First Mining Drc-Zambia Nov/Dec edition

CENTRAL AFRICA'S PREMIER BUSINESS TO BUSINESS MINING MAGAZINE

VOL 12 | ISSUE 6 | November - December 2019

Peri-stem plugs Stemmings plugs for quarries and mines in Africa In this issue...

Chinese firms bid for Barrick Gold’s Copper Mine in Zambia Pg 06

A first glimpse into Africa Mining Indaba 2020 programme Pg 14

Metalshub launches “long term contracts” feature Pg16

Peri Nitrates (Pvt) ltd

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With You

CONTENTS NEWS

06

PRODUCTS

EVENTS

PROFILE

FEATURE

08

COPPER MINE IN ZAMBIA

PROLINE PROGRAM H 100 / P 100

10

HPE FRICA

TS4080 Stackers

14

Events

20

CHROMIUM CARBIDE

26

COVER STORY

2

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CENTRAL AFRICA'S PREMIER BUSINESS TO BUSINESS MINING MAGAZINE

Editor Bertha M. bertham@fmdrc-zambia

VOL 12 | ISSUE 6 | November - December 2019

Sub-Editor Nita Karume

Peri-stem plugs Stemmings plugs for quarries and mines in Africa

BLE MES

rruption EMENTS produits ès haute lications cité de .

TEAM

In this issue...

Chinese firms bid for Barrick Gold’s Copper Mine in Zambia Pg 06

A first glimpse into Africa Mining Indaba 2020 programme Pg 14

Metalshub launches “long term contracts” feature Pg16

www.ntn-snr.com

With You

Peri Nitrates (Pvt) ltd

COVER STORY: PG # PERI-STEM PLUGS

Greater Rock Fragmentation FOR IMPROVED BLAST PERFORMANCE, FLY ROCK CONTROL, SAVING IN SECONDARY BREAKAGE AND DOWN STREAM COSTS. USE THE PLUGS WITH THE PATENTED www.fmdrc-zambia.com

Contributing Writer Oscar Nkala, Mfuneko Jack Lindani Mkhize Caroline Thomas Sales and Marketing Victor Ndlovu victorn@fmdrc-zambia.com +27 11 044 8986 Isabel Isiziwe isabelsiziwe@gmail.com zambia@fmdrc-zambi.com +260 96 187 4888 Advertising Consultants Meshack Ndzendevu Polite Mkhize Gladmore Ndhlovu Leslie Nyembe Production Coordinator Kholwani Dube kholwani@fmdrc-zambia.com Graphic Design and Layout Irene Faith Omudho Art Director Augustine Ombwa Arobia Creative Consultancy austin@arobia.co.ke Published By Mailing Times Media Circulation/Sales info@fmdrc-zambia.com sales@fmdrc-zambia.com +27 11 044 8986

EDITOR’S COMMENT

M

artin Cruz Smith once said, ”Then there was the whole concept of coal mining, which is a culture unto itself, the most dangerous occupation in the world, and which draws and develops acertain kind of man. ” Hello and welcome to the last quarter and issue of First Mining DRC - Zambia for the year 2019. The year has carried with it lots of ups and downs in the mining industry with special attention to the Zambia mining economy. This is owing to the court cases and different mining cites’ closures that led to loss of jobs.

This issue’s focus is on the machinery and equipment bit of mining, from HPE’s conveyor systems, Metslurry pumps, chrome Carbide overlay plates to stemming plugs for mine blast containment. This are together with the usual news updates about the various mining firms in Africa.

We continue to look forward to the Mining Indaba which will take place on February 2020. The event is mainly set out to optimize growth and investment in the digitised mining economy. Some of the key topics for the Indaba include green and sustainable technology, waterless mines, artificial intelligence, robotics and job creation, using blockchain technology for sustainability, and mitigating digital risk.

You can anticipate the same high-level discussions, senior government participation and even more investors, major, mid-tier and junior mining companies to network and providing unrivalled deal-making. This February is not to be missed if you want to gain access to the entire mining value chain under one roof!

Happy Holidays!

Nita Karume

Mailing Times Media (Pty) Ltd makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the contents of its publications, but no warranty is made as to such accuracy and no responsibility will be borne by the publisher for the consequences of actions based on information so published. Further, opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by Mailing Times Media (Pty) Ltd

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NEWS

Alphamin agrees to new payment conditions with its customers

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lphamin has agreed new payment conditions with customers and amended a loan in order to tackle the impact of a bridge collapse affecting exports, and increased levels of arsenic at Bisie, its tin mine situated in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

“We have advanced various logistical solutions aimed at maintaining the flow of inbound consumables and the export of some concentrates,” the company said.

“The outbound flow of concentrates may be limited during the bridge repair period.”

The bridge collapse and unanticipated occurrence of contaminants marks further hiccups in Bisie’s commissioning which – for a new mine in an undeveloped, far-flung reach of the DRC – has been predictably uneven. The Toronto- and Johannesburg-listed company said in a September quarter update today that its customer had agreed to provisional invoicing ex-mine. The prevailing agreement is for invoicing to occur when tin concentrates arrive in Kampala, Uganda. This was expected to improve the company’s liquidity following a bridge collapse reported on October 31, that was

expected to take eight weeks to repair.

The bridge, situated about 53 kilometres from Kisangani, would be operational by early January, Alphamin said.

Bisie said tin production for the December quarter would be “at the lower end” of its previous guidance range of between 2,000 and 2,200 tons as the company had encountered higherthan-expected levels of arsenic in the plant feed. Changes to the plant would address the impact of higher impurities but their presence in the concentrate triggered high smelter penalties.

Including the impact of higher increased interim logistical costs, Bisie’s all-in sustaining costs (AISC) per ton would come in at between $12,000 and $13,000 for the December quarter compare to $11,168/t in the September quarter.

Production in the September quarter totalled 2,345 tons compared to 636,000 tons in the June quarter. Given the increase, production has been declared commercial. Debt therefore falls due although there is still some to go before reaching its nameplate 9,600 tons.

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Alphamin said it had signed an amendment to its credit facility that gives it the option of deferring up to $16m worth of debt capital repayments in the 2020 financial year. The cost of the amendment option is $400,000 in upfront cash and a further $400,000 cash amount if the option is exercised during the year.

There are still ambitions to get the mine operating at its original design capacity of just over 12,000 tons of tin concentrate annually. An optimisation programme was being studied which also included plant de-bottlenecking.

An increase in production would also help counter the effects of market volatility.

Alphamin said tin prices at between $16,500 to $17,000/t were somewhat “range-bound”, and represented a one fifth decline on the prevailing $20,000/t price six months ago.

The fall in pricing was put down to “… challenges faced by the global electronics industry on the back of the US/China and Japan/South Korea trade wars.

