Industry intelligence
A recent scoping study on Orion
Minerals’ Prieska project in the Northern
Cape, states that the operation has the
potential to become a significant low-cost
zinc and copper concentrate producer.
According to Errol Smart, managing
director at Orion Minerals, the scoping
study confirmed a robust first phase with
solid cash flow potential and a rapid
payback of only three years after the first
production.
“The study indicates solid operating
margins, with the peak funding of
AUD320-million. This is inclusive of 20%
contingency, recovered within the first
third of mine life, all supported by current
indicated resources yielding an NPV of
AUD420-million,” says Smart.
The scoping study
confirmed a robust first
phase with solid cash
flow potential and a
rapid payback of only
three years after the
first production.
Smart says that the current phase one
scoping study has examined extracting
only 75% of the total mineral resource
at the mean mineral resource grade. This
supports a 2.4 million tonne per annum
(Mtpa) operation, producing about 70–80
kilotons (kt) of zinc and 22kt of copper in
concentrates per annum.
Prieska is about 290km south-west of
the city of Kimberley in the Northern
Cape. The project area encompasses the
historical Prieska copper mine, which
was profitably operated by Anglovaal
as an underground zinc and copper
mine exploiting the Copperton deposit
between 1971 and 1991.
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Data to drive Black Mountain
Vedanta Zinc International’s Black
Mountain Mining (BMM) operations, close
to Aggeneys in the Northern Cape province
of South Africa, continues its digitalisation
drive. Original equipment manufacturer
(OEM) Sandvik recently delivered a full
OptiMine platform to BMM. The platform
includes equipment and asset location
tracking, planning and task management,
scheduling, monitoring equipment, and
operations and analytics. The scope includes
trucks, loaders, and drills.
“OptiMine gives us end-to-end visibility
and control over our underground mining
operations,” says Andre Trytsman, general
manager at BMM. “It was important to
us to have the full scope, from scheduling
to analytics, to ensure we’re optimised for
the safest and most productive operation
possible. The OptiMine platform is the
next step in Black Mountain’s digital
journey, delivering efficiency and increasing
operational performance, allowing us to
unlock more value, “says Trytsman.
BMM operations comprises two
underground operations, Deeps and
Swartberg, and a processing plant. The
Deeps shaft produces copper, lead, and
zinc, with silver as a by-product, and the
Swartberg mine produces primarily copper
and lead, with silver as a by-product. BMM
is also developing the Gamsberg Project
at a new zinc mine in the Northern Cape
district of South Africa.
Makhado pockets more rights
Coal mining company Baobab Mining and
Exploration, a subsidiary of MC Mining,
has acquired two properties (Lukin and
Salaita) that are key surface rights required
for its Makhado hard coking and thermal
coal project. Makhado is located in Limpopo
Province.
According to David Brown, CEO at MC
Mining, the payment of the initial R35-
million tranche has now been made. “The
acquisition of Lukin and Salaita completes the
suite of surface rights required for our flagship
Makhado Project. The transaction will facilitate
the commencement of the final geotechnical
drilling and related studies required for the
siting of the mine’s infrastructure. In parallel,
we continue to progress off-take negotiations
for the balance of the Makhado coking and
thermal coal as well as discussions with
potential funders,” says Brown.
SA could benefit from ash
Innovative South African entrepreneurs
could benefit significantly from tonnes of
coal ash generated by Eskom, Sasol, and
other smaller operators.
South African generators produce about
50 million tons of ash a year, of which
about 10% is used in the manufacture of
cement powder and concrete bricks for
the building industry. Coal ash is also
used to treat acid mine drainage and to
remediate soil for agriculture and other
land uses. In addition, several experts have
Prieska promises robust
potential
Mark Hunter, general manager at SACAA.
Coal ash is also
used to treat acid
mine drainage.
identified other uses including alternative
building products, volumisers for plastics
manufacture, and contouring for road, rail,
and landscaping infrastructure.
With the South African government’s
assistance, the South African Coal Ash
Association (SACAA) has been given
a target to increase ash usage to 20% of
offtake and to create 26 000 new jobs
in the process within the next five years.
Start-up ash operations can expect some
assistance from government, generators,
SACAA, and academics to extract the
maximum potential out of ideas that are
deemed to be viable.
According to Mark Hunter, general
manager at SACAA, the association is
looking for industrial entrepreneurs to
assist in identifying and developing viable
business opportunities for the use of waste
ash generated by boilers.
MARCH 2019 MINING MIRROR [9]