mining news
4
06.13
An update on the status of the Phase II ex-
pansion at the Moma Titanium Minerals Mine
in northern Mozambique, and on production,
market conditions and outlook, was provided
by Ireland’s Kenmare Resources at its recent
AGM in Dublin.
Kenmare reports that whilst cold commis-
sioning is still underway, processing of ore
through the new dredge and Wet Concentra-
tor Plant B (WCP B), producing Heavy Min-
eral Concentrate (HMC), has commenced.
Ore processing rates will gradually increase
from now as Kenmare moves into the ramp-
up phase of the Moma mine Phase II expan-
sion facilities.
Cold commissioning of the Wet High Inten-
sity Magnetic Separation (WHIMS) Plant is
also still underway, while processing of HMC
through this facility has also begun and com-
Sylvania Platinum, the low-cost PGM pro-
cessor and developer, has issued an update
on its +3 million ounce PGM development
project at Volspruit in the Bushveld region of
South Africa.
On 29 September 2011 Sylvania advised
that a Mining Right Application (MRA) for the
Volspruit project had been submitted. Sylva-
nia has been requested to supply additional
information to complete the Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA). This information
was planned to come from the regular flood
event on the Nyl River which flows in close
proximity to Sylvania’s proposed open-pit
mine. Since this flood event did not occur
this year, the board has decided to simulta-
neously withdraw and resubmit a new MRA,
thus allowing the groundwater specialist time
to complete the study.
According to Sylvania, this new submis-
sion is not expected to delay the project in
any way as the supply of power remains on
the critical path for the project with a deci-
sion on the EIA expected within 120 days of
submission of the new application.
There is no cost for the withdrawal and re-
submission and – since the new application
will contain all the previous work that has al-
ready been done – the cost of this additional
study and associated public meetings will be
minimal.
Nigel Trevarthen, Deputy Chief Executive
Officer, commented: “The company is deter-
mined to ensure the Nylsvley nature reserve,
situated approximately 40 km upstream of
the project area, is not impacted materially
by the mine’s operations and has taken this
decision to allow further studies to be com-
missioning of the Auxiliary Ilmenite Plant is at
an advanced stage. Integration of the existing
and expansion facilities in the Mineral Sepa-
ration Plant (MSP) will follow and ramp-up of
the expanded facilities is due to be complet-
ed during the fourth quarter of this year.
The capital cost estimate for the expan-
sion reported in the Kenmare half-yearly
results in August 2012 was US$350 million.
Since then the project schedule has extend-
ed with a resultant increase in costs. Demo-
bilisation of contractor personnel is on-going
and the negotiations to close out expansion
contracts will take some time to conclude.
Kenmare anticipates that the expansion
capital cost has escalated by approximately
10 % from that estimate, and says it will con-
tinue to manage remaining contractor costs
in order to bring the expansion to an efficient
Moma expansion now in commissioning phase
The third dredge at Moma fully commissioned and operating (photo: Kenmare Resources).
close as quickly as possible.
As anticipated, production of HMC has
been maintained at improved levels since
Wet Concentrator Plant A (WCP A) complet-
ed the transition from the Namalope Flats to
the top of the dunal plateau, where mining
will take place for at least the next 10 years.
Whilst the transition to the plateau was chal-
lenging, WCP A is now operating in an area
with mining conditions that are more suitable
for the two original dredges. This transition
is a once only event in the life of the ore-
body. Forecast mining conditions for WCP A,
based on detailed drilling analysis, are ex-
pected to be good for the balance of 2013
and through 2014.
The area currently being mined has higher
faces and low clay levels, which are expect-
ed to continue. Consequently, there was a
Sylvania Platinum to resubmit Volspruit MRA
pleted and thus the opportunity to better
model the impact of the mine design on the
environment. Since the impact on the over-
all project timeline is not affected, this action
should improve the likelihood of the project
being approved by the government and also
demonstrates the company’s commitment to
environmentally responsible mine design and
operation.”
The Volspruit project is situated in the
Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex
adjacent to the Nyl River. It is located down-
stream of the Nylsvley nature reserve and
18 km south of Mokopane.
Due to the on-going depressed platinum
price and generally weak market demand,
Sylvania also says its board is reviewing a
number of options with respect to the Vol-
spruit project. These include delaying the
start up, selling the project or relisting the
project as a new entity.