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NEWS

Chinese deal to help advance AVZ Minerals Manono lithium project

It is currently constructing a phase one lithium chemical plant in Yibin, a city in the south-eastern part of China’s Sichuan province. The plant is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2020, with a second phase expansion anticipated for completion by 2023-2024.

“Yibin Tianyi’s intention to invest in AVZ and enter into a binding offtake arrangement underpins the tier one quality of our Manono project,” Mr Ferguson said.

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“Their intention to become one of the largest global lithium chemical producers certainly complements our vision of developing the largest hard rock lithium deposit in the world,” he added.

The lithium explorer emerged from a trading halt this morning to announce Yibin Tianyi’s plans to take up a 12% stake in the company, through the issue of 314.3 million shares at $0.045 each, for a total investment of $14.1 million.

Current work at Manono AVZ’s Manono lithium and tin project in southern DRC is the largest lithium project with the highest grade owned by an ASX-listed company to date.

Under the deal, the two companies will also negotiate and execute a binding offtake agreement for the products from the Manono project.

In addition, he said the placement will allow early development works to be undertaken at the project while the definitive feasibility study is being completed.

It has a measured, indicated and inferred resource totalling 400 million tonnes at 1.65% lithium oxide, 715 parts per million tin and 34ppm tantalum.

AVZ managing director Nigel Ferguson said the funds raised from the placement will enable the company to acquire an additional 5% stake in the joint venture operating company of Manono, Dathcom Mining SA. This will increase AVZ’s total interest in the project to 65%.

Yibin Tianyi is an emerging lithium chemical producer backed by China’s largest electric vehicle battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) and fellow Schenzhen-listed company Suzhou TA&A Ultra Clean Technology Co.

Earlier this month, AVZ appointed EmiAfrica to conduct environmental and social impact studies at the project.

These studies form part of the formal process to obtain mining permits. AVZ shares were sitting 9.3% higher at $0.047 by afternoon trade.

new strategic investment deal from from China’s Yibin Tianyi Lithium Industry Co will enable early development works to start at AVZ Minerals’s world-class Manono lithium and tin project in the Democratic Republic of Congo

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NEWS

Chinese firms looking to cash in on bid for Barrick Gold’s Lumwana Copper Mine in Zambia It is expected to produce 210 to 240m pounds of copper in 2019 and has proven and probable copper reserves of over 4.5Bn pounds. In August, this year, Barrick Gold CEO Mark Bristow said that the company is focusing on divesting US $1.5Bn of assets by the end of the next year.

C

hinese firms are looking to cash in on the bid for barrack Gold’s Lumwana copper mine in Zambia. Among the firms identified are; China Minmetals, Jiangxi Copper and Zijin Mining. The mine is estimated to go for up to US $1Bn, should the deal materialize.

The Lumwana mine was officially inaugurated in April 2009 by Equinox Minerals. In April 2011, Barrick Gold signed a support agreement to acquire all issued and outstanding common shares of Equinox Minerals in a takeover offer valued at US $7.6Bn. Equinox Minerals was acquired by Barrick Gold in July 2011.

Furthermore, China Molybdenum and Aluminum Corp were also invited to take part in the bid. Barrick is currently working with advisers to draw interest for the conventional open pit mine, which is located approximately 100km west of Solwezi town in Zambia’s copperbelt region.

However, three year later in 2014 Barrick Gold announced its plans to suspend operations at the mine, following the Zambian Government’s move to raise mining taxes on open-pit mining operations in the country. In July, the company signed an agreement to acquire a stake in Acacia Mining.

Ivanhoe’s giant copper project in Congo estimated costs increase by 18 percent

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vanhoe Mines has revealed that the initial capital costs for its Kakula copper mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is now estimated at $1.3 billion, and 18% increase over planned costs.

According to Ivanhoe, the fresh figure includes expanded plant capacity, additional mining fleets and preproduction ore stockpile, will allow the company to begin production at the mine in the third quarter of 2021.

Capacity of Kakula’s processing plant modules increased by 26% in the three months to Sep. 30, from 3 Mtpa to 3.8 Mtpa, significantly boosting projected early-stage copper production, the Toronto-based miner noted.

Billionaire Robert Friedland’s company has been working on Kamoa-Kakula for ten years. In 2015, China’s Zijin Mining

Group got on board, becoming Ivanhoe’s partner in the project. Citic Metal, another Chinese firm, followed suit last year, becoming Ivanhoe’s largest shareholder.

Friedland, who made his fortune from the Voisey’s Bay nickel project in Canada in the 1990s, has repeatedly stated that Kamoa-Kakula has the potential to become the world’s second-largest copper mine.

Once fully developed, the mining complex could produce 382,000 tonnes of copper a year during the first 10 years, climbing to 700,000 tonnes of copper after 12 years of operations.

Analysts also believe the giant mine could restore the DRC’s historical position as one of the world’s top copper producing countries. Kakula would be the first of at least three mines planned for the Kamoa-Kakula copper complex.

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TRENDS & TECHNOLOGY

Proline Promag H 100 / P 100 Electromagnetic flow measurement in a compact design Full functionality in a small package

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diagnostics (Heartbeat Technology™) and a service-friendly data storage concept (HistoROM) guarantee safe operation around the clock. The electronics housing is available in aluminum or stainless steel, as well as in an ultra-compact hygienic version with pre-configured plug connectors (M12*1).

hether in the life sciences or in biotechnology, whether in the food or chemical industries – global competition is steadily increasing.

Ever more companies are implementing their process facilities in a very short time by following a “modular principle”.

The production units and skids required for this include a wide variety of measurement and control technology devices fitted into a minimum of space.

Therefore, customers require more and more compact and space-saving devices without limitations on functionality. This also applies to electromagnetic flow measurement. The Promag 100 from Endress+Hauser was specially designed for such applications.

Promag 100 combines a decades-long proven sensor technology with ultracompact transmitter electronics without any compromise. As a multivariable flowmeter, the Promag 100 also opens unimagined possibilities for optimal controlling and monitoring individual process units, e.g. for heating, cooling, distillation, fermentation (bioreactors), product filtration, phase separation or inline cleaning

High transparency and security in the process The Promag 100 has a new feature: in addition to the volume flow, the fluid conductivity as well as the fluid temperature can now be measured directly. This makes it possible to monitor the process comprehensively and with high accuracy around the clock: • Accurate measurement and/or dosing of substance amounts • Assured compliance with guidelines and regulations • Reduction of operating costs by means of proven, space-saving measuring devices Innovative measuring electronics in miniature format. The miniaturized measuring electronics in “ultra-

compact format” not only have the same functionality as a traditional device, but also include a web server for intuitive operator access. This opens up completely new service and commissioning options.

