then will conventional mining begin, and it is hoped that by then there will be mechanised solutions to economically mine the narrow-reef faces.”

Regarding the broader community engage-ment, Nhlapo is confident that the company’s ambition to accomplish ‘more than mining’ is well on track through the solid implementation of its social and labour plan.

“Empowering our communities and con-tributing to their social, economic and

PLATINUM

Styldrift aims for water efficiencyWith recent water shortage warnings in the Rustenburg area, fears have been expressed about adequate water supply to some mines. Nhlapo said the in-creased demand for water in the region – and for potable water from the Magalies Water supply in particular – was the topic of a 2011 study that iden-tified the need to re-use surplus water available from the current operations.

“RBPlat is currently building a water treatment plant at a cost of R38 mil-lion to treat and reuse 4 million litres of water which would normally be lost to evaporation,” he said. “The consolidation of the concentrator capac-ity into a single complex will further enhance the ability to manage water more sustainably.”

Nhlapo said Styldrift was designed to re-circulate as much water as pos-sible in an effort to minimise its intake of fresh potable water. These primary methods are adopted in the design: returning excess fissure water encountered during mining operations via

overland pipeline to the processing plant; drawing any excess tailings return water from processing operations along

the same pipeline, in the event that fissure water is not encountered; reducing domestic water use through ‘low-flow’ ablution arrangements; treating all on-mine sewage at a high-efficiency sewage plant, allowing

clean effluent to be returned to the mine and grey water to be piped to process circuits; and

re-circulating hot water at the change-house ablution facilities, as well as using localised water heaters in office areas instead of centralised gey-sers – to reduce in-pipeline losses.

infrastructural development secures our licence to operate and is an investment in both the future of our communities and the com-pany,” he stated. “In executing the SLP, we have consulted and cooperated with the local communities, local and provincial government, the Department of Mineral Resources and the local municipality.”

RBPlat’s investment in local economic devel-opment has focused on education, health, enterprise development, basic infrastructure and community skills development.

“Our support has included education infra-structure such as the construction of additional classes in locals schools, refurbishing and equipping of a maths and science laboratory, sponsoring additional maths and science edu-cators to improve learners’ performance, and assistance with educator support material,” said Nhlapo.

RBPlat has provided additional medical equipment and nurses at the local clinic and installed an IT system in all the local clinics so that community members can consult at various local clinics with their medical history available electronically. There has also been a refurbishment and extension of the forensic pathology centre.

Enterprise development focuses on poverty alleviation and job creation initiatives, includ-ing a commercial garden set up by the local association for the blind.

On community skills development, Nhlapo pointed out that the focus was on providing mainly the youth with mining skills that would make them employable. “Community members have also been equipped with portable skills such as bricklaying, painting and basic plumb-ing,” he said.

In terms of housing and living conditions of employees, Styldrift, as a project in execution, does not have hostels and so has no obligation to comply with the 2014 mining charter mile-stone to convert hostels to family units. When it comes to providing housing for employees when production ramp-up begins, Nhlapo said

various options were currently being explored.Looking ahead, the Styldrift II concept pro-

vides an enticing view into the next stage of this development. Planned on a resource area of some 24 million square metres, this project has consistent grades at depths between 900 m and 1 500 m. The current vision is a standalone mine with twin shafts and own concentrator, which is being explored in an initial pre-fea-sibility study now underway. This technical and financial evaluation is considering four different access options, as well as declines from No 1 shaft for early production and raise-bore technology to expedite shaft sinking. The study could be upgraded to a full PFS during 2014, leading to a feasibility study that could be wrapped up in 2015 or 2016. Photos courtesy of RBPlat unless otherwise acknowledged


URANIUM

The closure is bad news for Malawi, as Kayelekera is virtually the only large-scale commercial mine in the country. The Government of Malawi (GoM), which has a 15 %

interest in PAL, has been notified of this deci-sion and PAL says it will be working with the relevant GoM authorities on implementation of the suspension of operations.

According to Paladin, the decision to sus-pend production at KM is based on two factors, both beyond the control of PAL and Paladin: firstly, the continuing depressed price for uranium oxide, which has been severely negatively impacted since March 2011 fol-lowing the nuclear reactor damage caused by the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami; and, secondly, the unsustainable cash demand to maintain the loss-making operation at KM.

The Managing Director/CEO of Paladin, John Borshoff, said that the decision to place

KM on care and maintenance would be in the best long term interest of all stakeholders, as the operation would resume only when it was profitable to do so.

“The Kayelekera Mine has performed excep-tionally well technically, with production levels recorded at or near nameplate capac-ity over the past 12 months and significant achievements made in PAL’s cost reduction programme. That is a credit to all the staff at KM and something of which they can be very proud. Nevertheless, despite these consid-erable efforts, KM continues to operate at a loss due to the low prevailing uranium price. Paladin is unable to continue to provide the level of financial support that PAL has required in recent years, hence the decision at this time.

