Industry intelligence
Drivers get bird’s-eye view
of Mogalakwena
Anglo American Platinum recently bought
two Kom-Vision-equipped Komatsu 930E
earthmoving vehicles into production at the
Mogalakwena Complex. The Kom-Vision
technology is a significant step towards
improving safety at the mine, as it gives the
truck operator a 360-degree bird’s-eye view
and significantly reduces the risks associated
with a human–machine interface.
The new system has an additional eight
radars — over and above the current standard
of front and rear radars — and six cameras
that provide zero-metre visibility of the
truck’s footprint. According to Richard
Cox, Mogalakwena Mine’s general manager,
this technology sets a new benchmark. “It
improves our ability to integrate into future
collision-avoidance systems. In line with
our strategy of FutureSmart Mining, it
will generate close-to-real-time health and
performance data that will support us in
optimising our operations,” says Cox.
Chris Griffith, CEO at Anglo American
Platinum, says that investing in this
technology is a major step towards increasing
safety levels at the company’s mines. “This
technology will eliminate a number of risks
and we look forward to benefitting from the
improved safety and operational features of
these trucks,” says Griffith.
The new trucks will be the first
earthmoving vehicles at Mogalakwena
to fully integrate a range of business
improvement initiatives, including
collision-avoidance-ready technology; a
tyre monitoring system; a safety standard
fuel-saving card and extended fuel tank;
an optimised payload system for payload
monitoring; an Ansul foam fire protection
system that combines dry powder with foam;
and a lightweight bowl.
[4] MINING MIRROR JANUARY 2019
SRK Consulting (SA) engineers and scientists offered valuable insights to the MRREC delegation
visiting South Africa recently.
A Chinese mining sector delegation visiting
South Africa recently was able to gain valuable
insights from specialist engineers and scientists
from SRK Consulting (SA) about factors that
affect mineral resource and mineral reserve
reporting and valuation. The delegation
comprised members of the Mineral Resources
and Reserves Evaluation Centre (MRREC) of
the Ministry of Natural Resources in Beijing,
who were hosted by South Africa’s Samcodes
Standards Committee (SSC).
The 20-member delegation visited South
Africa as China works towards becoming
the 14th member of the Committee for
Mineral Reserves International Reporting
Standards (CRIRSCO), which provides
common standards for reporting of
exploration results, mineral resources, and
mineral reserves — giving investors and
other stakeholders greater confidence in the
value of mineral assets and the viability of
mining projects.
Multotec’s plant to treat Oman’s water
Anglo American Platinum has announced
the extension of a contract with Zizwe
Batlase for the provision of strip-mining
services at its Amandelbult Complex in
the Limpopo province. Zizwe Batlase
is 51% owned by the local community
of Baphalane through the Baphalane
Community Trust, named Batlase.
The contract enables Zizwe Batlase to
provide opportunities such as employment,
SMME development, infrastructure
development, and business opportunities
to local and small businesses in the
community. This is the largest localised
community project at Amandelbult and
will increase the mine’s host historically
disadvantaged (HDSA) spend by 6%.
SA scientists share insights with Chinese
Anglo creates local jobs
Carien Spagnuolo, senior process engineer
at Multotec Process Equipment.
After extensive test work and design,
minerals processing specialist Multotec
Group is commissioning a full‑scale
Desalx plant to treat wastewater from
a flue gas desulphurisation scrubber, at
a minerals processing plant in Oman
in the Middle East.
According to Carien Spagnuolo,
senior process engineer at Multotec
Process Equipment, the Desalx
technology is being combined with
more traditional technologies, to
achieve water recoveries exceeding
90%.
“The pyro-metallurgical antimony
plant in which we are installing
at this facility, is located in a very
water-constrained area, requiring
a high level of water recovery and
permitting no liquid effluent from the
site,” says Spagnuolo. “The antimony
roaster produces wastewater with
high levels of heavy metals, including
antimony and arsenic, which need
to be precipitated in a pre-treatment
phase,” says Spagnuolo.
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