Examples cover: simple access to measuring instruments and diagnostic data, on-site configuration of instrument functions without additional interfaces, or upload and download of configuration data for commissioning other identical measuring points. Permanent self-

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Seamless system integration Promag 100 is perfect for every environment. The seamless system integration via HART, Modbus RS485 or EtherNet/IP is just as straightforward as the wide variety of process connections, such as weld neck, hygienic clamp connections, couplings, threaded adapters or flanges. The wide range of approval types (Ex, EHEDG, 3A, ASME BPE, FDA, etc.) ensures the highest level of safety in operation and compliance with specified regulations.

Industry-optimized sensors All Promag 100 measuring devices are tested and certifiedon accredited, fully traceable calibration facilities (ISO/ IEC 17025). This guarantees greatest measuring accuracy and repeatability, even in long-term operation.

Both the Promag H and the Promag P sensor are available with different equipment packages, allowing them to be matched optimally to the process conditions. These variants include corrosion-resistant linings made of PFA or PTFE, various measuring electrodes made of acid-resistant materials or SIP- and CIP-compatible seals for the Promag H. Both Promag sensors offers all-in-one: full functionality where space is at a minimum, simultaneous measurement of multiple process variables, excellent and traceable accuracy (max. measured error: ±0.2%) and a long record of proven proven performance.

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9

TRENDSPRODUCT & TECHNOLOGY

HPE Africa’s McCloskey conveyor systems - TS4080 Stackers HPE Africa’s McCloskey TS4080 tracked stackers allow operators to stockpile or transfer material, directly from mobile crushing and screening plants, without incurring the double handling costs of using conventional loaders

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PE Africa’s McCloskey conveyor systems, which compliment the range of crushing and screening plants, have been designed for high productivity and easy mobility in many industries.

“Benefits of McCloskey stackers include efficient operational costs, reduced material costs per tonne, improved material quality and enhanced safety on site,” states Rasheel Sukdhoe, McCloskey product manager, HPE Africa, part of the Capital Equipment Group (CEG) of Invicta Holdings Limited.

“The TS4080 tracked stackers, have been designed with the flexibility and mobility needed to ensure that the stockpiling process is as fast and efficient as possible. These units allow operators to stockpile or transfer material, directly from mobile crushing and screening plants, without incurring the double handling costs of using conventional loaders.”

Robust McCloskey TS4080 tracked stackers, with a 36,5-kW engine as standard, have a belt length of 23, 77 m and width of 1 000 mm. These mobile units offer a stockpile capacity of 1 685 m³, stockpile height of up to 11m and a production capacity up to 450 tons per hour. TS4080 stackers can also be containerised for transport, with minimal setup time, substantially reducing transport costs.

The TS4080 track conveyor, with 4 m tracks for enhanced manoeuvrability and stability, comes with many important standard features, including a fuelefficient hydraulics system, user-friendly hydraulic controls, a hydraulically adjustable discharge height up to 11 m and a hydraulically adjustable feedin height to compliment crushing and screening plants. For added efficiency, this unit has a fully skirted tail section.

compost and topsoil, waste materials, mulch and coal.

HPE Africa’s range of McCloskey equipment – comprising jaw, cone and impact (horizontal and vertical) crushers; trommel and vibrating screeners, stacking conveyors and washing systems - has been designed for easy operation, high efficiency, low maintenance requirements and extended service life.

The company offers a technical support service, as well as a spare parts, maintenance and repair facility throughout the country.

These stackers are designed to efficiently handle different materials, including sand and gravel, aggregates.

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With DWD Drilling DRC’s Elephants bigger (and deeper) are better for mine dewatering!

____________________________________________________________________________________ DWD Drilling (DRC) is a DRC registered company based in Lubumbashi and a subsidiary of the Botswana based, DWD Group. DWD Drilling DRC focuses on specialised drilling operations with purpose-designed and built equipment directed at large diameter, deep, high volume and high yield, vertical and horizontal dewatering wells and, large diameter, deep, directional coring. The DWD Group operates a fleet of equipment ranging from Schramm TX 130 rigs to purpose built Elephant drill rigs capable of servicing a full spectrum of our clients’ needs from greenfields exploration through to brownfields resource expansion programmes. Qualified and competent personnel form an strong base of knowledge and experience in various fields of expertise allowing DWD Drilling (DRC) to offer clients a solid and unique partnership and service.

The DWD Group through DWD Engineering an ISO 9001:2015 accredited company has designed and built proprietary drill rigs inclusive of the Buffalo multipurpose drills and Rhino blast-hole and horizontal dewatering rigs while also developing equipment in anticipation of the growing gas and oil discoveries, worldwide. DWD Engineering operates from our facility in Rasesa (Botswana) with a focus on drill rigs, structural steel, hydraulics, service and repairs of vehicles and support equipment. The group has and continues to operate across the SADC region inclusive of Botswana, DRC, South Africa, Angola, Zambia and Mozambique.

DWD Drilling (DRC) operates two Elephant drill rigs in the DRC and successfully completed the first DRC dewatering drilling contract (20” and 24” holes to depths of 350m) at Frontier Mine in early 2017. A dewatering contract at MMG Kinsevere Mine and a further contract at Frontier Mine are being serviced at present. In 2015 a 24” hole to 600m was completed at 20” to 754m at the Lubambe Mine in Zambia.

DWD Drilling (DRC) is also willing to deploy horizontal secondary in-pit dewatering technology to the DRC and / or Zambia for dewatering and side-wall stress relief purposes by means of 6 ½” horizontal boreholes and 4 ½” slotted casing installation to depths of 350m, subject to demand.

Enquiries regarding the group or drilling operations can be directed at: Rudie de Wet (Director – DWD Group)

+267 713 00 166

email: rudie@dwddrilling.com

Dannis Sumbu (General Manager - DWD Drilling DRC) +243 842 281 348

email: dsumbu@hotmail.com

Corne van Rooyen (Ops.Manager – DRC / Zambia)

email: corne@dwddrilling.com

+243 896 766 985

LOCAL NEWS

NFCA Africa Mining selects MAXAM as blasting solutions supplier for its underground copper mine in Zambia Following a trial period, the company has signed a contract to provide NFCA with RIOFLEX, MAXAM’s high energy bulk explosive. MAXAM reinforces its business in the Southern African region, where the company has been operating for more than 20 years

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AXAM, a global technology company specializing in the design, development, manufacture and application of energetic materials, has been selected by NFCA Africa Mining Plc as its blasting solutions supplier for the underground copper mine that the company operates in Chambishi, Zambia.

The contract has been granted following a trial period in which several companies participated and that was finally awarded to MAXAM, thanks to the performance of its high energy bulk explosive, RIOFLEX, in terms of advance rate, profile control and other downstream values.

