Our cover story this month takes a look at some of the ‘next generation’ products and systems developed by Orica over the past several years, including the award-winning WebGen™, the world’s first wireless initiating system, while our main project report covers the impressive Longonjo NdPr project in Angola, which is being developed by Pensana Metals.
We also have a special feature on Bulk Materials Handling in this issue with the focus being on three companies operating in this field - thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions South Africa, NEPEAN Conveyors, part of Australia’s NEPEAN group, and Flexicon.
Comment: Anglo’s Mark Cutifani makes the case for South Africa
Speaking at Anglo American’s recent end-of-year media evening, the group’s Chief Executive, Mark Cutifani, questioned the overwhelming negativity about South Africa, pointing out that the country ranks as Anglo’s best performing jurisdiction. He also said that South Africans did not give themselves credit for the “bold transition” from apartheid to a more equitable society. Read more …
Endeavour completes plant upgrade at Ity
Endeavour Mining has announced the successful completion of the 25 % volumetric upgrade of the carbon-in-leach (CIL) plant to 5 Mt/a at its Ity mine in Côte d’Ivoire. The Ity CIL plant, with an initial capacity of 4 Mt/a, was commissioned in April 2019. Following the commissioning, Endeavour launched optimisation and de-bottlenecking work to increase the plant capacity by 25 % for a minimal cost of between US$10 and US$15 million. Read more…
Teranga Gold to acquire Barrick’s Massawa project
Canada’s Teranga Gold, which operates the Sabodala gold mine in Senegal and the recently commissioned Wahgnion gold mine in Burkina Faso, is to acquire the Massawa gold project from Barrick. Massawa, said to be one of the highest-grade undeveloped gold deposits in Africa, is within trucking distance of the Sabodala plant. Teranga is planning to start feeding ore from Massawa into the Sabodala facility in the second half of 2020. Read more …
Orica to introduce WebGen™ to Africa’s mining industry.
According to Ravi Moodley, Orica’s Vice President Africa, introducing WebGen™, the world’s first wireless initiating system, to the African mining market will be a key focus for Orica’s African operation in 2020. In essence, WebGen™ provides for groups of in-hole primers to be wirelessly initiated by a firing command that communicates through rock, water and air. This removes constraints often imposed by the requirement of a physical connection to each primer in a blast and unlocks many safety and productivity benefits for customers. Read more …
Pace picks up at Longonjo
Pensana Metals is making excellent progress on its Longonjo NdPr project in Angola. The results of a positive Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) were announced in November 2019 and the company is now following up with a full Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS), scheduled for completion in June 2020. The project will exploit what Pensana says is one of the largest high-grade rare earth deposits om earth, with the focus being on the NdPr content of the mineralisation. Read more …
FEATURE: BULK MATERIALS HANDLING
Stacker installation highlights South Africa’s engineering skills
The ability of thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions South Africa to design, manufacture and install complex materials handling systems using mainly South African resources has been demonstrated by the recent commissioning of a 2 000 t/h stacker at an open-pit coal mine in Limpopo Province. The stacker was installed at an existing stockyard and thyssenkrupp had to meet some demanding requirements in terms of the machine’s profile. Read more …
NEPEAN offers full turnkey service for conveyor systems
A company which is fast making inroads into the conveyor field is NEPEAN Conveyors, based in Roodepoort near Johannesburg. Part of Australia’s NEPEAN Conveyors, the company, established in South Africa in the mid-90s, can offer a full turkey service – from engineering through to commissioning – to organisations needing conveying solutions. Included in its service offering is the refurbishment of conveyor structures. Read more …
Automated Flexicon system packages copper concentrate
Technology from Flexicon, which is represented in South Africa by Flexicon Africa, lies at the heart of an automated materials handling system at Vale Canada’s Sudbury complex in Ontario which packages copper concentrate into bulk bags. The installation incorporates dual Swing-Down™ bulk bag fillers, two 7,5 m roller conveyors and a central pallet dispenser from Flexicon and can package 24 to 32 t/h of concentrate. Read more …
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