May 2011
Our lead feature this month is entitled Early finish for Phase 2 of MWS tailings project and it details the contributions that project house MDM Engineering has made to the infrastructure that Mine Waste Solutions (MWS), a subsidiary of First Uranium, has created near the mining town of Stilfontein in North-West Province to recover gold and uranium from tailings dams in the area. MDM was the contractor for the Phase 1B gold plant and has now also just completed the Phase 2 plant, as well as related infrastructure.
Copper is highlighted in an article on Anvil Mining's Kinsevere Stage II project, which has seen the addition of a modern SX/EW facility at the Kinsevere site near Lubumbashi in the DRC. This facility has now entered production and will allow Kinsevere to boost its copper output from about 16 000 tonnes of copper a year, derived from an HMS operation, to 60 000 tonnes a year. The SX/EW plant produced its first copper in early May.
Another project north of South Africa's borders to be covered is the Mkuju River Project (MRP) in southern Tanzania. This is a uranium project and the owner, Mantra Resources (about to be acquired by Russia's ARMZ), has just released the results of the Phase 1 Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) for the Nyota prospect of the MRP. This has confirmed the ability of Nyota to support a mine - estimated to cost approximately US$390 million - producing 4,2 Mlb of U3O8 a year over 10 years of steady-state operation.
Our special feature this month is on crushing, screening and milling and includes an interview with representatives of FLSmidth, one of the world's leading companies operating in this field. They make the point that demand for crushers and mills is on the way up and that the lead times for delivery of these items is starting to lengthen after having been reduced to manageable levels in the immediate aftermath of the global financial crash. They also discuss new developments from FLSmidth including the group's new ‘Top Service' gyratory crusher, designed to allow all maintenance to be undertaken from the top of the crusher or its sides.
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First blast marks start of Wesizwe project
Wesizwe's long awaited new platinum mine near Sun City has entered the execution phase after the first blast - to establish the boxcuts for the Main and Ventilation shafts - took place in early April. The mine is planned to have a capacity of 230 000 tonnes of ore a month (mainly Merensky but also UG2) at steady state. Pre-sink activities on the shaft are expected to start in about nine months' time and the sinking phase will take around 62 months.
EPCM contractor in rebranding exercise
We talk to Mike Fox-Martin, CEO of Fox Projects (previously SSP & Associates), about the company's new identity. Fox Projects is a mining consultancy and project house which has created a particular niche market for itself in underground ‘brownfield' work. Its clients include ARM and Anglo Platinum and it now has a staff complement of around 60 people - after having been founded with just three in 1998.
Cementation introduces innovative shaft liner
Murray & Roberts Cementation has introduced a new Australian-developed shaft lining system to the African market. The system, in which the spraying process is controlled remotely from a control cabin, normally on surface, eliminates the need to lower personnel down the shaft to apply the lining. Its first local outing will be at a mine in Botswana where it will apply shotcrete to support two 6 m diameter vertical shanks which will be sunk to a depth of 110 m.
