Benguela General Treatment Plant
OVERALL WINNER | MINING WINNER
“ While there is tremendous merit across all of our entrants , as well as all our category winners ,” enthuses Gebremeskel , “ the SAISC Annual Awards judges were unanimous in their praise of our overall winner - which was also the winner of the Mining category - the Benguela General Treatment Plant mining facility , aboard the ‘ Benguela Gem ’, the world ’ s most advanced diamond recovery vessel . The Benguela Gem is owned by Debmarine Namibia , a 50 / 50 joint venture between De Beers Group and the government of the Republic of Namibia .”
The Benguela Gem is the product of international collaboration : designed in Norway and Poland , built in Romania and fitted out by De Beers Marine South Africa . Diamond recovery by Debmarine Namibia takes place at 90 to 150m below sea level . The exceptional design , fabrication and installation of the 3,000 ton diamond treatment plant on the vessel was carried out ahead of schedule by local engineers and fabricators in the midst of Covid-19 pandemic restrictions .
Gebremeskel advises : “ This project stood out in a number of different ways , and presented a first in the history of the Steel Awards : it operates off-shore , and is floating rather than being stationary and anchored - a truly distinctive applicant within the Awards categories . As a sea-faring structure , it is furthermore subject to unusual engineering loads from a naval engineering perspective .
The vessel , built for De Beers Marine operations , is unique in Africa , being able to carry out the entire undersea diamond dredging and treatment process .
From the vessel arriving at the end of September 2021 with an empty deck , it sailed again in December 2021 with a fully operational mine onboard .
This project was an exceptional showcase of the use and applications of steel featuring South African design , fabrication and construction for an international client .” The treatment plant was nominated by designers PBA Projects and completed in collaboration with De Beers Marine and 3C Metal Belmet , Namibia and local fabricators Steel Services and Allied Industries .
Steel Awards 93