To date 30 exploration boreholes have been drilled on site, of which 28 have been logged, analysed and included in the resource estimate. The remaining 2 holes will be included at a later stage. The results of the analysis are summarised in the table below.
|
Mineral
Resource Statement (March 2008) |
|
Category
|
Total area
(m²) |
Geological
loss (%) |
Ore>35% Mn Tonnes |
Mn (%) |
Width
(m²) |
|
Indicated
|
2 307 200 |
5.8
|
59 002 688 |
38.4
|
7.39
|
|
Inferred
|
1 578 400 |
5.8
|
40 370 918 |
38.8
|
7.40
|
|
Total
|
3 885 600 |
5.8
|
99 373 605 |
38.6
|
7.40 |
The mine will be accessed by two vertical shafts. The main shaft will be 9m in diameter and will intersect the ore body at 250m. This shaft will be used for men and machinery access as well as for inlet ventilation and the hoisting of ore. The secondary shaft of 6m diameter will be for return ventilation and will serve as an emergency outlet.
The mine will be designed to produce 3 million tons of run of mine ore per annum. The mining method to be used will be room and pillar and will be completely mechanized using trackless machines. The stopes will be 8m in width by 6m in height and 6m by 6m pillars for the support of the roof will be left in situ. The ore drilled, then blasted and loaded and hauled to either one of two mobile crushing stations in which the ore will be reduced in size to 1 50mm. The sized ore will be conveyed by belt from the crushing stations the shaft silos, from where it will be hoisted to surface.
Ore from the shaft will be directed to the run of mine stockpile from where it will be routed to the secondary and tertiary crushing and screening circuits. In the section of the plant the size of the ore will be reduced to minus 6mm, which is the size required for the sinter process.
The need for the sinter plant stems from the fact that the carbonate ore from the Kalahari Manganese Feild tends to break up on heating as the carbon dioxide contained in the calcium and magnesium carbonates is driven from the ore. When ore of this type is fed to a conventional furnace there is invariably a build-up of fine material within the furnace chamber which then blocks the path of the escaping gas. The build-up of gas can result in explosions from time to time which can cause damage to equipment above the furnace - and in severe cases even loss of life. In the sintering process, by contrast, the calcination reaction occurs in the fine ore within the sinter bed and the gases are allowed to escape in a controlled manner. The fine ore is also agglomerated by the heat generated by the fuel in the sinter bed. The use of sinter in the furnace results in a far superior operation of these units.
The sinter plant will have an output of 2.4 million tons per annum. The difference between this tonnage and the 3 million tons run of mine ore is essentially the C02 that is driven from the ore, which upgrades the solid content of the ore. A table showing the ore and projected sinter grades is given in the table below.
|
Expected Grades of the Ore and Sinter |
|
Ore Type |
Mn % |
Fe % |
Mn/Fe |
Mn+ Fe |
SiOz |
AIZ03 % |
CaO % |
MgO % |
KP % |
Nap% |
PP5% |
LOI% |
|
ROM |
38.6 |
4.54 |
8.77 |
44.16 |
5.20 |
0.31 |
13.12 |
3.40 |
0.02 |
0.03 |
0.04 |
15.47 |
|
Sinter |
46.87 |
5.36 |
8.77 |
52.23 |
6.15 |
0.37 |
15.53 |
4.02 |
0.02 |
0.03 |
0.05 |
0.00 |
The sinter plant will be a traveling grate type machine which will produce a sinter which is 46% manganese. Other essential units will be a raw material mixer, a hot spiked roll crusher, a product crushing and screening plant and a dust extraction plant capable of performing to ISO 14000 environmental standards. A coke milling facility will also be required. Mine infrastructure The main item of infrastructure will be the construction of a 132 kV power line from Eskom's Ferrum substation to the mine site over a distance of 75 km.
The main item of infrastructure will be the construction of a 132 kV power line from Eskom's Ferrum substation to the mine site over a distance of 75 km.
A railway spur will be built from the load out station at the plant to join the Transnet railway line to Port Elizabeth near to the Hotazel Station. The sinter will be railed to Coega in Block Load Trains consisting of 104 wagons and will be delivered either to the Smelter or to the Port. The smelter will consume approximately 700 000 tons of the sinter per annum, leaving 1.7 million tons per annum for export.
The smelter will be constructed in Zone 6 of the Industrial Development Zone at Coega and will have a capacity of 320 000 tons of High Carbon Ferromanganese per annum. This plant will initially be equipped with three 63 MVA or four 48 MVA closed submerged arc electric furnaces which will have the capability of producing both high carbon ferromanganese and silico manganese. The facility will be designed to be expandable.
The capital estimated to complete the project can roughly be broken down as per the table below.
|
Estimated Capital Requirement of the Project |
|
Item |
Capital Amount (R Millions) |
|
Mine and Sinter Complex
|
2,000 |
|
Smelter Complex |
1,500 |
|
Infrastructure and Services |
880 |
|
Total
|
4,380 |
|
