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GlaxoSmithKline - The Race To Vaccinate A Planet
Mining Feature
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Make no mistake about it, at the time of Alphamin’s acquisition of the site in 2011, the Bisie tin project, in spite of its impressive, proven reserves of resource, was a risky move on the part of Alphamin. Fortunately, however, it was a risk that paid off. Tin prices are at an all-time high as of July 2021 and, driven by the greening and electrification of economies globally, prices are only heading one way in the medium-term: up.
Fast-forwarding to today, Bisie is home to Alphamin’s Mpama North mine, a truly world-class operation which has drawn great interest from the mining world due to the uncommonly high tin grade of its resource. Whereas the average global head feed grade of tin mines is rarely higher than 1%, Mpama North has a grading in excess of 4% - equal to 40kg of tin per ton of ore mined, making the project an astonishingly low-cost venture that more than compensates for the difficulty in developing and building the mine in the first place:
And difficult it was. Located deep as it is in an undeveloped area of North Kivu, construction of Mpama North was a complex and arduous undertaking. Building a mine is no small task in itself, but the logistics of first building a 30km access road to connect the Bisie project, which was previously only accessible by helicopter or a one-day jungle walk, to the outside world was a major challenge. But difficult as the project build was, construction of Mpama North and its associated infrastructure was completed between 2017 and 2019, on time and on budget.
The success of the project is testament to the hard work and enterprise of the men and women who made the insurmountable achievable, the results of which can be seen at Bisie today. The underground mine is both safe and efficient, the site is now easily accessible, and Alphamin’s state-of-the-art processing plant consistently achieves output of up to 10,000 tonnes of contained tin per annum, amounting to roughly 3% of the world’s mined tin supply. Over the course of its 12-year lifespan, Bisie is projected to produce 152,300 tons of high-grade tin and will operate in the lowest cost quartile of all tin producers:
Maritz Smith, CEO, Alphamin Resources
Alphamin Resources
“The processing plant was carefully designed to be as simple as possible. This was achieved using primarily gravity separation, with a small float at the end to eliminate impurities in the final concentrate. This simplicity allows us to keep our costs and power consumption modest, while obtaining good recoveries of around 72%.
At present our all-in sustaining costs are between US$10,000 and US$12,000 per tonne, within the lowest quartile of the global cost curve. These are planned to be lowered further as the tin concentrate production process is further refined and more volume is added.”
Clearly these are heady times for Alphamin and operations are going from strength to strength, however Mpama North is just the beginning of its’ leadership team’s plan – it is a ‘starter project’ that very much represents the beginning, not the end of Alphamin’s plans.
Alphamin Resources
“We find ourselves in a very strong position,” Maritz Smith, CEO of Alphamin, announced. “We are clearly in the right commodity. We don’t see any Greenfields tin mines coming on stream in the next seven to 10 years and the world’s third largest tin producer Myanmar in Asia is suffering after a recent coup overthrew the government. Over and above this, the mines in this region have depleted their low-hanging open pit fruit reserves and must explore their lower grade underground potential to sustain their businesses in the longer run.”
Demand for tin continues to rise whilst stockpiles and supply remain low, and a perfect bullish storm is forming on the horizon as a result. What this means for tin prices, which have already surged by more than 50% since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, is obvious, and Alphamin is perfectly placed to enjoy the financial benefits of expanding its mining footprint to satisfy the world’s increasingly voracious appetite for the metal.
In-line with this goal, the next stage in Alphamin’s strategy going forward is to develop the Mpama South deposit, which can be found 750m adjacent to the Mpama North mine: “Our work thus far indicates that this deposit is similar to Mpama North. It dips in the same direction and is showing similar structural images and visual minerology.” Additionally, Alphamin is looking to confirm the presence of an entirely new ore body that geologists believe are to be found further along the Mpama Ridge, and so far two potential areas have already been revealed, Marouge and the ‘V’, located roughly 10km from Mpama North.
It is an unlikely and yet undeniable truth that the fourth industrial revolution and the DRC are inextricably linked. The world desperately needs the DRC’s tin and vast amounts of it to realise its ambitious green economy ambitions, whilst the mineral-rich DRC urgently needs the world’s custom to develop its economy and realise its huge potential, so as to give its people the better future they deserve.
Even so early in life, Alphamin Resources will be an important piece of the jigsaw going forward, and as the company continues to expand in size and scale, it will have a role to play in the great change that is to come.
Mining Feature
Epiroc Machinery deployed on Alphamin’s site
Mining Feature Ambatovy
MADAGASCAR’S INDUSTRIAL MARVEL
PROJECT DIRECTED BY Malvern Kandemwa
WRITTEN BY Jay Benmehidi
Lying just 300 miles off the eastern coastline of South Africa, the island republic of Madagascar is a hidden gem that is better known for its rich biodiversity and paradise beaches than for its industrial potential.