“By placing Kayelekera on care and mainte-nance now, we are preserving the remaining value of the orebody until it can be mined prof-itably to make a positive contribution to the

Australian uranium miner Paladin Energy, listed on the ASX, reports that its subsidiary company, Paladin (Africa) Limited (PAL), is suspending production at its Kayelekera Mine (KM) in northern Malawi. The suspension will involve placing the operation on care and maintenance until the price of uranium recovers. This decision will preserve the remaining orebody until a sustained price recovery occurs and Paladin determines that production may be resumed on a profitable basis.

Night-time operations in the Kayelekera pit.

PALADIN ENERGY suspends production at Kayelekera


URANIUM

Paladin Group. This is in the best interest of all PAL stakeholders, including the Government of Malawi.”

PAL has maintained operations at KM since the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami of March 2011 at considerable financial cost to Paladin. During this period, the spot uranium price has more than halved from its pre-Fuku-shima level of US$72,63/lb to a current price of US$35,50/lb. While PAL has achieved suc-cessive cost reductions quarter by quarter, these efforts – says Paladin – have not been sufficient to achieve cash breakeven at KM. For example, during financial year 2012-13, PAL reduced KM’s year-on-year direct cost of production (C1) by 24 % to US$39,20/lb, while maintaining uranium production at optimal, near-nameplate levels. In the same period, the uranium spot price declined by 32 % − from US$50,75/lb in June 2012 to US$34,50/lb in July 2013.

While PAL has successfully installed and commissioned one of two major cost-reduc-tion initiatives at KM for FY 2013-14 (the Nano-filtration acid recovery plant), the sec-ond measure aimed at significantly reducing KM’s cost of power by connecting the opera-tion to Malawi’s national power distribution grid has not been achieved to date. During the 18-month negotiating period, uranium prices have continued to fall, making grid power, even if available at this time, ineffectual in achieving profitability at KM.

Since Fukushima, the negative impact on KM of the very low uranium spot price was par-tially offset initially by several higher-priced term sales contracts put in place before March 2011; however, KM delivered its last prod-uct under these contracts in September 2013. Subsequent uranium produced from KM is now fully exposed to the depressed uranium spot market. The very low continuing uranium spot price, together with the operation’s cash cost of production, which remains above the spot price, makes continued operation at KM unsus-tainable in both current market conditions and in conditions projected in the medium term.

While mining operations at KM are being suspended, says Paladin, processing of ore will continue during a transitional rundown phase until reagents and consumables on site have been depleted and the production circuit has been emptied and cleaned. At this time, the plant will be sterilised, shut down and placed on care and maintenance. This rundown/ster-ilisation phase is expected to be completed by April/May of this year.

PAL is committed to maintaining the mine and infrastructure at KM in good working order

The Kayelekera processing plant with the mine camp in the background.

to facilitate a rapid resumption of production when market conditions dictate that it is pos-sible to profitably do so. For this reason, PAL will retain some 194 Malawi national employ-ees and 27 expatriate staff to maintain the site, including staff to strengthen physical security measures at the operation.

According to Paladin, the decision will result in a significant level of redundancy at KM and the process has commenced to retrench employees not required during the period of care and maintenance. In appreciation of their endeavours to drive down costs and improve efficiency, retrenched national employees will receive generous redundancy packages that exceed Malawi’s minimum legal requirements. In addition, national employees will be offered financial planning advice and training in busi-ness skills.

Supporting KM has been a substantial drain on Paladin’s cash resources during the past three years. Based on a uranium price of U$35/lb, Paladin would have had to inject a further US$20-25 million in cash for each of the next two calendar years to maintain the operation.

Placing KM on care and maintenance will improve Paladin’s forecast cash flow position by US$7-10 million in calendar year 2014 and US$20-25 million in calendar year 2015.

Paladin says KM is one of numerous ura-nium mines currently operating at or below breakeven. PAL’s decision to place KM on care and maintenance is the latest in a sequence of closures, production suspensions and deferrals of major planned greenfield and brownfield expansions in the uranium sector, including Paladin’s decision in 2012 to suspend evalua-tion of a major Stage 4 expansion of the Langer Heinrich Mine in Namibia.Photos courtesy of Paladin Energy

“Even when uranium prices improve, it is inevitable that the lead-time to return mothballed operations to production and re-evaluate the development timeframe for deferred brownfield and greenfield projects will exacerbate the uranium supply-demand imbalance that will become increasingly evident in the course of this decade.”John Borshoff, MD/CEO, Paladin Energy


PRODUCT News

Conveyor equipment manufacturer Melco reports that it continues to gain market share through its range of uni-directional anti-runback conveyor rollers, which are designed to prevent an inclined conveyor from running backwards in the event of a belt break.

Standard steel and high density poly-ethylene (HDPE) rollers are fitted with bearings that enable them to turn in both directions. The Melco anti-runback roller, however, is fitted with a patented mecha-nism that only allows the roller to turn in a single direction.

