South Africa’s fourth black-controlled manganese mining development, the Kudumane manganese mine, is set to start the construction of its processing plant next year, which is scheduled to produce first ore in April 2014.

 

Currently, the Northern Cape mine, situated about 1 km from Hotazel, is 90% developed.

 

“Production started at the end of November and we are planning to complete mine development by March next year,” says Kudumane mine manager Dr Schalk van der Merwe.

 

The R1.5-billion project, which is owned by manganese miner Kudumane Manganese Resources, performed its first blast in May. Initially, the Kudumane ore reserve will be mined using opencast methods at a rate of 1.5-million tons a year, eventually increasing to 2.5-million tons a year. As the ore reserve becomes deeper, Kudumane will adopt underground mining methods.

 

Van der Merwe explains that the first stage of the Kudumane project involves building the bulk-sampling plant, which should be completed by the end of this year.

“We are also currently busy with the second stage – the construction of the processing plant – for which engineering is set to start in February 2013.”

 

He notes that the processing plant project is expected to be approved in January 2013, with construction set to start in June. The mechanical engineering of the processing plant components is expected to be completed by December next year.

 

In May 2008, Van der Merwe told Mining Weekly that the lack of rail capacity and the need to boost the Northern Cape economy was the business case for smelting inland. However, plans to improve rail infrastructure are under way.

 

Ore will be trucked from the mine to Durban, in KwaZulu-Natal, and railed to Port Elizabeth, in the Eastern Cape, with eventual export from the proposed Coega manganese terminal. South African port operator Transnet Port Terminals has confirmed that it will relocate the current export manganese facility from Port Elizabeth to a new two-berth facility at the deep-water Port of Ngqura by 2015/16, which it says will also facilitate an expan- sion of South Africa’s manganese export capacity.

 

“There are also a lot of other infrastructure development projects that are taking place, as Kudumane Manganese is building an 8.3 km railway siding [a short stretch of railway track connected to a main line] for future loading of manganese, as well as bulk services, offices and roads. Other developments include an automated 3 500 t/h rapid loading station, road trucks with a loading capacity of 300 t/h, a crushing and screening plant, as well as storage facilities to handle the mine’s residue,” Van der Merwe explains.

 

He says the construction of a sintering plant is also in the pipeline, noting that this will allow the mine to ship out ore after it has undergone a pre-smelting process.

 

 

The project is not only situated in the remote environment of the Kalahari desert but is also operating in one of the poorest regions in South Africa. Kudumane Manganese hopes that all the developments in the area will be able to provide employment opportunities.

 

“At peak production, we hope to employ between 2 000 and 2 500 people from the surrounding communities,” says Van der Merwe.

 

Kudumane Manganese mentions that most employment opportunities at the mine will be offered to unemployed people living in the areas governed by the John Taolo Gaetsewe district municipality.

 

“South Africa’s Mining Charter states that a mining company should use its resources to the benefit of the area in which it operates. As a result, we are engaging with other mines in the Kalahari manganese field to identify existing sustainability initiatives. “We are also talking to local communi- ties to identify their needs,” says Van der Merwe.