SOUTH AFRICAN SUPPLIERS
says André Boilard, Senior Project Manager at DRA.“ At the time, the flow sheet had not been finalised and of course the layout had not been optimised and no one could confirm the final size of the building. Site mobilisation had to commence almost immediately, and getting everything in place was not an easy task, as absolutely nothing was prepared in advance.”
DRA decided to proceed on multiple fronts to try to save time, and simultaneously, narrow focus on fewer, yet value-adding potential partnerships.
“ Collaboration and the sharing of information between the parties made it possible to design and fabricate the necessary pieces that would become the concentrator in record time,” Boilard adds.
Firstly, DRA only approached five suppliers to bid for the structural steel supply and erection contract for the building, based on the existing feasibility study layout already completed by Toronto-listed Nemaska Lithium. After a rigorous analysis, Constructions Proco, with great expertise in steel construction and metal work and situated close by, was selected.
Secondly, DRA had to navigate the supply constraints of the local concrete preparation plants. Plants in the area were located too far from the site to supply the concrete to cast the foundations required for the project on such short notice. The company collaborated with pre-cast concrete firm Béton Préfabriqué du Québec to find a solution that would fit within DRA’ s time frame and meet the required standards of the client. This decision to manufacture prefabricated concrete foundations saved on time and money avoiding the below freezing temperature constraints of the area and reducing the on-site labour force.
At the same time, the DRA team was reviewing and optimising preliminary layouts incorporating changes made since the Nemaska Lithium feasibility study was completed. Geotechnical reports, site surveys and clearing and grubbing were done and temporary access roads to the site were built.
Although infrastructure was put in place quickly to receive the future concentrator, it was not without challenges posed by the various ecological and regulatory hurdles associated with doing business in remote northern Canada.“ We had to work in very difficult conditions with temperatures down to-35 ° C,” explains Boilard.
“ Furthermore, we encountered numerous unknown underground water sources, had to excavate more rock than originally estimated, persistently had to follow up on permit requests and had to take the hunting season into account as well.”
In October, Nemaska Lithium announced it had has started processing spodumene concentrate from the DRA-built plant at its Whabouchi mine through the thermal roasting section( calcination and acid baking) of the Phase 1 Plant. It was expected to take about three to four weeks to build an inventory of lithium sulphate to begin processing into battery grade lithium hydroxide. Processing will follow once there is a sufficient working inventory
However, despite the countless hindrances that DRA came across in managing the undertaking, the team was able to install the first column foundation four months into the project, and the last piece of wall siding was put in place nine days ahead of schedule, just before the Christmas break last year.
“ In engineering project terms, that has to be a record,” concludes Boilard.
Collaborations and acquisitions
Mintek has signed a Memorandum of Understanding( MoU) with Nigeria’ s Raw Materials Research and Development Council( RMRDC) to collaborate in technical research in the field of mineral processing and beneficiation to boost capacity in Nigeria and South Africa.
The MoU commits the two institutions to identify areas of research, and collaborate in projects through knowledge sharing and expertise in mineral processing for the furtherance of their respective activities and capacity building in the mineral sector.
The collaboration forms part of a MoU signed in 2013 by the South African government and the Nigerian government. The MoU outlines a partnership between South Africa and Nigeria in the field of mining, geology, metallurgy and minerals processing.
Mintek Acting CEO, David Msiza said:“ Mintek is well vested to play a collaborative role on the African continent and for the furtherance of mineral processing and beneficiation programmes in the Nigerian mining sector.”
RMRDC Director General / CEO, Dr Hussaini Doko Ibrahim, said,“ We are delighted to partner with Mintek, this collaboration will help our country with mineral processing, latest technologies, research and innovation. This partnership will also help with
commercialisation and diversification of the Nigerian economy.”
Elsewhere, in April 2016, SGS announced the completion of the acquisition of certain Bateman Projects assets, based in South Africa. Now known as SGS Bateman, is a total integrated solutions provider to the global mining, bulk materials handling and minerals beneficiation and processing sectors,“ offering innovative technological solutions and full process and commodity knowledge across the mining and minerals industry value chain. SGS Bateman manages the complete project lifecycle from concept to commissioning, maximising the success and profitability of a project through stateof-the-art process engineering and design, and leading-edge project execution systems. Comprehensive services for new process plants and brownfield upgrades cover a wide range of commodities and are tailored to both large and small projects. SGS Bateman’ s engineering, procurement and construction management( EPCM) skills have been proven on some of the most exacting mineral resource projects, in the most difficult of terrains. SGS Bateman‘ s Modular Plants division continues to be the leading supplier of cost effective, robust, easy to erect plants for the gold and diamond industries.”
In addition, SGS Bateman’ s range of project services has now been expanded to include: n Testwork at any of SGS‘ 11 metallurgical facilities and five mineralogy facilities. n Full NI 43-101 studies inclusive of the Mining, Resource and Reserve and Environmental studies. n Conceptual, prefeasibility and definitive feasibility studies. n Due-diligence studies and audits through SGS
Mine and Plant Services( MPS). n Design and detail engineering. n Project and construction management. n Modular plants for gold, diamonds and many other commodities. n Flexible contracting arrangements covering price, Project Management Consulting( PMC) or Owner’ s Representative, and Joint Venture( JV).
Mine safety
There remains an ongoing need to inform and educate the mining industry as a whole in terms of compliance to the legislated requirements as well as the correct application of Proximity Detection System( PDS) technology. This is according to Graeme Jardine, General Manager Field Services at Booyco Electronics, who says the company was recently afforded the opportunity to do this by the South African Colliery Engineers Association( SACEA).
In presenting Booyco Electronics’ PDS offering, the company’ s Managing Director Anton Lourens
52 International Mining | JANUARY 2018