Melco MD Gavin Hall points out that the company’s anti-runback roller has been particularly popular in platinum, gold, coal and copper mining applications in various African countries, as well as in Australia and Canada.

“The product is appealing to engineers because of the inherent safety features of the anti-runback rollers, and because incline conveyors fitted with the prod-uct may experience less downtime in the event of a belt snap.

“Conveyor belts with inclines of between 6 and 18 degrees, which are commonly found in mining applications, are most prone to running back in the event of a belt snap. Some of these belts are as long as 1 km, and could cause unprecedented damage if breakage occurs,” he explains.

Shantui looking to expand in miningEarthmoving equipment manufacturer Shantui says it is committed to expansion in the African mining and quarrying sectors follow-ing the official launch of its new 48-ton SE480 excavator locally in September 2013.

Shantui’s Vice GM for Equipment in Southern Africa, Garron Troskie, notes that the SE480 excavator was launched by the company at the bauma Africa trade fair in September last year in response to increasing demand from the local market for a larger and more powerful machine.

“The Shantui SE480 excavator is powered by a Cummins QSM11 254 kW engine and boasts a heavy duty boom and short arm with a 2,3 m3 double radius bucket for an increased breakout force of 256 kN – making it ideally suited for moving large loads,” he explains. “What’s more, it comes equipped with segmented roller guards, a deck guard, window guard and belly plates to ensure that it is able to withstand the most hostile terrain and operating conditions.”

Troskie points out that an adjustable track frame allows for the extension of the track width by up to 600 mm, thereby ensuring increased stability during operation in more challenging condi-

tions. “This feature also ensures savings on transportation costs, as the track width can be reduced to such an extent that the excavator can be transported on a standard lowbed truck, as opposed to a specialised and more capital intensive transportation vehicle.”

Another major benefit of the Shantui SE480 excavator is said to be its highly competitive price. “The SE480 features all the specifica-tions required for mining applications, with performance meeting and even exceeding that of better known brands,” states Troskie. “This robust and high quality production machine is available at a substantially lower price than its competitors, which is a con-siderable factor for operations seeking maximum productivity in challenging economic conditions.”

Troskie reveals that the Shantui SE480 excavator has been well received by the local market since its official launch at bauma Africa. He continues: “I believe that the introduction of the SE480 excavator will result in a measurable growth in market share in the mining sector for Shantui, especially considering the overwhelmingly positive response that we have received from the industry to date.” Garron Troskie, Shantui Equipment Southern Africa, tel: 0860 742-688

Anti-runback conveyor rollers selling wellThe majority of conveyor belts in mines

are run through confined spaces, and Hall says the consequences of conveyor failure could be immense. “Downtime related to clearing the tunnel and repairing the belt may result in significant lost production, resulting in crippling financial effects.”

In the event of a belt snap, Hall claims that the Melco anti-runback roller reacts instantly. “We have received positive feed-back from numerous mining customers, who have revealed that the anti-runback rollers, if correctly installed to the pat-tern recommended by Melco, bring the snapped belt to a standstill within a short distance, which substantially reduces safety risks, the risk of any damage and associated costs,” he continues.

The Melco anti-runback roller looks iden-tical to the company’s range of standard steel and HDPE rollers, and is identifiable only by a unique plastic directional arrow disc on each side of the roller. Melco, with the assistance of the supplier of the pat-ented mechanism, assists its customers in determining the exact ratio of standard to anti-runback rollers required for a specific application.

Due to their identical physical dimen-sions, standard steel and HDPE rollers with 25 mm, 30 mm and 40 mm shaft diameters can be replaced with the equivalent anti-runback rollers with minimal effort. “The

rolls can be interchanged with ease,” says Hall. “The anti-runback rollers will last as long as the standard rollers fitted on the conveyor, thereby providing peace of mind with regards to durability and reliability.”

Hall does concede that Melco anti-runback rollers are more capital intensive than their standard counterparts. “The uni-directional mechanism fitted into the anti-runback roller is expensive, and there-fore adds to the overall costs associated with the installation or upgrade of a con-veyor belt,” he says. “However, engineers who have installed the Melco anti-runback roller agree that the extra cost is justified when weighed up against the safety and operational benefits that the product provides.”Melco, website: www.melcoconveyors.com

The anti-runback roller from Melco is reportedly gaining market share.


PRODUCT News

Global equipment supplier FLSmidth, which claims to be the mining industry’s undisputed leader in deep level hoisting, has initiated a five to seven year strate-gic plan to expand its mine shaft systems business. The plan will see it growing organically, filling gaps in the market and building the skills and experience to become a one-source solution in the mine shaft business worldwide, just as it is in the mineral processing and cement industries.

This follows a formal integration of the company’s mine shaft systems capabili-ties in South Africa and Canada in 2012 to form a dedicated business unit within FLSmidth. The mine shaft systems offering comprises two distinct product lines serv-ing a common and unique sector of the mining industry – mine hoisting and mine shaft equipment technology. FLSmidth’s South African office is the global technol-ogy centre for hoist design while its office in Orillia, Canada, serves as the global mine shaft equipment technology centre.