With the signature of this contract, MAXAM consolidates its presence and business in the Southern African region, where it has been operating for more than 20 years, as well as in the underground

segment. According to Bernard Kaninda, MAXAM Africa Regional Director, “we are really pleased that NFCA has selected us as their partners in WOB (West OreBody site). At MAXAM we are committed to our customers’ success to the extent that we adapt our offering to their key performance areas, providing customized solutions to their specific needs.”

According to Zhanyan Li, NFCA deputy CEO, “We are happy to choose MAXAM as our partner after MAXAM demonstrated their capabilities and competencies with RIOFLEX technology during trial period in WOB. And I am looking forward to working together closely to achieve our challenging targets.

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MAXAM maxamcorp.com MAXAM is a global technology leader specializing in the design, development, manufacture and application of energetic materials. It structures its activity into four business units: blasting solutions for mining, quarries and civil works; cartridges and gun powders for use in hunting and recreational shooting; products and systems for the defense and security sector; and key raw materials for the nitro chemical industry.

Founded by Alfred Nobel in 1872, MAXAM currently has more than 6,500 employees across five continents, with 80 industrial facilities, subsidiaries in over 50 countries, and sales in over 100.

For its fiscal year F19, ended in March 31st, 2019, MAXAM generated revenue of over €1.1 billion.

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PRODUCT

BI leverages synergies across Hudaco Group in ongoing diversification strategy

B

eing part of the broader Hudaco Group allows Bearings International (BI) to leverage synergies across a broad range of companies, meaning it can offer a complete product basket at its extensive branch network countrywide. In order to maximise this leverage across diverse industries, BI has successfully implemented a new Business Development Leader (BDL) management structure, with a dedicated and focused approach to core market segments. These segments are Mining, Agriculture, Sugar, OEMs, Steel, FMCG, Automotive, Services and Infrastructure, Wholesale and Retail, and Cement, Pulp & Paper and Chemicals.

Certified in accordance with the latest European standards and regulations, the Alpha Drive Micro and Micro Plus are ideally suited to most applications in the South African market, including mining, food and beverage, manufacturing, and agriculture. The VDrivePlus from Varispeed is a much larger drive, ranging from 0.4 kW to 400 kW, available in 240 V and 400 V. This more advanced VSD features advanced motor control based on DSP technology, together with ‘smart’ auto-tuning. Additional features include flexible inverter control, dual highresolution analogue inputs, and free mappable I/O channels.

In addition to the BDL team, BI has appointed Victor Strobel as Offer Marketing Manager, reporting directly to BI Business Unit Head at the Parkhaven head office. Strobel has 33 years’ industry experience, consisting of three years on plant, 15 years in sales management, and 15 years in marketing and product management. Strobel oversees the Product Management team, with the main goal of consolidating the marketing efforts into profitable growth.

The Varispeed VSD’s can be easily supplemented with the Bauer electric motor range from BI. With our range of cast iron and aluminium motors we are able to assist customers with a wide range of applications from 0.18 KW to 355KW 400V and 525/550V including pumps, conveyor belts, sanding machines, cooling towers, crushers and pedestal drilling machines, amongst others. A huge advantage to End Users, and one of the best-selling features of the cast iron range, is that the feet are removable and interchangeable, making it a multi-mount Motor

“BI’s unique approach is to target existing and potential customers at grassroots level. The sales force will therefore service the daily customer requirements. The BDL team, on the other hand, will look specifically to nurturing co-operative relationships with all relevant internal and external stakeholders,” Strobel explains. “BI is a house of world-class leading brands, and we are working closely with our suppliers and the larger Hudaco Group to penetrate new market segments and grow through innovative marketing initiatives.” Apart from its extensive branch network in South Africa, BI is also focusing on unlocking opportunities elsewhere on the continent.

From bearings to variable speed drives (VSDs), motors, gearboxes, sprockets and chains, BI offers total solutions for a diverse range of customers, applications, and industries. Tier 1 automotive OEM applications, for example, are serviced from BI’s warehouse in Parkhaven, which also features a bonded store

facility. An example of BI’s diversification into ancillary products is adding electronic motor control solutions from Hudaco Group Company Varispeed to its extensive offering. Varispeed has just launched its VDrivePlus and AlphaDriveMicro VSDs onto the market.

The AlphaDrive-Micro VSD from Varispeed is a compact frequency inverter ranging from 0.2 kW to 5.5 kW, and available in 240 V and 400 V. Together with the VDrivePlus, these VSDs offer the best performance-to-cost ratio on the market, without compromising on quality and reliability. “Due to the current economic environment, the market is very price-sensitive. Therefore, any energy-efficiencies or cost-savings we are able to offer is hugely beneficial,” Strobel notes.

“For BI, it is all about the breadth of our product offering, which extends far beyond our customers’ core focus.

This is because we look at customer requirements holistically. It is also a great way to introduce our customer base to the larger Hudaco Group,” Strobel comments.

“While the customer bases are different, there are definite synergies that we can tap into. It is all about positioning ourselves as a total solutions provider that is a single point of contact for all of our customer needs, as well as making them aware of everything else we are able to offer them. This is where BI’s focus on customer service and support is critical, as it is able to back-up all of the products it supplies with the necessary technical expertise and experience,” he concludes.

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EVENT

A first glimpse into the Investing in Africa Mining Indaba 2020 programme Optimising growth and investment in the digitised mining economy

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he 26th edition of the Investing in African Mining Indaba will offer delegates new insight into issues facing Africa’s resources sector. The event, run over four days, offers highquality, carefully researched content to meet the sector’s needs, generate new ideas and address current challenges.

According to their new head of content, Tom Quinn, “This year we’re building on the success of the 2019 Mining Indaba in terms of the high level of government participation and the substantial increase in the number of investors we saw attending the event. We believe that mining executives can fit in a month’s worth of meetings in four days”.

“Overall, the focus of the event will be on investment in the digital economy of mining. Investment in African mining is, after all, the primary purpose of Mining Indaba and in 2019 we saw more investors attending the event than at any other event – over 600. In addition to the VIP Investor Lounge, the junior mining showcase, the Investment Battlefield, we’re improving the business

matchmaking platform so that it’s faster and easier for investors and mining companies to connect and engage”.

Tom also highlighted new additions to the programme: • General Counsel Forum: This forum will bring together Africa’s finest legal minds (general counsels, in-house legal teams and established law-firms) to debate and share knowledge on Africa’s complex resources sector. It’ll focus on how companies can navigate the opportunities and challenges in the sector by strengthening portfolio management, examining falling productivity against increasing costs and M&A market updates. The forum will take place on February 6, in partnership with Africa Legal.

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An extended Mining 2050 programme: the impact of technology on the future of mining operations will now be discussed over two days instead of one, under the theme ‘Optimising growth in the fourth industrial revolution’.

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Key topics include green and sustainable technology, waterless mines, artificial intelligence, robotics and job creation, using blockchain technology for sustainability, and mitigating digital risk.

