2.9.1 |
Glen Douglas
Glen Douglas is situated in the Magisterial District of Vereeniging, Gauteng Province, South Africa, some 65km south of Johannesburg. Located at approximately latitude 26°31’S and longitude 28°04’E, the site is accessed via the R59 between Johannesburg and Vereeniging.
Glen Douglas is an open pit-mine producing products comprising metallurgical dolomite, aggregate and agricultural lime. The dolomite is sold to Mittal Steel’s Vanderbijlpark and Newcastle Works and the aggregate and lime to a wide range of customers in Gauteng and the Free State Province.
Exploration and development dates from 1954, and mining operations commenced in 1957. Total tonnes mined is some 18.4Mt producing some 17.3Mt of products.
Two pits are mined by the open pit and truck methods. The pits are designated B and C: B pit rock is high in silica (>2.5%) and supplies the aggregate industry,
while C pit rock contains <2.5% SiO2 and supplies the metallurgical industry, essentially Mittal Steel. The current pit strip ratio is approximately 1 : 1. About 1.5Mt of dolomite is mined per year.
Annual sales are approximately 1.4Mt of dolomite. This is distributed as follows:
- Steel industry – 50%;
- Aggregate – 47%; and
- Agricultural lime – 3%.
Product shipping is 50% by rail (essentially metallurgical grades) and 50% by road.
| Table 2.67 Glen Douglas: Historical Production |
| Year |
Tonnes treated (RoM) |
Metallurgical dolomite |
Aggregates |
Total Products |
| |
kt |
kt |
kt |
kt |
| 1991 – 2000 |
10.3 |
6.5 |
3.5 |
10.0 |
| 2001(F) |
1.0 |
0.6 |
0.4 |
1.0 |
| 2002(F) |
1.3 |
0.6 |
0.6 |
1.2 |
| 2003(F) |
1.4 |
0.6 |
0.6 |
1.2 |
| 2003(H2) |
0.7 |
0.3 |
0.3 |
0.6 |
| 2004(C) |
2.2 |
1.0 |
1.0 |
2.0 |
| 2005(C) |
1.5 |
0.7 |
0.7 |
1.3 |
| Total |
18.4 |
10.3 |
7.1 |
17.3 |
| (F) |
Financial Year ended 30 June. |
| (H2) |
Six months ended 31 December due to the change of Financial Year. |
| (C) |
Calendar Year ended 31 December. |
Table 2.68 gives summary details of the infrastructure currently servicing Glen Douglas, type of operation and projected life.
| Table 2.68 Glen Douglas:
Current Infrastructure |
| Type |
Infrastructure |
Detail |
| Mine Access |
A Pit and B Pit |
Long Life asset with operating capacity of 120ktpm RoM and 135ktpm
waste mined |
| Process Facilities |
No. 1 Plant |
Long life asset with operating capacity of 120ktpm comprising
conventional crushing circuits to produce Metallurgical dolomite and
Aggregate products |
|
Tailings Facilities |
Settling Pond |
Long life asset used for temporary storage of fines |
Table 2.69 gives a summary of the principal operating statistics for Glen Douglas.
|
Table 2.69 Glen Douglas: Historical Operating Statistics
|
| Statistics |
Units |
2002(F) |
2003(F) |
2003(H2) |
2004(C) |
2005(C) |
2006(C) |
| Production Statistics |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Tonnes Treated |
(kt) |
1,357 |
1,420 |
720 |
2,234 |
1,451 |
1,489 |
| Waste Mined |
(kt) |
1,207 |
1,407 |
790 |
2,221 |
1,525 |
1,750 |
| Stripping Ratio |
(tw : to) |
0.9 |
1.0 |
1.1 |
1.0 |
1.1 |
1.2 |
| Overall Yield |
(%) |
95 |
93 |
94 |
94 |
93 |
97 |
| Sales |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Metallurgical Dolomite |
(kt) |
560 |
642 |
337 |
997 |
669 |
720 |
| Aggregates |
(kt) |
650 |
585 |
292 |
998 |
656 |
680 |
| Agricultural lime |
(kt) |
94 |
94 |
36 |
110 |
21 |
46 |
| Total |
(kt) |
1,304 |
1,321 |
665 |
2,105 |
1,346 |
1,446 |
| Expenditure Statistics |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Total Cash Costs |
(ZARm) |
38.3 |
47.1 |
27.9 |
88.9 |
61.3 |
69.8 |
| Total Capital Expenditure |
(ZARm) |
3.2 |
3.9 |
0.4 |
7.3 |
5.4 |
13.4 |
| Expenditure Efficiencies |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Total Cash Costs |
(ZAR/t treated) |
28.2 |
33.2 |
38.7 |
39.8 |
42.3 |
46.9 |
| |
(ZAR/t sales) |
29.4 |
35.7 |
41.9 |
42.2 |
45.6 |
48.3 |
| (F) |
Financial Year ended 30 June. |
| (H2) |
Six months ended 31 December due to the change of Financial Year. |
| (C) |
Calendar Year ended 31 December. |
|
2.9.2 |
Kumba FerroAlloys
The Kumba FerroAlloys facility is located in Pretoria close to the Kumba head office. The plant is designed to produce 3ktpa atomized Crude ferrosilicon (“FeSi”) powder, but is currently producing 6ktpa following the upgrading of the plant and productivity improvements. The plant can be expanded.
FeSi is widely used in the iron ore and steel industry as a ferro-alloy in lump or granular form and contains 75% silicon. These lumps are diluted with scrap steel to contain 15% silicon, melted and atomised. In the atomised form FeSi powder consists of extremely fine spherical particles of the alloy for use in dense medium separation applicable to a wide variety of mineral extraction processes.
FeSi powder is made by atomisation of molten FeSi with a high-pressure stream of inert nitrogen gas. The result is a high-grade powder with superior qualities in respect of sphericity, degradation resistance, specific gravity and magnetic properties.
|
Table 2.70 Kumba FerroAlloys: Historical Operating Statistics
|
| Statistics |
Units |
2002(F) |
2003(F) |
2003(H2) |
2004(C) |
2005(C) |
2006(C) |
| Production Statistics |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Coarse Ferrosilicon |
(kt) |
2.48 |
3.38 |
1.86 |
3.74 |
3.86 |
4.01 |
| Fine Ferrosilicon |
(kt) |
1.69 |
1.74 |
0.72 |
1.90 |
2.17 |
2.26 |
| Other Ferrosilicon |
(kt) |
0.16 |
0.24 |
0.13 |
0.01 |
0.04 |
0.04 |
| Expenditure Statistics |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Production Costs |
(ZARm) |
18.3 |
23.7 |
10.7 |
29.4 |
34.4 |
36.9 |
| Total Capital Expenditure |
(ZARm) |
|
0.6 |
0.5 |
|
1.9 |
2.4 |
| Expenditure Efficiencies |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Cost per ton Coarse |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Ferrosilicon produced |
(ZARm/t) |
7,353 |
7,030 |
5,775 |
7,869 |
8,923 |
9,192 |
| (F) |
Financial Year ended 30 June. |
| (H2) |
Six months ended 31 December due to the change of Financial Year. |
| (C) |
Calendar Year ended 31 December. |
|
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