“ T h e n e w b u s i n e s s unit jointly markets these complementary product lines which share the same primary customer base,” Wendy Norman, FLSmidth’s Sales Manager responsible for mine shaft systems, says. “This is already proving an effective consolidation of the strong Dorr-Oliver®, EIMCO® and Vecor® brands and technologies, with the combined scope of these product lines adding up

to an extensive range of solutions for the global mining industry.

“Both these product lines have long-standing individual histories and robust track records dating back many decades – in fact, the combined operations have been in mine shaft systems for more than 100 years. FLSmidth has installed more than 90 % of the world’s Blair hoists and has supplied numerous drum hoists larger than 4,27 m in diameter.

“Since mine shaft systems was estab-lished as a business entity last year, we’ve started to see growth in our market share within our traditional market strongholds in North America and sub-Saharan Africa which is directly attributable to the cross selling of existing products by a dedicated team.

“The mine shaft systems team has a depth of expertise that enables us to offer custom designed equipment for maximum output,” she continues. “Our people spe-cialise in recommending improvements

based on problem areas in existing equip-ment. While FLSmidth will never be a shaft sinker or a shaft equipper, we have every intention of growing our product lines to offer more of the infrastructure around the shaft. We believe there is major opportu-nity to grow in these areas worldwide.”

At present, FLSmidth is carrying out several hoist relocations from mines that have reached the end of their life to new mines, and also with a view to introducing product improvements to older technolo-gies. Between 2000 and 2010 the company undertook nearly 30 product improve-ment projects, from complete relocations to technology upgrades.

Recently the mine shaft systems team began installing a Blair Multi-Rope (BMR) production hoist at Glencore’s Mopani copper project in Zambia. This 5,5 m by 1,5 m hoist incorporates four drums and is one of only about 50 BMR hoists of this kind in the world.

FLSmidth also recently supplied two 6,5 m diameter, tower-mounted, four-rope Koepe winders with deflection sheaves to Impala Platinum’s No 16 Shaft near Rustenburg — the first Koepe winders to be used within this mining company. The mechanically identical winders cater for payloads of 25 000 kg for the rock hoist and 22 500 kg for the personnel hoist.

In February 2012, FLSmidth received an order for a second hoist for Royal Bafokeng Platinum’s Styldrift operation in Rustenburg. This follows the successful commissioning of the FLSmidth-designed winder for the mine’s main shaft in 2011. The 5,5 m by 1,8 m double drum produc-tion winder was installed early in 2013.Terence Osborn, FLSmidth, tel (+27 10) 210-4820

Installation of the 80-t drum shaft for Mopani.

Shaft systems business poised for growth


PRODUCT News

SGS has been awarded on-site laboratory contracts for the Kapulo and Kipoi stage II mines in the DRC. Both are copper projects.

The Kapulo mine is owned by Anvil Mining Congo SARL (AMC), a subsidiary of Mawson West, and is located in the province of Katanga. SGS will provide equipment, consumables, supervision for grade and tonnage certification of the final product and manage the labora-tory for a minimum of three years. The on-site laboratory at Kapulo is expected to be fully operational by the end of Q2 2014.

Technical capabilities available on-site will include: copper in con-centrates by titration; gold in concentrate by AAS; base metals in ore by AAS; and weight, sampling and moisture determination.

The Kipoi mine is owned by Societe d’Exploitation de Kipoi SPRL (SEK) (and ultimately by Tiger Resources) and is also located in Katanga. SGS will provide equipment and manage the laboratory for five years. The on-site laboratory at Kipoi Stage II should be fully operational by the beginning of Q2 2014.

Technical capabilities on-site will include: copper by arc spark (LME); base metals in ore by AAS; and copper and impurities in pro-cess SX solutions by titration and AAS.SGS Minerals Services, tel (+27 11) 463-5333

SGS to run labs at DRC mines

Providing excellent particulate and water removal features in a simplified design, Caterpillar’s new Cat Advanced Efficiency fuel/water separators (FWSs) have the same fit and equivalent performance of previous generation FWS products, with one big exception: the detachable water collection bowl has been replaced with a drain valve for easy servicing.

The one-piece stepped metal canister design isolates the collected water from the filter element. (Every new FWS element comes with a drain plug.)

Rigorously field tested, the Cat FWS removes more than 98 % of debris of 10 microns and larger, virtually eliminates free water in fuel and removes 87 % of dissolved water.

“Left unchecked, water contamination presents a major threat to mechanical health,” explains Barloworld Equipment Group Product Specialist Reuben Phasha, expanding on the key role that FWSs play in preventative maintenance planning. “Diesel, for example, acts as a lubricant in unit injectors. Here the fuel’s film strength prevents metal-to-metal contact between the plunger and the barrel.”

If water ingress were to occur, this could compromise film strength, resulting in scuffing and eventual seizure. “Un-dissolved water quan-tities greater than 0,1 % can cause major damage,” he points out.

