mining news
16
08.13
A change in the market for Coarse Sinter
Product (CSP) produced at the open cast
Sishen mine has led to an innovative upgrade
to Kumba Iron Ore’s processing plant.
“Previously the client marketed his Coarse
Sinter (CS) product as a premium fine ore,”
says Ric Fry, Project Manager at DRA-MP.
“However, demand for the product disap-
peared when the client’s main customer
changed his requirements. As a result, the CS
required crushing to fines which added con-
siderable additional operating costs for the
fine ore crushers as well as a loss of revenue
due to the lower price of the fines product.
“A decision was then taken to upgrade
the processing plant to produce a saleable
product using the existing infrastructure. The
10 mm Lump Project, as the upgrade became
known, would see the CS separated into a
coarse and fine fraction. The coarse fraction
would then be blended into the existing DMS
and Jig lump product in order to change the
lump undersize from 8 mm to 6,3 mm. At the
same time, the fines fraction would feed into
the DMS fine product beds, changing the
DMS fines product top size to 6,3 mm. Sish-
en’s lump product is highly valued by the steel
industry as it can be fed directly into a blast
furnace without the need for pelletising.”
DRA undertook the design and engineering
of the R159 million brownfields project on an
EPCM basis. The work included a conveying
system comprising four units with a combined
length of 680 m together with transfer towers,
chutes, take-up structures, Geoscan support
Innovative upgrade to Sishen processing plant
A transfer tower forming part of the 10 mm Lump Project (photo: DRA).
structures, electrical, control and instrumen-
tation systems for co-stacking and distribut-
ing the Modified Coarse Sinter (MCS) product
to both Jig and DMS lump product beds.
“Cognisance was taken of the fact that the
plant operates on a 24/7 basis so design, con-
struction and commissioning were planned
so as to avoid impacting negatively on the cli-
ent’s other product streams,” says Fry. “The
upgrade came on line on 24 December 2012,
15 months after commencement. One of the
important factors that led to the success of
this project was the synergy among all of the
teams involved from DRA, the contractors
and the client, ensuring a smooth operation
from start to finish.
“By taking a proactive approach to an
unforeseen event, Kumba, with the help of
DRA, was able to ensure the profitability of
its product by simply modifying its process-
es, maintaining its reputation as a low cost
producer. This is of particular importance at a
time when budgets are tight and commodity
markets are volatile.”
Although Africa is still the continent with the
lowest per capita GDP, its nations include
many of the world’s fastest growing econo-
mies. Indeed, in the first decade of this centu-
ry, all ten of the fastest growing economies in
the world were in Africa, and African foreign
direct investment rose five-fold between 2001
and 2010. Africa has seen sustained growth
since 2000, with the boom itself being mainly
commodity driven.
However, as indicated in the ‘State of the
Market’ report on Africa from IntierraRMG,
the worldwide fall in exploration activity since
October 2011 has also been apparent in Af-
rica, where the malaise has been severe since
mid-2012. Drilling reports in the five months
to end-May this year slumped to just 250.
The annual figures have disguised this recent
slump, with total drilling activity on the conti-
nent increasing last year to an overall 1 240 re-
ports. Drilling reports had fallen to 790 in 2010
before climbing to a cumulative 1 127 in 2011.
Whatever the absolute level, gold has re-
tained a remarkably consistent share of the
total: 61 % in 2010 and 2011, 56 % in 2012
and 65 % over the first five months of this
year. Drilling reports for African gold peaked
in October 2011 at 83 prospects (and 80 the
Gold gets lion’s share of exploration spend
following month) but touched a low of 23
prospects in May.
As IntierraRMG’s Editorial Director, Chris
Hinde, states, “This represented over 85 %
of the drilling reports for May, with barely any
exploration on the continent for other metals
(there was a total of only 27 drilling reports).
Drilling for copper in Africa slumped to just
three reports in May.”
According to the IntierraRMG database
of almost 3 500 listed companies, a total of
US$829 million has been raised since end-
May 2011 for exploration in Africa. This fi-
nancing (incorporating convertible bonds)
includes money raised for prospecting, sam-
pling, exploration drilling, resource-definition
drilling, surveying and for preliminary met-
allurgical test work. Money raised for gold
exploration dominates the two-year ranking,
accounting for almost 57 % of the total. Some
way behind, the search for copper, coal and
iron ore accounts for only 7,9 %, 7,2 % and
6,3 %, respectively.
Given the dominance of gold exploration
in the financing objectives, it is no surprise
that West Africa accounts for over 41 % of
the African total. A further 18 % of the finance
raised over the past two years is dedicated to
exploration in the four Southern African na-
tions of Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa
and Zimbabwe.
TSX-listed MagIndustries Corp reports that a Con-
struction Engineering Supervision Contract has
been signed with Changsha Huaxing Construction
Supervision Co, Ltd (CHCS) to supervise engineer-
ing work related to the proposed 1,2 Mt/a Mengo
potash project in the Republic of Congo.
CHCS will supervise engineering work on the
seven major work modules and thirty-eight instal-
lations/systems of the project. The seven major
modules are: brine extraction and transportation,
processing plant, compaction plant, thermal power
plant, office/living quarters, off-plant works and a
loading jetty.
The contract comes into effect immediately and
terminates at the later of September 30, 2015 or
the date of mechanical completion of the project.
The contract provides remuneration to CHCS of
US$5,7 million plus a potential performance bonus
of US$815 000 related to the timeliness and quality
of its work.
K
ey appointment announced for Mengo
