PROJECTS AND EXPLORATION
FORTESCUE DEVELOPS 2
BLOCKS
• Location: Guinea
• Phase: Development
• Mineral: Iron-ore
Australia's Fortescue Metals Group confirmed that it has
submitted a bid to develop two blocks in the giant Simandou
iron-ore deposit in Guinea.
Last year, Reuters reported that Fortescue and Guinea's biggest
bauxite exporter SMB-Winning were the last two bidders in the
running for the rights to develop the two blocks.
Speculation emerged in July 2019 that Fortescue may be
interested in the deposit after chairman Andrew Forrest was
pictured on social media among a group of potential investors at
a Liberian rail line.
Guinea has struggled for decades to develop the Simandou
deposit which is among the world's biggest and contains billions
of tonnes of high-grade iron ore, increasingly in demand as steel
mills try to lower carbon emissions.
study at its subsidiary Ivanplats’ Platreef Platinum Group Metals
(PGM) project close to Mokopane in the Limpopo province of
South Africa. The feasibility study is on a smaller-scale, early-
stage development using Shaft 1 as a production shaft.
Spot prices of palladium and rhodium, two key metals contained
in the Platreef ore, have soared in recent months, propelling
Platreef’s ‘metals-price basket’ to a new, all-time high. Platreef
has an estimated 26.8 million ounces of palladium in current
Indicated Mineral Resources, and an additional 43 million ounces
in current Inferred Mineral Resources.
Platreef’s Shaft 1 is currently at a depth of 957m below surface. It
is scheduled to be completed at 1 000m at the end of July 2020.
Work on Shaft 1’s 950m level station (the shaft’s third and final
station) is expected to be completed in March 2020.
OPERATIONS RESUME AT RBM
• Location: South Africa
• Phase: Production
• Mineral: Mineral sands
Simandou has been mired in protracted legal disputes, while the
high cost of infrastructure to transport the ore out of the remote
south-eastern corner of Guinea has also put a dampener on
potential developers' enthusiasm.
The government insists that ore from Simandou must be exported
through Guinea, requiring the developer to build a 650 km railway
to Guinea's coast as well as a deep-water port, taking the overall
cost of developing the deposit to an estimated USD23-billion.
Simandou blocks 3 and 4 are owned by a joint venture of Rio Tinto,
China Aluminium Corp (Chinalco), and the Guinean government.
OBUASI POURS FIRST GOLD
• Location: Ghana
• Phase: Production
AngloGold Ashanti recently poured first gold at the Obuasi
mine in Ghana, five years after mining activities were suspended
in 2014. Construction of the first phase of the redevelopment
project was completed on time and on budget late last year.
Following a ramp-up period, Obuasi will target a mining rate of
2 000 tonnes per day (t/d) in 2020, climbing to 4 000 t/d by year-
end. The mine expects to produce gold at an average run-rate of
350 000 ounces per year (Oz/y) for the first ten years, and above
400 000 oz/y over the life of mine at all-in sustaining cost of about
USD800 per ounce.
PLATREEF FAST TRACKS
DEVELOPMENT
• Location: South Africa
• Phase: Development
• Mineral: PGM
Canadian company Ivanhoe Mines is fast tracking the feasibility
4
African Mining February 2020
• Mineral: Gold
Rio Tinto resumed mining operations at Richard Bay Minerals, their
mineral sands mine, early in January 2020.
Global mining company Rio Tinto has resumed operations at
Richards Bay Minerals (RBM), their mineral sands project in
northern Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa.
RBM was forced to shut down late last year after violent
protests threatened the safety of workers and the
communities surrounding the mine. The company restarted
operations when order was restored following discussions
between stakeholders, mine management and the premier of
KwaZulu-Natal, Sihle Zikalala.
According to Bold Baatar, chief executive Energy and Minerals
at Rio Tinto, a phased restart is now in progress across the
operation, with RBM expected to return to full operations in
January, leading to regular production in early 2020. “Rio Tinto
is contacting customers who were advised of a force majeure in
their supply that this has now been lifted. Rio Tinto will review
the restart of the Zulti South project after normalisation of
operations at RBM,” says Baatar.
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