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Resource nationalism and investor risk is a main stage topic where sector leaders will be analysing and assessing exposure in current African markets and possible strategies to mitigate risk.

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Climate change and the industry’s role in decarbonisation is a frontline issue for investors and the topic will be discussed during main stage sessions and the dedicated sustainable development day.

Tom assures delegates that Mining Indaba will again provide attendees unmatched access to the entire mining industry value chain and influential players in the market, with “four days of quality content, deal making and networking opportunities”.

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EVENT

Metslurry Pumps for the Mining Industry To be your spare parts warehouse and workshop

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hijiazhuang Mets Machinery Co., Ltd. (Mets Machinery) founded in 2008 is an international company specializing in the manufacturing and servicing of slurry pumps.

Mets Machinery always regards product quality, research and development as its lifeline, be the spare parts expert of customers as service mission.

Our service and products cover the major mining areas in the world. Warehouses and service centers in Perth, Australia, Kazakhstan and DRC are already in use.

After-sales service centers in the Middle East, the commonwealth of independent states, South America and are being planned and built step by step.

Main products Metslurry pumps service in various industries, such as mining mill discharge, delivery of tailings, ash removal in power plant, FGD and coal washing in coal plant, etc..

Heavy Duty Slurry Pump - MS(R) MS(R) horizontal hard metal/rubber heavy duty slurry pumps are designed for the most difficult pumping applications that includes highly abrasive, high density erosive slurries. Optimized impeller design coupled with thickened material design in wear areas ensures long life, high performance and low maintenance operation.

MSG(H) Gravel & Dredge Pump MSG(H) horizontal gravel & dredge pumps are designed for continuous pumping applications where very large particle, extremely abrasive slurries are found that standard slurry pumps do not handle so well. The wider flow passage through the pump allows very large solids, rocks to be pumped offering a more robust slurry pump selection for gravel and dredging applications.

MSP(R) Heavy Duty Sump Pump MSP(R) vertical slurry/sump pumps are designed for handling abrasive and corrosive slurries/sludge when submerged in sumps or pits. The pump has no shaft seal, is easy to maintain, reliable and cost effective.

In addition to the above three main models, we still supply vertical main foam pump, horizontal foam pump, high-pressure slurry pump, high-speed slurry pump, etc. We continuously develop innovative products, now a large number of models slurry pumps are in the process of testing.

Services Mets Machinery provides service before purchasing goods, during operation, throughout the entire operation cycle.

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Pre-sales Service Our in-house technical team will select the most suitable pump for new project. For different working condition we provide the customized pump proposal to help reduce operational cost and extend service life.

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After-sales Service Mets Machinery provides supervision and guidance during installation and is responsible for confirming the completion of equipment installation.

After the installation of the equipment, Mets Machinery will supervise the commissioning work carried out by purchaser and be responsible for the onsite operation and maintenance of the products.

•

Reproduction OEM parts Mets Machinery is committed to providing high quality spare parts and OEM services for the processing plant. Help customers to save operational cost from 30%-40% annually.

Metslurry pumps

for the Mining Industry

MSG(H) Gravel & Dredge Pump

Heavy Duty Sump Pump - MSP(R)

MSP(R) Heavy Duty Sump Pump

MSG(H) horizontal gravel & dredge pumps are designed for continuous pumping applications where very large particle, extremely abrasive slurries are found that standard slurry pumps do not handle so well.

The wider ow passage through the pump allows very large solids, rocks to be pumped offering a more robust slurry pump selection for gravel and dredging applications.

MS(R) horizontal hard metal/rubber heavy duty slurry pumps are designed for the most difďŹ cult pumping applications that includes highly abrasive, high density erosive slurries.

Optimized impeller design coupled with thickened material design in wear areas ensures long life, high performance and low maintenance operation.

MSP(R) vertical slurry/sump pumps are designed for handling abrasive and corrosive slurries/sludge when submerged in sumps or pits. The pump has no shaft seal, is easy to maintain, reliable and cost effective.

Shijiazhuang Mets Machinery Co., Ltd. (Mets Machinery) was founded in 2008 and is an international company specializing in manufacturing and the service of slurry pumps.

Our Services Pre-sales Service After-sales Service Reproduction OEM parts

Tel.: 86-0311-68058177 Fax: 86-0311-68058178 Email: david@metslurry.com mengtian.wang@metslurry.com Website: www.metslurry.com

FEATURE

Airborne electromagnetic surveying in mining applications With each technology offered, NRG aim to deliver an industry-leading product. The continual development of new hardware and software ensures that NRG remain at the forefront of geophysical data collection.

The management and staff are committed to the development, implementation and maintenance of a sustainable Health and Safety System in accordance with the requirements of the relevant legislation, applicable standards and codes of practices and participate as an active member of the International Airborne Geophysics Safety Association (IAGSA).

A

irborne electromagnetic surveying is a huge growth area as mining companies seek to de-risk prospects before hunting for funding. Airborne electromagnetic (EM) surveying is a method used by mining and exploration companies to determine the geological structure of the earth at potential mining sites, obtaining detailed insight into where and how to drill. And while much cheaper and more efficient than random drilling, it’s one that’s quickly grown in popularity over recent years as operators seek to derisk prospects before engaging venture capital firms.

Its popularity can be put down to two important factors, the data provided is extremely high-resolution and resistivity/ conductivity. The main parameters of EM methods is highly sensitive to many geological processes and structures including mineralization bearing. Moreover, EM technologies are improving all the time – both in terms of the equipment used to collect the data and the software used to analyze it.

Xcalibur Airborne Geophysics is an airborne geophysical company based in Pretoria, South Africa, that specializes in ultra-high resolution and

standard airborne surveys throughout Africa and the Middle East. They offer several different airborne geophysical services such as, gradient magnetic and radiometric, EM, gravity surveys and value-add data processing and interpretation.

New Resolution Geophysics (NRG™) is an airborne geophysical company specializing in the collection of ultra-high resolution airborne data with offices in Cape Town, Pretoria and Perth. NRG has been in operation since 2005 with specific focus on the African, Middle East and Australasian markets, the company has completed in excess of 4,000,000 line kilometres of survey in over 50 countries NRG owns its own state of the art Aircraft Maintenance Organisation (AMO), located at Wonderboom Airport in South Africa and is home to NRG’s fleet of aircraft which consist of eight new generation turbine powered helicopters, two fixed-wing aircraft and one twin engine aircraft. NRG own all aircraft, geophysical equipment and spares and at all times have a backup of available parts which assists in the turnaround time in the event of unserviceability.

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Expert Geophysics Limited (EGL) is a Canadian geophysical company specializing in airborne geophysical surveys worldwide with the advanced electromagnetic system MobileMT. EGL offers the latest innovation in airborne electromagnetic technology: Mobile MagnetoTellurics (MobileMT), the most advanced generation of airborne electromagnetic technologies based on natural fields. Natural EM fields provide with geoelectrical information from much wider depth range than methods with controlled source.

