African Mining November 2019 | Page 29

MINE EXCURSION  then transported to the port and sold to international clients,” says Brits. Metspar contains more than 80% calcium fl uorite, and is used in the pyrometallurgical metallurgical industry, mostly for smelting, as it reduces the temperature at which smelting takes place and therefore reduces energy consumption. The unique fl otation process at Nokeng includes a conditioning step that requires the temperature of the mixture to be increased to more than 60 degrees Celsius. Therefore, boilers had to be installed. The boilers were built and manufactured in Zimbabwe. The increased temperature signifi cantly improves the separation of the fl uorspar from the gangue (unwanted minerals). In Nokeng’s case, the Construction of the processing plant at Nokeng is complete, but contractors DRA and Minopex will still be on site for another few months. www. africanmining.co.za African Mining Publication African Mining African Mining  November 2019  27