August 2010

In our lead feature this month we go much further north than usual to look at the Tanzanian assets of African Barrick Gold (ABG), Tanzania's biggest gold producer. The company operates the Bulyanhulu, North Mara, Buzwagi and Tulawaka mines and has ambitions to produce 1 Moz/a of gold by 2014 and to double production over a 10-year period. The company's current flagship is the Bulyanhulu underground mine although its newest operation is Buzwagi, an open-pit mine opened just over a year ago.

The field of design and project management is highlighted in an article dealing with Paradigm Project Management (PPM), a small but dynamic company which has been particularly closely involved with the Letšeng and Mothae diamond mines in Lesotho and two diamond projects - AK6 and Gope - in Botswana. PPM has also recently been awarded the contract to assist Noventa with the redevelopment of its Marropino tantalum mine in Mozambique. In other recent developments, PPM has launched a joint venture company to tackle opportunities in Zimbabwe and has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with MSA Group, which specialises in geological services and resource management. The MOU will see the two companies collaborating more closely in future.

Our special feature in this issue deals with bulk materials handling. The companies interviewed include Roymec, recently responsible for Africa's longest single flight overland conveyor system at Zibulo Colliery, Bateman Engineered Technologies, one of the leading companies in the field, and Taggart/LSL/Tekpro, which represents an alliance between coal plant specialist Taggart Global USA and local materials handling companies LSL and Tekpro. Taggart has recently taken a 51 % share in LSL/Tekpro, following on from a similar deal in 2008 when it acquired a controlling stake in Jim Harrison Design Associates (JHDA), a company specialising in the design of coal preparation and other minerals processing plants.