As a routine maintenance practice, FWS units should be inspected daily for water and drained as needed, to ensure consistently clean, dry fuel.Barloworld Equipment, tel (+27 11) 929-0000

New Cat FWS range offers simplified design


PRODUCT News

IMS Engineering reports that – as of 1 October 2013 – allmineral has relocated offices into IMS’s state-of-the-art premises in Spartan, Johannesburg.

IMS CEO Paul Bracher says that the move signals the full and successful inte-gration of allmineral South Africa into the IMS Group. “This has added significant strength to the IMS group,” he says. “With allmineral’s expertise in the beneficiation of minerals, as well as sand and gravel, IMS is able to offer a comprehensive set of

IMS and allmineral now under same roofseparation technologies and solutions to the market, drawing on local and global expertise. allmineral provides a perfect complement to our crushing as well as our Steinert separation equipment that allows us to provide highly innovative crushing and separation solutions.”

Bryan Hockley, allmineral Operations Manager, says that being under one roof with the rest of the organisation is ben-eficial as allmineral is better able to take advantage of the obvious synergies that exist between allmineral and the rest of IMS.

“A good example of this is the IMS test centre which has attracted much attention in the industry and draws to these prem-ises important industry players. We have already begun the process of installing, as part of the test centre, allmineral machines that will enable our engineers to conduct informative tests with clients’ materials, to ensure that they are able to pick the right sorting solutions for their specific materi-als,” says Hockley.

The first allmineral machines in the test

centre will be the minjig and miniflux, which are specially designed for test work.

The miniflux, with a capacity of 300 kg/h, is for the separation of slurried fines. Its main applications are in sand, ore, coal, heavy mineral sands and slag.

The minijig is a wet jigging machine for density separation. It is an air-pulsed jig with minimum energy consumption. Its main applications include ore, coal, gravel, sand and industrial minerals. It is easy to operate and can handle particle sizes from 50 mm to 1 mm (16 mesh).

Bracher says that allmineral and IMS’s Steinert sensor-sorting technology are an excellent mix. “Where Steinert specialises in magnetic separation and sensor sorting, including X-ray and 3D sorting providing low intensity magnetic separation (LIMS) and medium intensity magnetic sepa-ration (MIMS), allmineral specialises in wet high intensity magnetic separation (WHIMS). What makes this arrangement so advantageous to our customers is how well these portfolios dovetail, completing IMS’s offering.”Shannon McEwan, IMS, tel (+27 10) 001-8200An allflux installed at an iron ore mine in Swaziland.


PRODUCT News

While many South African plants are still running on Warman AH® series slurry pumps for highly abrasive mill duties, an increasing number of plant operators in other parts of Africa are reportedly recognising that the latest generation Warman MCR® rubber-lined centrifugal slurry pump from Weir Minerals Africa offers superior safety and low own-ership costs, as well as outstanding performance and reliability.

“These pumps are recording major successes globally across a broad range of commodities and in Africa we’re looking at a number of additional new MCR pumps going into operation this year alone, so this technol-ogy is clearly generating a substantial amount of market confidence,” says Rui Gomes, Product Manager: Slurry Pumps at Weir Minerals Africa.

“The MCR pump is specifically designed for mill discharge and cyclone feed duties, incor-porating a number of elements that maximise performance in the most aggressive wear applications. Features such as impeller design, liner material, specific speed and bearing assembly allow the pump to easily manage large size particles in dense abrasive slurries and offer the right combination of ruggedness, durability, hydraulics and materials.

“A big advantage is the full front throat bush adjustment that helps with pump efficiency and performance and is critical to the efficient operation of the pump, while a quick-change feature allows technicians to replace the wet end of the pump on site.”

One of the most outstanding Warman® MCR case studies was recently documented at a gold mine in south-western Ghana, where a trial installation was initiated to match the per-formance and wear life of an existing Warman 14/12 AH metal pump and a competitor’s 16/14 primary mill discharge pump. The trial also sought to determine whether a Warman 350 MCR could handle the mill’s tonnage.

“The initial milestone of matching or improving on the 2 100 t/h achieved by the original pumps was quickly achieved,” Gomes says. “The second and more critical goal was to increase the wear life of the pumps and here the target of 1 000 hours of operation without failure was also achieved. The impeller lasted about 1 900 hours before requiring replace-ment and the R55 rubber liners continued without needing replacement.

“A number of factors drove the success of this trial. Firstly, the pump design was ideally suited to the duty, compared to the pumps previously installed – notably the contribution of the MCR’s rubber lining to the substantial increase in its wear life and the consequent improved mill availability. We were actually astounded at the performance of the rubber liners versus the metal volute originally in place. At the four-month inspection there was still a substantial amount of residual value on the liners and we estimate getting to about 6 000 hours – six times as long as the life of the metal volute.”