There is more to this place than meets the eye, however. Whilst it might not be common knowledge, Madagascar, blessed as it is with extraordinarily resource riches, is a sleeping giant that could very well join the global list of elite mining nations.
For the most part, the island’s large mineral and metal reserves are as of yet untapped, but the success of one of the world’s largest mining operations, Ambatovy, gives some indication of Madagascar’s huge potential as a future mining hub, and the prosperity the industry can create for the people and communities of what is one of the world’s poorest nations:
“Ambatovy - a Joint Venture between Sumitomo Corporation of Japan, South Korean giant, Kores, and former co-partner, the Canadian mining giant, Sherritt International - is hugely important for Madagascar in economic terms.
It provides up to 9,000 stable, permanent jobs at the mine, and at the refining plant on the coast
Mining Feature
at Toamasina to which the lateritic ore is piped in slurry form from the highland mining site east of the capital, Antananarivo. The business accounts for almost one-third of the country’s export receipts, is forecast to have a productive life of at least 29 years and has so far spent US$3.3bn locally on goods and services.”
Located in the highlands of the Alaotra Mangoro region, 80km east of Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo, today, Ambatovy’s mine is a bustling hive of industry and activity, with thousands of staff and fleets of trucks adding to the hubbub of heavy equipment and machinery. Looking at the site today, it is hard to imagine that, back in 2007, there were no roads or infrastructure, let alone facilities of any kind. What a difference five-years can make – between 2007 and 2012, when the mine first became operational, Ambatovy transformed untamed rainforest into a latter-day industrial marvel.
Since the mine first entered commercial production in 2014, Ambatovy has been a topic of much discussion within the mining world, and for good reason. The colossal nickel-cobalt project, which set investors back a cool US$8bn to develop - the largest ever foreign investment in Madagascar, and one of the biggest in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean region - is arguably the world’s largest lateritic nickel project in terms of its size and scale.
The numbers speak for themselves: the combined Ambatovy and Analamay deposits, from which the mine draws resource, contain approximately 1.42Mt of nickel and 120,000t of cobalt over an area of about 1,600 ha, whilst the mine itself is capable of producing up to 60,000 tons of refined nickel, 5,600 tons of refined cobalt and 210,000 tons of ammonium sulphate - a by-product of the refining process mainly used as a fertiliser - per annum over the duration of its mine life.
The potential output capacity of Ambatovy is impressive, and is testament to the no-expense spared approach the company’s Joint Venture partners and investors took to building a worldclass mining operation.
Mining Feature
Comprised of the open pit mine itself, as well as an ore slurry preparation plant, metals refinery, and of course the extensive 220 km-long pipeline that is used to transport ore to an advanced processing plant situated close to port, Ambatovy has the capability to not only extract vast quantities of unrefined ore from the deposit’s vast reserves of mineral, but also refine it inhouse. And then there’s the key supporting energy, water and steam generation infrastructure to factor in, not to mention tailings disposal and port facilities – all of which needed to be built from the ground up.
“Infrastructure in the region has benefited greatly from the Ambatovy project. Large scale infrastructure work undertaken and completed during construction includes the rehabilitation of the national road between Ambatovy and the Port of Toamasina, and the construction of a railway line – in partnership with public transport utility MADARAIL – from the plant to the seaport to transport bulk import and export materials.”
It is clear beyond all doubt that the Ambatovy Joint Venture has the potential to make nickel one of Madagascar’s most valuable exports and spark real and lasting growth of the nation’s economy, and yet the company’s leadership has long recognised that to add real value to the lives of Madagascar’s people it would have to do more than create jobs and build roads.
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Ambatovy
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Ambatovy
The ‘resource curse’ has claimed many victims over the years, especially in Africa, where fragile states that are struggling to stand in place economically, socially, and environmentally, have been overwhelmed and corrupted by large and sudden influxes of resource wealth that has failed to trickle down to the communities who need it.
Ambatovy’s leadership has sought to break this cycle and ensure that the presence of its mine acts as a net positive force in Madagascar. To this end, the company’s participation in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has played a growing role in helping local stakeholders ensure greater government accountability on how payments received from mining companies are used.
Additionally, Ambatovy has made, and continues to invest heavily into civic projects that have created social and economic benefits, skills improvement opportunities, and improved the livelihoods of the thousands of workers who built and work in Ambatovy, not to mention their 65,000 to 75,000 family members.
