mining news
10
08.13
Anglo American’s Thermal Coal business
has installed two of the largest mobile water
treatment plants in the country at its New Vaal
operation in the Free State.
The entire volume of treated water is being
taken up by Eskom’s nearby Lethabo Power
Station for use in the generation of electricity,
replacing the water the power station previ-
ously extracted from the Vaal River for use in
its processes.
The need to install the mobile water treat-
ment plants at New Vaal was prompted by
extreme rainfall in 2009 and 2010, which saw
the Vaal River rise 3 m, while the operation’s
water storage facility rose by 5 m.
This increase became not only a threat to
the health and safety of employees through
Firestone Diamonds, the AIM-quoted diamond
mining and development company, has appointed
Stuart Brown (right) as an Executive Director of the
company with effect from 2 September 2013. Tim
Wilkes, the company’s current Chief Executive Of-
ficer, will stand down from his role on 30 November
2013 and Brown will assume the role of CEO from
1 December 2013. Wilkes will remain with Fires-
tone as an Executive Director.
Brown is a former Joint Acting CEO and Chief
Finance Officer of the De Beers Group. His appoint-
ment, says Firestone, is in line with its strategy to
strengthen its executive management team ahead
of developing the Main Treatment Plant (MTP) at its
flagship Liqhobong diamond mine in the Lesotho
highlands.
Brown, aged 49, spent 20 years at the De Beers
Group. His early career included positions in the
finance divisions at
Teemane Diamond
Manufacturing in
Botswana and at
the Premier Mine
in South Africa. In
1999, he was ap-
pointed as Finance Manager for De Beers Global
Exploration and in 2001 he was appointed General
Manager for De Beers Geological Services in South
Africa. This move led to his Head of Finance role for
all De Beers companies in South Africa and then to
the post of CFO of De Beers Consolidated Mines.
In 2006, he was appointed De Beers Group CFO.
In August 2010, subsequent to the De Beers Group
CEO leaving, he was appointed Acting Joint CEO to
run the entire De Beers Group in tandem with his
CFO duties.
Mobile water treatment plants installed at New Vaal
the possible flooding of pits, but an environ-
mental risk in the event of an uncontrolled
discharge into the river.
Previously, the mine had effectively and re-
liably managed to contain surplus water by
reducing, minimising, reusing and separating
clean and dirty water streams to reduce its
operational footprint.
The implementation of these plants is con-
sistent with the significant investment Thermal
Coal has made into the research and develop-
ment of water treatment technologies over the
past decade, culminating in its ground-break-
ing eMalahleni Water Reclamation Plant which
desalinates water to potable quality from three
of its Mpumalanga-based mines.
New Vaal has formed a steering committee
Two of the largest mobile water treatment plants in the country have been installed at New Vaal (photo:
Anglo American).
with representatives from its operations and
Eskom, and will soon begin implementation
of a freeze crystallisation facility that will treat
brine formed as a by-product of the desali-
nation process, thereby removing 40 tonnes
of salt from the system on a daily basis. The
brine treatment plant will be designed, imple-
mented and operated by a well-established
player in the water treatment industry. The
entire project will run over a period of three
years.
The programme’s next stage involves in-
vestigating the possibility of using the salt
that will be produced as a marketable prod-
uct in the fertiliser and industrial explosives
industries.
Desalination involves processes to remove
a required amount of salt and other minerals
from saline water. This is achieved through a
process called reverse osmosis, whereby wa-
ter is passed through membranes that allow
the clean water through but retain the dis-
solved salts.
New Vaal GM Johan van Schalkwyk, says
the company is committed to effecting sus-
tainable progress in the treatment of mine
water.
“Anglo American aims to mine in an en-
vironmentally responsible manner, and we
have clearly stated our commitment to ef-
ficient water management. As such, we are
proud of the achievements of New Vaal in
implementing a lasting solution to its excess
water challenges.
“Moving forward, our company will remain
a recognised leader in investigating treatment
technologies, developing infrastructure and
partnering with our water stakeholders.”
F
irestone Diamonds to get new CEO
AIM-listed Botswana Diamonds has an-
nounced an agreement with Siseko Minerals
in respect of the 13-licence Brightstone block
Botswana Diamonds finalises Gope licence agreement
in the Gope area of Botswana, covering an
area of 6 518 km
2
. Under the terms of the
agreement, African Diamonds becomes op-
erator of the block and will earn into Bright-
stone by spending up to US$940 000 over
three years to earn 51 per cent.
Botswana Diamonds personnel have ana-
lysed all available geochemical, geophysical
and drilling log data from the Brightstone
licences and have identified a series of tar-
gets. Detailed work on the targets will com-
mence within weeks. This involves ground
work to identify the best locations to drill the
targets followed by drilling.
John Teeling, Chairman of Botswana Dia-
monds, commented, “It is a good time to be
in diamonds. In particular it is a very good
time to be in the Botswana diamond indus-
try. The emerging success of the new Karowe
mine, first discovered by the Botswana Dia-
mond founders, is increasing interest in the
country. Karowe is producing big, beautiful,
valuable diamonds. The KX36 discovery in
the Gope area and the development of the
Ghaghoo mine are further focusing attention
on the Gope region within Botswana. We are
farming into the Brightstone 13 licence block
because we are confident that we will find
previously unknown kimberlites.”
