PRODUCT News
66
MODERN MINING
May 2014
Primer on phosphate beneficiation
As the leading international resource for
technical information about mining and
related industries, the Society for Mining,
Metallurgy & Exploration Inc (SME) has
announced the availability of
Beneficiation
of Phosphate Ore
.
This new publication examines various
methods for processing phosphate rock,
an important mineral commodity used in
the production of phosphoric acid, which
has a wide variety of uses such as the pro-
duction of fertilisers, pharmaceuticals and
detergents.
This innovative publication covers a full
range of processes including the benefi-
ciation of: siliceous sedimentary phosphate
ores; high-MgO sedimentary phosphate
ores; and igneous phosphate ores.
The majority of phosphoric acid is
produced by the wet process, in which
phosphate rock reacts with sulphuric acid
to produce phosphoric acid and gypsum.
This wet process demands a phosphate
rock feed that meets certain specifications
to produce phosphoric acid efficiently and
economically.
Beneficiation of Phosphate Ore
thor-
oughly explains the methods used in the
beneficiation of different types of phos-
phate ores for use in the wet process. The
mineralogical properties of the two major
types of phosphate deposits, sedimentary
and igneous, are described, along with the
processing methods. The benefits and dis-
advantages of each process are discussed
in detail.
This hard cover book can be ordered
from
, and is also
available as an e-book from
.
org/ebooks
, book order No 391-5.
Ranked amongst the top crane hire com-
panies in the world, Johnson Crane Hire
(JCH) has long been distinguished as
the ‘smartest’ in its field. Qualifying this
statement, Peter Yaman, Sales Executive,
explains that this accolade was earned
through the company’s emphasis on pro-
viding more than just a crane hire service.
“Operating cranes involves a great deal
more than just lifting loads and moving
them from one place to another. In its
quest for providing a holistic lifting pack-
age, Johnson Crane Hire adopted the
SMART (Safety, Maintenance, Availability,
Reliability and Total cost effectiveness)
philosophy as its business credo,” he says.
Running the largest mobile crane fleet
in Africa is an immense undertaking, so it
is important that the company approach
each lift with due diligence and care. “We
provide cost effective total lifting solu-
tions that are appropriate to individual
customer requirements. Operating large
cranes is a specialised field that needs care-
ful planning. Elements such as CAD rigging
studies, comprehensive assessments,
method statements and risk assessments
must all be factored in,”Yaman explains.
Due to the nature of heavy lifts,
Johnson Crane Hire places safety at the
top of its checklist. This entails ensuring
that all lifting equipment is kept in opti-
mum condition through regular, proactive
maintenance schedules and ongoing
inspections by third party inspectorates.
Comprehensive workshop facilities,
technical expertise and superior systems
have earned Johnson Crane Hire the
reputation of owning the most well main-
tained lifting equipment in Africa. “All our
branches are equipped to undertake main-
tenance and our mechanics are capable of
completing various levels of repair. Major
repair work is undertaken at the compre-
hensively equipped national workshop
based in Germiston, Gauteng,”adds Yaman.
In addition to the systematic upkeep
of the company’s machines, Johnson
Crane Hire has a team of highly skilled
and trained operators. Not only are the
operators well versed in the actual oper-
ation of the cranes, but they are also
completely familiarised with the applica-
tion of comprehensively documented and
implemented safety systems. Compliance
with industry safety standards ensures that
these systems and the risk assessments
conducted before each lift form an integral
part of the safety culture ingrained in every
Johnson Crane Hire employee.
Yaman says that staff turnover in the
company is remarkably low, with many
employees clocking up service records of
30 years and more. “Many of the children
of our employees follow in their parents’
footsteps and are employed by Johnson
Crane Hire as crane operators. This is a rare
occurrence within any industry.”
In order to provide industry with best
practice heavy lifting, Johnson Crane Hire
operates its own comprehensive in-house
training facility in Vanderbijlpark.
Founded in 1976, Johnson Crane Hire
operates across the country with a fleet of
hydraulic and crawler cranes ranging from
8 to 750 tons, for both the short and long
term, on any type of project. The company
works together with customers to design
the optimum lifting solution supplying
professional operators and full supervision,
including all necessary rigging equipment,
in a single source supplier approach.
The Johnson Crane Hire South African
operation extends its services into Lesotho,
Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia,
Zimbabwe and other Southern African
countries on both an ad hoc and project
basis. The company has an acknowledged
track record in delivering appropriate
solutions for the power, petrochemical,
refinery, industrial, mining and civil infra-
structure industries, throughout Africa, on
a number of milestone projects.
The company’s reputation for qual-
ity service is attributable to a number of
factors including its dogmatic decision
to purchase only tried and proven brand
names like Tadano, Grove, Liebherr and
Terex, including the only 750-ton crawler
crane in Africa.
Peter Yaman, Johnson Crane Hire, tel (+27 11) 455-9242
JCH provides holistic lifting packages
Johnson Crane Hire imported the only 750-ton lattice
boom crawler crane in Africa into its heavy lift fleet.