In another successful installation in the West African gold industry, a Warman 350 MCR was installed to compare against a Warman 16/14 AH metal pump. The mill was operating at flows of about 2 000 m3 per hour to a head of 38 m and the Weir Minerals Africa team had to install the MCR to fit in with existing pipe-work and foundations. The complete wet end was changed out after about 1 400 hours, which more than doubled the life of the metal volute of the 16/14, effectively improving plant availability.

“This particular site was experiencing the fairly common problem of mill balls coming through the system and cracking the metal volutes,” Gomes says. “However, the R55 rub-ber liner offered an indirect, but immediate solution to this operational issue. The cus-tomer was also impressed by the quick and easy adjustment capability, the reduced cost of replacement spares and the improved safety levels. This MCR was installed in 2012 and we’re getting similar feedback after 18 months of operation.”Rene Calitz, Weir Minerals Africa, tel (+27 11) 929-2622

MCR® mill pumps prove themselves in Africa

The 200 MCR is one of six sizes of mill circuit pump that are fully manufactured in South Africa by Weir Minerals Africa.


PRODUCT News

In an effort to reduce the high instal-lation costs incurred in Australia, FMG (Fortesque Metals Group) requested Terra Nova Technologies (TNT) to outsource the assembly of its transfer chutes and towers to overseas third party companies. As a result, M&J Engineering was awarded the contract to supply Weba Chute Systems to FMG’s Solomon mine in Western Australia.

Solomon is part of FMG’s major expan-sion in the mineral-rich Pilbara. The

Solomon Hub is located 120 km west of the Chichester Hub and comprises the Firetail mine and the Kings mine. More than three billion tonnes of resources have been iden-tified at Solomon, providing FMG with a long term, low cost production strategy.

Ear ly ear thworks commenced at Solomon in late 2011, with significant greenfields construction work undertaken since to develop the 60 Mt/a operation. The US$3,5 billion Solomon site has two OPFs, three crushing hubs, a 125 MW power station, its own airstrip and three camps to house 30 000 people.

This was the second of three contracts awarded by TNT to M&J Engineering. The company recently supplied chutes to Kisladag mine in Turkey and is in the process of supplying eight chutes to the Morenci opencast copper mine in south-east Arizona in the Unites States.

“We have formed a mutually beneficial relationship with TNT that allows us to customise transfer chutes to suit specific client requirements. TNT’s comprehensive

Pre-assembled transfer chutes shipped to Australia

The fully assembled transfer tower and Weba Chute Systems loaded and en route to Freemantle, Australia.

understanding of the engineering and application benefits that are derived from the Weba Chute Systems gives them the confidence to propose their use in large-scale projects,” says Mark Baller, MD of M&J Engineering.

The seven Weba Chute Systems trans-fer chutes were designed, engineered and manufactured in South Africa by M&J Engineering to precise specifications. “We then trial assembled the chutes and shipped them to the steel fabricator, Best Tech & Engineering Limited in Thailand. The steel fabricator was responsible for pre-installation of the chutes into the transfer towers which had been fabricated by them,” Baller explains.

“Once the assembly was completed, the transfer tower, together with the chute and all ancillary equipment, was shipped fully assembled to Western Australia. It was offloaded at the docks and transferred to road trains for transportation to the mine.”

Four of the transfer chutes were specifi-cally designed to cater for worst overrun conditions, with a required storage capac-ity of up to 30 m3 of ore. “We achieved this by utilising a sophisticated and unique design, considered to be a first in transfer chute technology. The chute was fitted with an air cannon system to ensure that bulk flow was achieved once the system was restarted. By incorporating block chute detectors in the chutes, we can confirm that the chutes have completely emptied before the incoming belts are restarted,” Baller points out.

The remaining three chutes are normal belt-to-belt transfer points that are capable of handling tonnages varying from 4 500 up to 7 400 t/h on belt widths of 1 400 and 1 800 mm, travelling at speeds of 4,6 m/s. Four of the chutes are fully operational and the last three chutes are currently being commissioned.

“Apart from the technical merits of the Weba Chute Systems, the critical factor in this project was the ability to provide a product that could be remotely assembled then shipped in its final configuration to a destination on another continent. The cost savings achieved by FMG by adopting this philosophy are substantial and outline M&J Engineering’s flexible approach to design and engineering,” Baller concludes.Mark Baller, M&J Engineering, tel (+27 11) 827-9372

Osborn secures ‘first ever’ order from ChinaWhile Chinese machines are pouring into Africa, a South African mining equipment manufacturer is quietly making its mark in the People’s Republic. Johannesburg-based Osborn has secured its first ever export order to China for a modular plant to be uti-lised in iron ore processing.

“This is a ground-breaking order,” says Marketing Director Martin Botha. “It is an exciting and significant turnaround to see a South African machine shipped to China, while machines from China are being shipped to mines around Africa. It’s a reflec-tion of the exceptional quality of Osborn’s equipment.”

Osborn won this R20-million export order amid stiff competition from leading global players.

