September 2011
Our cover story this month focuses on the new Phoenix Chrome Tailings Retreatment Plant (CTRP) which is fast approaching completion on the IFM Ferrochrome property near Mooinooi in North West Province.The EPC contractor acting on behalf of the owner, Pan African Resources, is Basil Read Matomo, which has been responsible for the design of most of the CTRPs built in South Africa in recent years.
South African ingenuity is highlighted in an article entitled SA tailings deposition system is a ‘world first'. This explains how two local companies, Fraser Alexander Tailings and Multotec, have teamed up to develop track-mounted self-propelled cyclone units (SPCUs) which address the particular issues associated with high tonnage tailings dams.
The platinum sector is covered in an article on WBJV Project 1 - otherwise known as Maseve - which is now under construction on a site just south of Sun City. Maseve is adjacent to two other developing mines, Wesizwe and Styldrift, but will get into production much earlier as the orebody is shallow and can be accessed by a simple decline system. Modern Mining recently visited the site and spoke to the COO, Peter Busse, of Platinum Group Metals, the company developing the project.
Our special feature this month deals with the crowded consulting engineering and ‘project house' market and includes profiles on several companies operating in this field, notably SRK, Sedgman, Hatch, RSV and BBE.
The article on RSV details the restructuring of the group in order to strengthen the RSV brand while the one covering Hatch emphasises Hatch's excellent safety record - proved on both the QIT Madagacar Minerals ilmenite project in Madagascar and, more recently, Kumba Iron Ore's Kolomela project.
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State-of-the-art Phoenix plant nears completion
The Phoenix facility, which will extract PGMs from chrome tailings and dumps, is a small project when measured by its cost (just over R100 million) or its production (212 koz over 17 years) but the beauty for project owner Pan African Resources is that the mining has already been done, meaning that the cash cost per ounce will be just R2 742/oz. The project takes Pan African - which owns gold miner Barberton Mines (Pty) Ltd - into PGM production for the first time.
Showpiece shock tube plant in full production
AEL's new ISAP - Initiating Systems Automated Plant - complex at Modderfontein, the first of its type in Africa, is performing to expectation and is currently able to produce up to 12 million detonators a month. The ISAP project, designed to provide the market with competitive but high-quality shock tube initiating systems, was launched in 2006 and has been implemented in phases.
Accra practice to act as ‘springboard' for SRK
SRK Consulting has established a practice in Ghana's capital, Accra, thus ‘formalising' a long involvement with the mining industry in West Africa. The new practice - expected to be up to a staff of five by the end of the year - will initially offer geotechnical services including rock mechanics, tailings engineering and civil geotechnics.
Hatch Africa on top form at Kolomela
Hatch Africa is one of South Africa's biggest ‘project houses' with its Woodmead campus in Johannesburg being the base for over 1 000 employees. The company has a record of involvement with major mining projects in the Southern African region and is currently finishing off its work at Kumba Iron Ore's Kolomela (formerly Sishen South) project in the Northern Cape. This contract has been exceptionally successful and Hatch takes pride in having contributed to the site's unblemished safety record.