MobileMT combines the latest advances in electronics, airborne system design, and sophisticated signal processing techniques. The system operates in the frequency range of 30 Hz – 20,000 Hz and providing accurate geoelectrical information from surface up to >1 km depth with high in-depth and in-line resolution.

MobileMT surveys are cost-effective, rapid and resulted in detail 3D fullscale electromagnetic mapping inferring geoelectrical structures in absolute conductivity units. MobileMT is applicable to diverse of exploration models and targets morphologies hosted in any type of geology.

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EVENT

MobileMT mineral exploration applications: • Delineation shallow and deep fault zones in mineral and geothermal exploration. MobileMT provides data in 3D with high resolution and is able to detect ductile shear zones, brittle faults and subtle lineaments.

• Exploring diamondferous regions, detection kimberlites fields controlling structures and direct kimberlite pipes detection.

• Highly and super conductive Ni-Cu-Co deposits and discrete targets. MobileMT technology does not have limitations in very conductive range and is evaluated as efficient for detecting mineral targets for mining and bearing Ni-Cu sulphides embayment structures at depths from near surface to not reachable by conventional airborne TEM. • Alteration and dissemination halos accompanied many mineralized zones (Cu, Au, Ag, Mo, all types of VMS) can be effectively mapped by MobileMT at depth range from few tens of meters to >1 km depending on an environment conductance.

• Cu-bearing igneous intrusions (porphyrys) is an ideal target for MobileMT. Fault contacts and fault associated conductive zones, highly resistive wedges of the intrusives and potassic alteration zones are very well identified and

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defined by the MobileMT exploration technique with great spatial, depth and resistivity resolution.

The MMT technique is applicable for effective mapping deep host/ overlaying rocks alteration and basement conductors.

The combined naturally occurred ELFVLF bandwidth and increased signal-to-noise ratio of the EM system provide recovering the hydrothermal mineralization system in wide range of resistivity and depth.

Alexander Prikhodko, the Vice President and Chief Geophysicist recommends that before making decision about a technology choice it is best to discuss the exploration tasks and a model. For instance, in such a case EGL would be able to estimate effectiveness and abilities of MobileMT system based on quantitative modelling for your specific conditions.

The main trend of modern mineral exploration, he says, is requirements to explore deeper with high resolution. It thus goes without saying that only MobileMT, the technology based on natural fields with broadband measurements, satisfies these requirements.

EGL services its mining and exploration companies in Canada, USA, Australia, South America, Russia, Central Asia and are also looking to expand into African countries.

from innovations to discoveries the most ad

the most advanced airborne EM technology for your exploration success

MobileMT

www.expertgeophysics.com

info@expertgeophysics.com

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FEATURE

Chromium Carbide overlay plates for mining C hrome Carbide Overlay Plates consist of a mild steel base plate onto which a highly abrasive resistant welded overlay is deposited using an open arc or submerged arc process. Plate sizes typically range from 3/8″ to 1-1/2″ in thickness; widths vary from 4′ to 8′ and lengths from 8′ to 20′.

The overlay deposit is either one or two layers, measuring 1/4″ or 3/8″ thick. Bead widths vary according to the method of manufacture but typically measure about 1-1/2″ wide and are randomly check cracked.

Check cracking occurs as a natural phenomenon during welding and is controlled by the chemical composition of the overlay or by cooling methods.

Overlay deposit chemistry ranges from 15% to 30% Chromium, 3.0% to 4.5% Carbon. Manganese, and Silicon may vary from 1% to 4% each. Molybdenum may exist up to 3%. Deposit hardness varies from 400 BHN to 600 BHN, and is typically 550 BHN to 600 BHN.

The use of chromium carbide overlay plates have been proven to be a cost effective solution when compared to traditional abrasion-resistant steels Recommended for resistance to wear by abrasion, fretting, cavitation, and particle erosion in high temperature applications (up to 1100°F).

Tips for purchasing chromium carbide overlay plates When evaluating CCO plate, you need to consider why the need to have multiple layers is better. Shouldn’t the product be good enough to stand with one overlay pass? Ideally, if there is a strong chemistry being welded on with good dilution of the chrome carbides, then one pass is all that should be needed.

Secondly, consider looking for a company that offers multiple chemistries. Different abrasion applications call for equally different CCO plates. When selecting a CCO plate, do not judge by its cover.

This is because the surface of the plate will exhibit numerous hairline cracks

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which are a natural stress relieving phenomenon that is essential to the performance of the plate. It enables the plate to be formed, bent and rolled without damage. These operations maybe necessary for replacement parts.

On the other hand, sometimes plates are completely painted, making the plate aesthetically pleasing. As such, it is best to proceed with caution when dealing with companies that provide fully painted plates.Depending on the parts you need, it is advisable to find a company that supplies larger plates. Lager size plates allow you to have a part cut to the size you need.

Although, some offer large plates, they simply weld two smaller plates together.

When it comes to purchasing CCO plate, make sure to look deeper into the aspects of the plate and manufacturer providing it. Your down equipment needs to be repaired and stay operational for your site to make a profit.

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COMPANYPROFILE

Welding Alloys South Africa

©CM 151119MF

Engineered Wear Protection Solutions

Tel: 011 421 3750 www.welding-alloys.com integra.zasales@welding-alloys.com

Tel: 011 552 8640 www.kramengineering.co.za info@kramengineering.co.za

©Creamer Media 131219MF

Africa’s only manufacturer of cored welding consumables and wear-resistant welded overlay materials, Welding Alloys South Africa (WASA) boasts ISO 9001- and ISO 3834 Part-3-certified manufacturing facilities in Gauteng.

Thereby, the company, a subsidiary of UKheadquartered Welding Alloys Group, is capable of producing high-quality cored welding consumables in excess of 70 t and 1 200 m2 of various grades of carbide-based overlay materials.

Since its humble start in 1966, Welding Alloys Group has been actively involved in all areas of industry across the globe where customers experience wear. “Globally, our customers are active in the cement, mining, petrochemicals, defence, iron and steel, railroad, earthmoving, power generation, sugar and agriculture to name a few,” WASA says.

Through the years, the group’s business model has been to provide world-class products and innovative solutions through a customer-focused approach.

“At WASA, we believe in selling complete solutions instead of a mere product. Through our solutions, we are able to customise our offering to address specific customer and application needs.

Our technical sales force and sales support teams are at the forefront of technology enabling them to solve customer needs daily,” emphasises WASA. By working hand-in-hand with its customers and innovative research and development department in France, WASA’s solutions such as MillCarb for the refurbishment of coal and cement mill rollers and RPMaxlife for roller press roller refurbishment have been proven to be world-class solutions in their areas of application. Further, the company’s Makuri IMD offers the lowest operating cost per ton for any liner system used in large dig, load and haul mobile mining equipment.