“Ambatovy also set up a US$25 million Social Investment Fund to finance 17 projects including the rehabilitation of two generators for Toamasina, roads to technical schools, the development of an industrial protection unit, fire trucks for local communities, and decommissioning an abandoned ammonia tank in Toamasina. In addition, new market stalls valued at about US$6 million were built in Toamasina and in the surrounding cities of Moramanga, Brickaville.”
Looking to the future, there are no significant expansion projects are further investments planned by the company for Ambatovy. Whilst the company had a strong balance sheet and sound financials, mining operations at the project were hobbled by the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 and the site has only recently re-commenced commercial production this May.
Whilst this has proven challenging, it has proven to be a temporary blip in output rather than a more serious ongoing issue. Ambatovy remains a world-leading nickel producer, and there is little on the horizon that is likely to trouble the company further. Demand for nickel is growing across the global economy, and Ambatovy will be at the vanguard of the drive to supply the world with the resource it needs. These are buoyant times indeed.
Mining Feature
Infrastructure in the region has benefited greatly from the Ambatovy project. Large scale infrastructure work undertaken and completed during construction includes the rehabilitation of the national road between Ambatovy and the Port of Toamasina, and the construction of a railway line – in partnership with public transport utility MADARAIL – from the plant to the seaport to transport bulk import and export materials.
Mining Feature Gold Fields Australia
Setting the gold standard
PROJECT DIRECTED BY Malvern Kandemwa
WRITTEN BY Jay Benmehidi
Amidst the arid, unforgiving barrenness of the Kargoolie desert in June 1983, three hopeful Irish prospectors, Patrick ‘Paddy’ Hannan, Thomas Flannagan and Daniel O’Shea, discovered to their good fortune what would later come to be known as Kargoolie’s Golden Mile – a deposit possessing the highest known concentration of gold in the world. The rest, as they say, is history – the three gentlemen became fabulously rich, whilst the subsequent gold rush that followed rescued an Australian economy mired in depression.
Many years have now passed since such pioneering times when hard and hungry men would brave the ferocious heat and harshness of the outback to find their fortune, and yet the spirit of the gold rush lives on in these lands. The world-renowned gold fields of the Golden Mile and the wider Yilgarn Craton, which makes up a substantial portion of the West Australian landmass, hold an estimated 30% of the world’s total known gold reserves, making the area the hottest real estate in gold mining. Naturally, a who’s who of the world’s leading big-ticket miners are active in the area, amongst them the global gold producing heavyweight, Gold Fields – a name that requires little introduction in the gold mining space.
Since it first staked a claim in the region through its acquisition of the Agnew and St. Ives mines in 2001, Gold Fields Australia (GFA) has steadily expanded its footprint in Western Australia to the extent that, today, the division owns a portfolio of world-class gold projects across the region. It is telling that GFA is the most lucrative division within Gold Fields, with in excess of 40% of the company’s total annual gold production coming from the mineral rich earth of Yilgarn – an understandable point of pride for GFA’s leadership team:
“Our four Australian mines – Agnew, St Ives, Granny Smith and Gruyere – are located in the Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia
Mining Feature
where over 1,600 staff are employed on a residential and fly-in, fly-out basis,” a GFA representative explained.
She continued: “Our presence has expanded exponentially in Australia since acquiring the St Ives and Agnew gold mines in 2001. This was further bolstered by the acquisition of the Granny Smith and Lawlers gold mines from Barrick Gold in October 2013. Known as the Yilgarn South Assets, the mines provide an additional 452,000 ounces of annual production, 2.6 million reserve ounces and 1.9 million resource ounces, meaning Gold Fields’ largest regional Australian production centre accounts for 40 percent of total production.”
Suffice to say, business is booming as the company continues to grow in terms of capability and gold output, which in turn brings us to the million dollar question: what is the secret to GFA’s success? How as GFA, much like its parent company, managed to rise to the top and stay there in an industry so capricious as mining.
GROW WITH US Perth office, Australia T: +61 (8) 9317 4844 E: au.sales@growthsteel.com www.growthsteel.com
Mining Feature
The strong, albeit unorthodox values and ethos of Gold Fields Australia is certainly a key driver that has underpinned its success. Much like any other top-tier company that is operating at the peak of its powers, a formidable commitment to achieving business excellence runs root-and-branch through Gold Fields Australia but not purely by measure of revenue. Rather, the company strives to achieve excellence through achieving the highest levels of operational efficiency and effectiveness; through being a business committed to employee wellness and going about its operations sustainably, and through its efforts to build close relationships with local communities and act as a net positive influence in the regions where its mines operate:
“Aiming to be the best gold miner in the world overrides our desire to be the biggest. Instead, our vision is to be the global leader in sustainable gold mining. By thinking smarter, operating more efficiently and adopting a mind-set of ‘working like an owner’, regardless of rank within the organisation, is how we aim to get there.
