High capacity furnace and smelting plant specialist Tenova Pyromet reports it has completed 50 % of the new platinum group metals (PGM) furnace at Northam Platinum’s Zondereinde smelter operation in Thabazimbi, South Africa, having met all major project milestones to date.
As a result, handover of a fully operational 20 MW furnace is on track for August 2017.
The new furnace at Northam under construction.
Project milestones achieved include the first steel being raised on site in mid-July 2015 as per the scheduled project date. This is the first of over 1 000 tonnes of structural steelwork that will be used on the project. More than 20 % of the civil structures are also complete, while the placing of the 12 m diameter furnace shell marks another significant milestone, with the site establishment of the mechanical installation contractor.
Access to the first two floors of the furnace building is scheduled to be achieved prior to the 2016 December recess in South Africa, with a number of local and international deliveries scheduled to take place by then.
The contract, which was awarded to Tenova Pyromet by Northam Platinum in 2015, will support Northam’s planned growth in PGM production, which requires the flexibility to process high chromite, low base metal and high sulphur contained concentrates. With Northam’s innovative pyrometallurgical approach and Tenova Pyromet’s technical ability, Northam will be able to operate the furnace either as a submerged arc operation or brush arc operation and will therefore have a sufficiently broad operating range to accommodate feedstock with a widely varying mineralogy.
Tenova Pyromet’s scope on the project covers the PGM smelting furnace, feed system and off gas handling plant, as well as the furnace building and all associated civil works, infrastructure and services. State-of-the-art technology that forms part of the technical solution includes Tenova Pyromet electrodes, copper cooling elements, and off gas handling and furnace controller.