The recent acquisition of wear solutions provider Kram Engineering has enabled WASA to also offer expert wear solutions where ceramic materials are more suited than welded overlay materials.

“Through this acquisition, we have completed our range of products and solutions to provide answers to most wear problems occurring in industry,” states WASA. As a local producer, the company, which has a 26% black economic-empowerment employee trust shareholding, can export both its flux-cored wires, composite wear plate and ceramic products into the Southern African Development Community with SADC certification.

FEATURE

Core Tray for the Mining and Exploration industry Geo-Explore Store (Pty) LTD is headed by an exploration geologist with 27 years experience in the exploration and geology market.

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ased in Johannesburg, South Africa, we have been offering our specialized services to the African exploration industry for 11 years. An important sector of our broad product range is the selection of core storage products, as summarized below: Core trays: we offer steel or plastic core trays, with a range of core diameter capacities.

The Steel options are offered in Pre-fab form to save on freight to export markets.

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Photography frames are available to bolt onto the above logging tables, these include lights, parallax plates and universal camera bracket. This allows pictures to be taken of any style, size, shape of core tray.

Should you wish to capture images and / or work on the images on your computer we have a linked

• •

software program that will allow for this, please feel free to contact us for info.

Core tray trolleys to manoeuvre loads in the core shed are available Scissor lifts to lift trays to a height that makes it easier for the manual loading of trays into the racking are available, up to 1.7m.

We also offer a range of core splitters, density scales, Point load testers, should you require.

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you need assistance in designing or calculating storage or flow needs, we would appreciate the opportunity to work on a solution for you!

Racking: We offer a shelf type racking system for all our core trays. This system can be offered for other core trays on request. This system is a manual load/ unload offering individual access to core trays and we are available to calculate bays needed to house metres or numbers of core trays. We offer a range of products to facilitate the handling and logging of core trays as follows: • Roller logging tables are offered either single flat, double, angled, corners etc etc depending on your needs

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FEATURE

Hydraulic Engineering Repair Services (HERS) upgrades and expands service offering to the Mining Industry

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ERS now boasts an upgraded state of the art drive train test facility, which provides in-house testing capability that supports drive train repairs and which can be used to provide testing capability to third parties.

HERS has also diversified its hydraulic product range to now include the supply and repair of drifters and impact hammers, to which end a new test bench was also unveiled and demonstrated.

HERS further announced that it has entered into a distribution agreement with Dana to acquire parts directly from DANA and to on-sell parts and components to the market. This agreement was concluded on the backdrop of the South African mining industry looking to simplify procurement processes and a need for economical solutions.

HERS was established in 1996 when the 1971 founding company Hydraulic and Air Services (Pty) Limited changed ownership. In 2015, HERS became a division of Hudaco Trading (Pty) Ltd. Hudaco is a South African group of companies that specialize in the importation and distribution of high quality branded automotive, industrial and electrical consumable products, mainly in South Africa.

The product portfolio supplied to the mining industry is vast, as it includes hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders, pumps, hoses, filters, engines and drive train components, to name a few.

According to Erik van der Linde, the Managing Director of HERS, “the company has been a distribution and

repair partner to Kessler and Co. GmbH & Co.KG for the past 10 years, so it was logical to expand its product/service offering to include complementary Dana components. This then aligns perfectly to our customer’s needs in that their respective fleets of trackless mining machines invariably contain a mixture of both Kessler and Dana components”.

As a market leader in the manufacturing and repair of hydraulic cylinders and repairer of drive train components, HERS looks forward to continuously supply its customers with quality solutions. As a company, HERS evolved over the past 48 years and is looking forward further evolve into the future by serving its customers with its new and diversified product and service offerings.

UNDERGROUND

DEWATERING PUMPS

Helical Rotor Pumps

Heli-Flo™ APPLICATIONS • Highlift underground dewatering • Decline development pumping • Mobile contractor pumps • Permanent dewatering pumping stations

Call us today +61 2 6333 4500

www.truflopumps.com.au

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FEATURE

Stemmings plugs to quarries and mines in Africa

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temming is one of the major effective parameters of open pit blasting. “Stemming plugs” are the new technological development on the increase of blasting efficiency without changing the feature of explosives. They are used in the stemming zone of the blast hole to increase the containment of the explosive gasses.

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The drilling and blasting operations in open pit mining and quarrying are two important cost elements, which must be considered to reduce with new technological developments. Beside of the cost of blasting, another important effect of blasting to be considered is the fragmentation of blasted rock. It has a very big influence both on the performance of loading equipment and on the cost of primary crushing if the blasted pile is a raw material of a consecutive process.

Peri-Stem Blast Improvement / Blast Control Plugs are quickly becoming one of the most widely used and accepted stemming plugs in the industry. First introduced in 2011, they are now being used across the mining industry all over the world. These plugs enable management to explore new ways in cost reductions in both Drilling & Blasting arena, on a sustainable basis

Peri-Stem is a manufacturer of blasting stemming plugs based in Pune. Globally, blasting stemming plugs have been a runaway success. Recently, the firm introduced the product to the Indian market.

Advantages of using Peri-Stem blasting plugs in mining Among the advantages of using PeriStem blasting stemming plugs are: • Safety: Reduction in fly rock and air blast • Saving in explosives with air decking and allows consistent stemming heights with gas emulsions

• • • •

Increase in drilling patterns enabling saving of expensive drilling costs Improved blast fragmentation leading to improved loading efficiency and reduced secondary breakage/mechanical breakage costs Reduced blasted vibrations Eco friendly blasting

Peri-Stem Plugs work by wedging the stemming material between the drill hole wall and their plug. Upon detonation of the explosives, the plug is forced upward into the stemming material and locks.

When the plug “locks,” the explosive gases and energy are prevented from venting through the drill hole, and instead are contained within the rock mass for milliseconds (ms) longer than non-plugged blasts.

Blasting is the first step in the aggregate and mining production process and the results happen in milliseconds! If you can make the rock smaller during the first step of the process, all other processes and phases will benefit.

• Increased Fragmentation, • Increased Fracturing and Cap Rock

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• •

• • • • •

Breakage, Reductions in Fly Rock, Preventing contamination of Explosive Column Charge at the surface by avoiding direct contact of the Stemming material with the Explosive charge, thus resulting in better utilization of virgin and expensive explosive column charge Reducing in Air Blast, Reduction in Stemming Ejection, Reduction in Dust, Noise, Reduction in Oversized Rock.