Our sustainability vision means that we operate through a set of values that encompass who we are, what we do and how we work. This is evident through our responsibility to environmentally-aware work practices, a commitment to safety as a way of life, or through practicing respect and integrity by ensuring local communities are better-off from our presence in their regions.”
Another crucial element in Gold Fields Australia’s success over the past two decades has been its strong commitment to innovation and technology adoption, a key area of strategy that has proven crucial in providing the gains needed to really move the needle.
Gold Fields Australia
Even before the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, miners were upping the ante in the race to innovate as they sought to gain an edge in an ever more challenging marketplace. Mining, like so many other industries, is undergoing a technological revolution that is turning its long-held reputation for change-averse conservatism on its head.
Increasingly, the integration of clean tech, such as solar and wind energy, as well as smart tech that utilises the industrial internet of things, AI, and big data analytics into mining operations is having a profound and transformational effect on the sector. The increasing emergence of such ‘smart’ mines which are more productive, efficient, clean, and safe then their labour-intensive predecessors, is a game changer. Whilst smart digital mines are not yet a ubiquitous feature on the mining landscape globally, in world-class mining jurisdictions like Australia they are an increasingly common sight.
Gold Fields, as a leading global gold producer with a mining heritage stretching back more than 140-years, understands the relationship between innovation, success and achieving longevity better than most, and it will therefore come as little surprise that GFA has stood out as an early adopter of new and cutting-edge tech.
Gold Fields Australia
At its Agnew mine, which has been something of a test bed for new technologies, the construction of a line of colossal wind turbines near Leinster, around 870kms north-east of Perth, represents one of Australia’s most exciting hybrid renewable energy projects:
“The five 110m-high turbines with 140m-wide rotor spans are the first used for large-scale power generation at an Australian mine, and are now the dominant source of power at the mine. Alongside over 10,000 solar panels, a battery, and a gas and diesel power plant, they form the five energy technologies incorporated into power producer EDL’s Agnew hybrid renewable microgrid, making it an unparalleled power generation system.
The project’s innovative approach to addressing the limitations of different generating technologies and achieving balance between fuel efficiency, economics, reliability and flexibility has garnered national and international recognition. In 2020, the Agnew microgrid took top honours at the Australian Engineering Excellence Awards, the Asian Power Awards and the Global Energy Awards.
The microgrid is the result of a collaboration between EDL and Gold Fields to power the Agnew mine, which produces more than 220,000 ounces of gold annually. It attracted Federal Government backing through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, which contributed more than 10% of the $112m cost, an important step according to EDL Chief Executive Officer James Harman, in helping’ prove-up’ the trailblazing technology.
Part of that technology is the ‘brain’ driving the energy supply, an advanced control system integrating five power sources and optimising renewable energy into the microgrid at an average of 50-60%, recently achieving a record 82% renewable energy over a day. The ‘brain’ also ensures 99.99% reliability by reacting swiftly to changes in load and eliminating unplanned outages.”
Mining Feature
GFA’s Granny Smith mine, a site with close to 4,000 different locations which has over 100 employees underground at any one time, is an enormous and complex project which, at present, is more than 1.2 km deep, has also reaped the benefits of innovation, following the implementation of a five-year modernisation scheme that began in 2018.
In-line with this program’s objectives, the underground mine, which is located 740 km northeast of Perth, a number of projects centred around data-driven solutions have been completed which will enhance Granny Smith’s cost-efficiency, productivity, and worker safety.
Granny Smith is under constant development and further works are presently underway, most notably the implementation of both Mobilaris Onboard and Mobilaris Situational Awareness:
“Mobilaris Onboard, working as a machine navigator underground, creates traffic awareness and a safe and effective traffic flow, according to the company. Based on real-time data, Mobilaris Situational Awareness enables transparency and awareness. The information makes it possible to control the operations and resources, and people can quickly act upon what is happening and make smart decisions faster,” a Mobilaris spokesman said.
During the research process, Gold Fields discovered that Mobilaris Onboard addresses specific safety issues. By sharing positional data and navigation in 3D, drivers can avoid traffic congestion and find shelter during emergencies:
“We have installed tablets in all our heavy vehicles. With Onboard’s traffic awareness feature, we can minimise the vehicle-vehicle interaction and the vehicle-personnel interaction. The application also tells us where to find the three nearest refuge chambers to our location. So, if there is an emergency, we can get the quickest path to safety.”
Mobilaris Onboard systems are installed on Gold Fields’ fleet of heavy vehicles.
