Mine excursion
The Nitrovan which is used to produce high-strength low-alloy steel.
Three main assets exist under Bushveld Vanadium, being Bushveld
Vametco Alloys (Vametco), the Brits Vanadium Project, and the
Mokopane Vanadium Project. Bushveld Vametco is a mine and
processing facility located in Brits in the North West Province of
South Africa. Mining activities in the area started in 1967 under
the ownership of US company Union Carbide. In 2017, Bushveld
Minerals started getting involved by purchasing a 27% stake in the
company, which was under the ownership of EVRAZ Vametco
Holdings. Bushveld later increased its stake to 74% through a series
of transactions, therefore obtaining the controlling stake.
The Brits project is also based in the North West Province and
is adjacent to the Vametco mine. This project is a strike extension
of the Vametco mine. Phase two of the exploration programme has
been completed, with the maiden mineral resource estimate results
expected in the first quarter of 2019.
The Mokopane project is in Limpopo. According to William
Steinberg, Vametco’s works manager, the Mokopane project, located
north of the Bushveld Complex, has high grades of vanadium and
higher magnetite content — the vanadium exists in the magnetite.
A pre-feasibility study was completed in January 2016 and Bushveld
Minerals is working to secure a new order mining right.
Vametco mine, processing plant, and expansion
plans
Vametco is an integrated mining and processing plant situated 8km
to the north-east of Brits. The mine is an opencast operation along a
3.5km strike running west to east and dipping at between 14 and 20
degrees in a northerly direction. The mineral resource is estimated
to be 142Mt ( JORC) with average grades of 1.96% vanadium
pentoxide (V₂O₅) in magnetite. This includes ore reserves of 26Mt
( JORC), which have been shown to have some of the highest
in-magnetite V₂O₅ grades in the world, averaging 1.96% V₂O₅ in
magnetite.
The Vametco ore body is mined in nine layers with the upper,
intermediate, and lower seams. Looking at resource and reserves,
Vametco has a 40-year confirmed life of mine (LOM); however,
there are estimated resources of up to 100 years.
Between 1Mt and 1.5Mt of run of mine (ROM) ore is extracted
at Vametco per year. In 2018, Vametco produced 2 560Mt Nitrovan.
According to Steinberg, the figure could have been higher had it
not been for the stoppages from labour and communities that took
place during 2018. “There is an appetite to grow this number quite
aggressively,” he said.
The mine has 450 employees, including contractors. According to
Steinberg, most of the employees are from surrounding communities
and have the required skills and qualifications, which made things
slightly easier as Vametco did not have to recruit from outside of the
surrounding communities. He also said there was strong emphasis
on upskilling of Vametco employees across the board. With all their
employees, Vametco has an impressive health and safety record,
www.miningmirror.co.za
APRIL 2019 MINING MIRROR [15]
APRIL 2019 MINING MIRROR [15]