The Osborn modular plant – which Botha

says will replace a ‘locally-made kit’ at the Chinese operation – comprises a primary Osborn jaw crusher, a secondary cone crusher, a screen and a tertiary cone crusher. With a capacity of 300 t/h, the Osborn plant will produce a nominal -12 mm product.

Osborn has partnered with a China-based company that will undertake the manufac-ture of the plant’s conveyors.

This order is the latest in a series of sales that Osborn has netted – locally and fur-ther afield – for its SA-designed and built modular crushing and screening plants. The company has recently supplied modu-lar plants to several South African mines, as well as operations in Lesotho, Mozambique, Zambia, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Namibia, Botha reveals.

Three plants are available, in different sizes – a modular jaw crushing plant (sizes 2540, 3042, 3055, 3648), a mod-ular cone crushing plant (sizes 38, 44, 52, 57) and a modular screening plant (sizes 6’, 7’ and 8’ double and triple decks). Charisse Fallows, Osborn Engineered Products, tel (+27 11) 820-7600A typical Osborn modular plant.


PRODUCT News

Mining operations can significantly improve the wellbeing of their under-ground workers by adopting the Enerflow underground air cooling unit (ACU) tech-nology developed by M-Tech Industrial and distributed locally by Mine Support Products (MSP).

Vereeniging-based MSP is jointly owned by international manufacturing and engi-neering company DCD Group and Robor.

M-Tech Industrial Programme Manager Dr Martin van Eldik states that the Enerflow ACUs are unique in that they are trans-portable vapour compression cooling units, thereby ensuring that they provide a comfortable working environment to underground workers at site areas where chilled water is not available for cooling.

“The ACUs maintain a typical tempera-ture of between 26 deg C and 28 deg C in areas where cooling capacity is inad-equate, inefficient or additional cooling is required. The Enerflow ACU is particularly well suited to remote underground areas

Transportable AC units for underground mineswhere temperatures approach the critical 32 deg C wet bulb limit,” he says.

Wet bulb temperature is the lowest temperature that can be reached under ambient conditions by the evaporation of water only, and is the temperature felt when the skin is wet and exposed to mov-ing air. When the ambient temperature is excessive, underground workers are exposed to potentially fatal hypothermia due to heat stress.

In order to combat this hazard, MSP General Manager Conrad Engelbrecht points out that the Enerflow ACU draws in hot air and cycles it through the air evapo-rator with a standard mine ventilation fan to cool it, before feeding the cooled air back into the working environment.

“The Enerflow ACU can be easily con-nected to all services such as water, electricity and fans. Depending on the air volume flow rate through the unit, the temperature drop on the airside through the unit ranges between 5 deg C and 10

deg C wet bulb,” he explains. The Enerflow ACU fits into a standard

mine cage with two layout configurations available and can be easily moved as mining activities expand. “The vapour compres-sion cycle – made up of the compressor, air evaporator and water condenser – are housed within a mobile modular unit that can be mounted on a tracked unit or with its own wheel-mounted undercarriage,” adds Engelbrecht. Henk Schoeman, DCD, tel (+27 16) 428-0133

The Enerflow underground air cooling unit.


PRODUCT News

Atlas Copco is to launch a new mobile rig for boring so-called opening holes in mines. The new rig, called Easer, can perform both boxhole boring and down-reaming with a hole diameter of 750 mm, as well as conventional raiseboring with a hole diameter of up to 1 200 mm.

Since its introduction in the mid-1960s, the raiseboring technique has been con-sidered as the safest and most productive way of excavating raises in most mining applications. In block caving, and in most types of sublevel mining, short raises act as openings for the rock to expand into when blasting.

Traditional raiseboring machines typi-cally require a concrete platform and tie-down bolts to keep the machine stable during operation. In the total turnover time for such short raises the actual boring time is often below 50 %.

The increased demand for a highly mobile and versatile rig specifically designed to create these opening holes safely and efficiently has led to the devel-opment of the Easer. The rig can produce

Atlas Copco set to launch ‘Easer’ rig

The Easer rig from Atlas Copco can perform both boxhole boring and down-reaming with a hole diameter of 750 mm, as well as conventional raiseboring with a hole diameter of up to 1 200 mm.

opening holes with a maximum diameter of 750 mm and a hole depth of up to 60 m. It uses standard 200 mm boring rods with a 228 mm pilot drill bit.

All the necessary operating equipment is part of the carrier, with the exception of the rods, and the setup procedure does not require any site preparation.

“Our mission in devel-oping the Easer has been to speed up the operation,” says Johnny Lyly, Product Manager at Atlas Copco. “The time-frame for drilling a 40 m opening hole, from setup to take down, is less than 30 hours, and set up/take down is done in less than one hour.”

The Easer offers the same dril l ing modes as t radit ional ra ise -boring rigs: boxhole boring, down-reaming

and conventional raiseboring. To switch from boxhole boring to down-reaming, the gearbox is rotated 180 degrees – a simple operation that can be carried out in an underground workshop. In raiseboring mode, the Easer can drill up to 1 200 mm.

