mining news
16
07.13
b
auma Africa show will cement SA-German ties
Elaine Crewe, CEO of MMI South Africa, states that
the first bauma event in Africa represents an im-
portant aspect of the growing partnership between
South Africa and Germany, particularly in the min-
ing and construction sectors.
bauma Africa, International Trade Fair for Con-
struction Machinery, Building Material Machines,
Mining Machines and Construction Vehicles, will
take place for the first time in Africa from 18 to
21 September at Gallagher Convention Centre in
Johannesburg.
“As the first bauma started in Germany, it is, es-
sentially, a German event. Now that we are bring-
ing the show to Africa, it is important for the two
countries to maintain a strong relationship,” says
Crewe.
She adds that the event has been successful
in Germany, India (a joint venture with AEM) and
China and that the company hopes to continue this
success in Africa.
“The event will serve as a platform to introduce
major German players to the South African and Af-
rican markets. This will result in increased foreign
investment in both mining and construction, ben-
efitting the economy of South Africa and Africa as
well,” she says.
Crewe notes that the South Africa-Germany
partnership also adds a sense of credibility to the
event.
“Germany will occupy one of the nine country
pavilions at bauma Africa, which is set to be the
largest German pavilion at any African event,” she
states. Currently, 112 German companies have
registered for bauma Africa, including major com-
panies such as Bauer, Benninghoven, ELBA-WERK,
Herrenknecht, Wacker Neuson and Wirtgen.
North River Resources plc, the AIM-listed re-
source company active in Namibia and Mo-
zambique, has announced its results for the
year to 31 December 2012.
In his ‘Managing Director’s Statement’,
Martin French says the company has now de-
cided to focus its efforts on re-opening the
Namib lead-zinc mine near Swakopmund in
Namibia. “The Board believes that the pros-
pects of re-opening the Namib mine are
good. Adjacent to the mined-out area are a
number of orebodies on strike that have been
drilled to a depth of around 200 m. There is
strong potential that these, and the mined-
out orebodies, continue at depth, and that
further orebodies will be appraised close to
the mine, or in the local vicinity, yielding the
required tonnages to re-open a high grade
mine,” he says.
“Significant work has been undertaken
during 2012 on the Namib project. The bot-
tom two levels of the mine were dewatered
from September 2011 to April 2012 through
the pumping out of approximately 15 million
litres of water. We believe when the mine was
last in operation the water had entered, via
a fault, from the slime pit and had not been
correctly disposed of, and as a result was
effectively re-circulated into the mine. It is
also possible that the flash floods in the area,
which generally only occur once every few
years, may have deposited some additional
water. The mine is now dry and we do not
expect water to be an on-going issue at this
depth in future. However, water may be pres-
ent at near mine targets.
“Dewatering of the mine allowed 3D mod-
elling, a photographic survey and a 600 m
channel sampling programme to be conduct-
ed at the lower levels, producing some en-
couraging results and locating pods of high
grade ore with up to 20 per cent contained
metal. We expect the quantity of in-situ ore
identified within the old mine structure to be
between 50 000 and 100 000 tonnes. This ore
Australia’s Resource Generation (ResGen)
has signed a binding term sheet for a US$55,3
million loan facility with Noble Resources In-
North River now focused on Namib lead/zinc project
was due to be mined before the operation
was shut down in 1992, due to low commod-
ity prices and unions problems, and is signifi-
cant because it is so readily accessible. Initial
calculations indicate that such ore could ac-
count for as much as half a year’s resource
for the mine’s production plan.”
According to French, the surveys carried
out in 2012, in conjunction with the surface
drilling programme conducted by Kalahari
Minerals in 2007, have enabled the delinea-
tion of a maiden JORC resource of 668 000
tonnes at 6,6 per cent Zn, 2,5 per cent Pb,
46 g/t Ag and 33 g/t In (indium).
“In addition to exploration data, we have
also located historical production data,”
French continues. “We have ascertained that
the mine produced at least 104 000 tonnes
of concentrate, worth in excess of US$100
million in revenue at today’s commodity
prices and normal recovery returns. This con-
centrate was extracted from approximately
700 000 tonnes of ore mined to a depth of
around 200 m. We calculate that the head
grade would have been about 10 per cent
combined lead and zinc contained metal.”
A Conceptual Engineering Study (CES) and
Development Plan for Namib was developed
throughout 2012 and presented in Q4 2012 to
the Board for review. The CES will provide im-
portant groundwork for a pre-feasibility study
and will consequently help accelerate the de-
velopment of the project, notes French.
“Following its review of the CES, the Board
has initiated a three-stage programme for
the Namib project,” says French. “Stage One
(designated ‘proof-of-concept’) will comprise
further drilling and geophysics over the com-
ing months designed to better understand
the extent and the scope of the orebody
around the historic mine. We wish to inves-
tigate three targets along strike of existing
orebodies very close to the mine site, and
examine the orebodies at depth via drilling
from surface and down hole electromagnetic
probes (DHEM). This will hopefully give the
company a better feel for the longer-term po-
tential of the mine and provide clearer targets
for resource drilling.
“Stage Two is anticipated to largely com-
prise resource drilling, much of it probably
underground, and possibly concurrently with
producing the remaining studies and reports
necessary to support an application for a
mining licence. Stage Three would comprise
the development of the mine, and could be
completed within a year at low cost by install-
ing modular units.
“We are currently planning for a 200 000 t/a
processing plant which will make use of the
existing excellent road, and power infra-
structure. Plant equipment of this scale can
be bought off the shelf and in modular form,
thereby keeping costs down. We anticipate
capacity at Walvis Bay port, located 60 km
away, to import the required capital equip-
ment during development and to export the
concentrate (via container) during produc-
tion. The town of Swakopmund is located
only 20 km along the Trans-Kalahari Highway
from the mine and therefore we will probably
not have to build worker accommodation on
site. The project benefits from being small
and having established infrastructure, re-
ducing the anticipated capital expenditure,”
French concludes.
ResGen negotiates loan facility for rail link
ternational, a wholly owned subsidiary of the
Noble Group, which will be used for construc-
tion of the Boikarabelo rail link.
The 38 km rail link from the Boikarabelo
mine in the Waterberg coalfield to the exist-
ing Transnet Freight Rail network is one of
the longer lead time items for the construc-
tion of the mine. The loan will have a term of
eight years and will begin to be drawn down –
allowing construction to commence – as
soon as possible.
Paul Jury, MD, said: “Commencing the rail
link is a major catalyst for the construction of
the Boikarabelo coal mine. The loan enabling
the works is also another innovative example
of our efforts to finance construction and
mitigate completion risk. The knock-on effect
of this construction activity is significant in
terms of physical site establishment, as well
as providing a stimulus for further funding of
the remaining construction.
“It complements action already undertaken
with respect to mobile equipment and mate-
rial handling leveraged funding, in addition to
the continuing negotiations with ten banks for
project finance.”
