March 2011
Our cover story in this issue - ‘Sedgman brings fresh thinking to CHPP design' - looks at the some of the achievements in coal processing plant design of Australian company Sedgman, which now has a South African office in Centurion, Pretoria. Among other things, Sedgman has been responsible for the design of the coal handling and preparation plant (CHPP) at the Moatize project in Mozambique, which ranks as one of the biggest CHPPs in the world, and is also working on the CHPP for the nearby Benga coal project.
The potential of Zimbabwe's gold industry is highlighted in an article on Toronto-listed miner New Dawn Mining Corporation. For some years, New Dawn's main asset was the Turk gold mine near Bulawayo, a venerable Zimbabwean operation which entered operation 100 years ago. Turk has now been joined by an extensive portfolio of mines acquired when New Dawn purchased Central African Gold (CAG) last year. New Dawn is now busy bringing the new mines - which were on care and maintenance - back into production and believes that it can achieve a total annual gold production of 100 000 ounces within four to five years.
Rare earths come under the spotlight in an article contributed by Gavin Chait, which looks at China's dominance of world production and prospects for this stranglehold to be broken. South Africa's role could be important in this respect as the country has at least two major deposits - Steenkampskraal and Zandkopsdrift - in the Cape which could - it seems - be developed into viable mines.
Surface mining contracting is covered in ‘MCC diversifies into the coal business', in which we talk to Erich Clarke, the newly appointed CEO of the MCC Group, whose main arm is leading mining contractor MCC Contracts.
Traditionally a hard rock specialist, MCC Contracts has recently diversified into coal - which will soon account for half of its turnover. To service its biggest contract in the coal sector (Riversdale's Benga mine in Mozambique), it has recently acquired some ultra-heavy equipment, including Cat 793 mining trucks and a giant Liebherr 996 excavator.
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First phase of Twangiza to operate at 1,7 Mt/a
An economic assessment of Banro's Twangiza gold project in the DRC indicates that mining of the oxide cap can be undertaken at a higher rate than initially envisaged, allowing a total gold production of just over a million ounces for the first phase of the mine's life.
Golden Ridge offers synergies with Buzwagi
African Barrick Gold (ABG) has announced an initial mineral resource at its Golden Ridge project in Tanzania, confirming the potential for the deposit to be developed as a substantial satellite operation to the Buzwagi gold mine from 2013.
Bucyrus positions itself as ‘all-in-one' supplier
A profile of Bucyrus South Africa, which is able to offer its clients in the mining field some of the world's biggest mining equipment, including heavy mining trucks, shovels and draglines. Bucyrus has recently secured a contract to supply two of its shovels to Debswana's Jwaneng mine in Botswana.
Styldrift headgears successfully erected
TWP Projects has announced the completion of the erecting of the pre-assembled headgears of both the Main Shaft and the Services Shaft at the Royal Bafokeng Platinum Styldrift shaft complex near Sun City. The headgears - for the Main Shaft and Services Shaft - were erected using a giant lattice boom crawler rig type crane.