Atlas Copco says the Easer is scheduled for launch during 2014.Kathryn Coetzer, Atlas Copco, tel (+27 11) 821-9019


PRODUCT News

Index to advertisersAEL Mining Services 2Air Liquide 50B&E International 54Babcock 38Barloworld Power 28Bell Equipment 7Booyco Electronics 49Brelko 55Condra Cranes 18DCD Group - Mine Support Products IBC

De Beers Consolidated Mines 36Donaldson 46High Power Equipment 15Horne South Africa 43Hosch-Fördertechnik SA 13Johnson Crane Hire 14Joy Global Africa 9Komatsu 24Kopex OFCMDM Engineering 39

MMD Mineral Sizing 51

New Concept Mining OBC

Pilot Crushtec 30

Stefanutti Stocks Mining Services 22

Tenova Bateman Technologies 53

Verder Pumps SA 48

Vermeer IFC

WorleyParsons 11

AEL carries out electronic blast at LetšengThe Letšeng diamond mine, situated in the heart of the Maloti mountain range in Lesotho, is the world’s highest diamond mine peaking at 3 100 m above sea level. Owned by Gem Diamonds in conjunction with the Lesotho government, Letšeng is well rec-ognised for producing some of the highest dollar per carat value stones of any diamond mine.

Excessive damage to diamonds during the mining and benefi-ciation process results in the operation losing substantial revenue. This motivated the mine to request AEL Mining Services (AEL) to extend blasting trials at the mine by an additional six months in order to further measure improvements in controlling damage to diamonds. AEL says this challenge presented a great opportunity for it to demonstrate its extensive and superior mining expertise, and to showcase its electronic initiating systems with the benefit of improved fragmentation uniformity, improved muckpile control, and further downstream beneficiation benefits.

The initial electronic blast was carried out on 20 October 2013 based on the current bench design parameters from Letšeng. A total of 870 Digishot™ Plus detonators was used in this blast, mak-ing it the largest single electronic detonator trial blast conducted by AEL in Letšeng’s history.

The mine requested the use of a V2 chevron; however, after a calculated evaluation of the bench width, the requested blast

delay design was changed to have a more optimal muckpile configuration.

The ore bench required minimal material movement into the bot-tom of the pit after blasting, as this would otherwise compromise the design life of the slope catchment berms, which is a safety con-cern when it comes to falls of ground, as well as loss of ore tons and delays in production. The added technical challenge was a require-ment from the client to blast a ramp in conjunction with the main blast, and, subsequently, the material on the ramp to be left in-situ.

The use of the software Viewshot™ allowed for flexibility in the timing design, and the blasting team could simulate different sce-narios in order to find the optimal timing solution. The design was then transferred to the control equipment for the Digishot™ Plus detonators. A proficient understanding and manipulation of the timing chevron resulted in the key objective being met.

The final result, says AEL, was a perfectly controlled muckpile profile with minimal material thrown to the pit bottom, and an improved uniformity in fragmentation for optimal beneficiation processes – exactly as the customer had requested.

The subsequent blast was custom designed to incorporate the new design parameters, based on invaluable lessons gained from the first blast. Improvements were made on the desired fragmenta-tion size, and a marked time and cost-saving advantage was seen by the mine in terms of load and haul efficiencies. AEL Mining Services, tel (+27 11) 606-0000

According to Mather+Platt, submers-ible pump sales to mines worldwide are increasing at the expense of alterna-tive designs because of the advantages

High efficiency submersible pump

SV submersible pump from the EIM Electric Company.

of space saving, ease of installation (no pump house required), the elimination of the need to prime the pumps, and savings.

Among the submersible pump options available locally is the horizontally mounted model SV submersible pump from the EIM Electric Company of Japan.

Sold and supported in South Africa by Mather+Platt, the SV is a horizon-

tally mounted, submersible vortex pump with the advantages of high efficiency, heavy construction for long service life, low maintenance

and an impeller that resists clogging.An operational duty equivalent to

a standard centrifugal machine makes the EIM SV suitable for transferring fines,

coal chip slurries and similar media, while the pump’s non-clogging vortex impel-ler ensures that solids travel through the vortex passage rather than through the impeller, increasing the impeller’s wear life.

Double mechanical seals protect the motor from the slurry being pumped.

The pumps are explosion proofed for mining applications, and are suitable for environments up to 40 deg C. Technical specifications include a power rating of 5,5 kW to 22 kW, a total head from 10 m to 20 m, a discharge of between 0,9 and 2,0 m3/min, and a voltage from 200 V to 1 100 V.

Pumps for mining applications are flame-proofed, with full stainless steel con-struction offered as an option.Mather+Platt, tel (+27 11) 824-4810

MODERN MINING - Crown Publications...impression that Gold is an exhaustive history of gold mining....

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Transcript of MODERN MINING - Crown Publications...impression that Gold is an exhaustive history of gold mining....