Reduction in Drilling and Explosive Charge by expanding Drilling patterns viz Spacing and Burden

Peri-Stem plugs are used in the following industries: • Aggregates & Mining • Bridge & Tunnel Construction • Excavation & Foundation • Highway & Road Construction • Blasting & Drilling • Demolition • Construction Explosives • Utility & Pipeline Construction Save millions of Dollars in Secondary Breakage and Downstream Costs, as well as reduce your Cap Rock, Fly Rock, Air Blast and Nuisance Complaints.

Utilizing Peri-Stem is one of the few things you can do today, that will improve your Blast Performance, Safety and Productivity tomorrow!

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COVER STORY

PERI-STEM: GEAR-UP GREATER ROCK FRAGMENTATION

FOR IMPROVED BLAST PERFORMANCE, FLY ROCK CONTROL, SAVING IN SECONDARY BREAKAGE AND DOWN STREAM COSTS. USE THE PLUGS WITH THE PATENTED EASY TO INSTALL: Simply insert a loading pole into the PERI-STEM, and push to the ANFO/ Column Charge. Takes seconds!!!

Place the PERI-STEM directly on the ANFO/Column Charge.

The faster shock wave is resisted, with slower heat wave destroying most of the plug.

LOW COST: Cost almost non-existent compared to the resulting savings!!

ADDED BENEFITS: • Reduction in fly rock and air blast • Higher explosive loading in hard

cap rock to reduce oversized and secondary breakage

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Gear design protects detonating cord. Permits insertion into undersized holes.

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Savings in explosives with air decking, and allows consistent stemming heights with gas emulsions.

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Ore loss minimized with even blast profiles.

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Increased crusher output from more micro-fractures.

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Stemming quality/size not critical

OUTSIDE BLASTER DOING YOUR QUARRY BLASTING???

Oversized rock, especially from hard cap rock, is your problem, not the blaster’s!!!

Save at your primary crusher and all downstream costs.

Specify PERI-STEM plugs.

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Fragmentation Analysis

Vertical

Study 1 Our field research team tested stemming movement and ejection velocity. The longer time to stemming movement and the lower stemming ejection velocity means more blast energy is retained in the bore hole. Energy is directed into the rock, and not lost into the air. There is better fragmentation, less fly rock, and a reduction in noise. Using PERI-STEM with standard rock stemming, slowed the stemming movement 100% and stemming ejection velocity was reduced 44%.

Study 2 The tearn extended above tests by computer analyzing “every truckload� taken to the primary crusher. This was a 100% muck pile study, and did not rely on carefully selected, biased photos of a muck pile. It is confirmed the PERI-STEM effectively contained expanding gas roughly 3 times longer than drill holes using only crushed stone.

Basic Summary of the Study: There was a 30% decrease in the mean average rock size in the post blast muck pile from 500 mm to 350 mm.

There was a 25 tons per hour increase through put at the primary crusher.

Air Decking

Study 3 The team conducted a 12-month independent study which shows a 13.56% average increase in crusher throughput when PERI-STEM Plugs were used in stemming blast holes when compared to conventional stemming.

Using PERI-STEM Plugs in Air Decking allows Explosive savings.

With inconsistent gas emulsion expansions.

PERI-STEM Plug allow air decking for controlled stemming heights and blast results.

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Besides reducing average rock diameter in the muck pile, PERI-STEM Plugs save equipment and labor costs by reducing the quantity of oversized cap rock. It is possible to reduce stemming height using PERI-STEM. allowing more Explosive for greater cap rock breakage. PERI-STEM and ANFO/Column Charge cheap compared to secondary breakage costs (chemical vs. mechanical costs).

PHOTO A: Oversized boulders removed from muck pile, awaiting secondary breakage. The costs of separating boulders from the muck pile and secondary breakage is substantial.

PHOTO B: : Even after costly secondary breakage, remaining large boulders can create delays at the primary crusher.

PHOTO C: : Excavators wait for trucks stacked up at the primary crusher due to crusher delays from oversized boulders.

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CORPORATE NEWS

Winner of 2018 investment battlefield

recieves us$78 million funding from Africa finance corporation

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ast year’s winner of Mining Indaba’s Investment Battlefield, Thor Explorations has received approval from the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) for a US$78 million financing package for the construction and rampup of its 100% owned Segilola Gold Project in Nigeria. This is the project CEO Segun Lawson pitched to a panel of judges at the 2018 Investment Battlefield.

Thor announced in early October, that it has received conditional approval from the TSX Venture Exchange for the first tranche of the proposed US$15 million private placement with AFC. “This is a significant milestone for Thor and for the mining sector of Nigeria.

The total finance capital requirement for the project is US$87.5 million and the AFC have put in the bulk of the required financing. Not only have they put in debt, they have put down a $9 million prepayment on 4.4% of the gold and US$15 million in equity, meaning that they are becoming both a lender and a long-term shareholder. We are very excited about having them on board,” says Segun Lawson, President and CEO of Thor Explorations.

connections and be Africa’s premier deal-making platform.

Caroline Werner, Investor Relations Manager at Mining Indaba commented: “We’re extremely proud to have played a small part in Thor Explorations ongoing success story and naturally we’re very pleased for Segun and the team. We launched the Investment Battlefield in 2017 to provide entrepreneurial exploration teams with a unique platform to promote their African story to the many international investors that attend Indaba. This was part of a wider initiative to bring junior miners back to the forefront of Mining Indaba”.

Kael O’Sullivan, Director of Investor Relations at Mining Indaba added: “For us, the success of the Battlefield means connecting new and exciting opportunities, like the Segilola Gold Project, with capital in an innovative way. Thor Explorations might be the

first success story from the Investment Battlefield project but we’re sure it won’t be the last!”

The Segilola Gold Project is considered the most advanced gold project in Nigeria.

Thor has reached definitive feasibility or bankability stage on the Segilola Open Pit Reserve and a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) on the Segilola Underground Resource, achievements they announced at the 2019 Mining Indaba.

Mining Indaba will be holding the 4th Investment Battlefield competition at its 2020 event. For more information see: https://www.miningindaba.com/ ehome/283869/Investment-Battlefield/ Please see the accompanying interview with Segun Lawson for more information about their participation in Mining Indaba and what the future holds for the company after receiving funding from the AFC.

For Thor, winning the Investment Battlefield was a big step in the company’s progression to reach this point: “For a lot of people, it was the first time they heard the Thor story. We were a small company with a lean team, and up to this point, we had focused on advancing the company’s projects and hadn’t done a huge amount of marketing.

At Mining Indaba, we had investors from Australia, North America, UK and South Africa who were all there to listen to Thor’s story. In addition, the Q&A sessions at the end of each presentation set me up to be on top of the project for future investor engagements.”

“For us, it was ground breaking in terms of getting out from under the radar and increasing our exposure,” says Segun. This point goes to the heart of Mining Indaba’s purpose – to facilitate

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CORPORATE NEWS

Metalshub launches “long term contracts” feature After the enormous success of spot transactions, Metalshub launches a new feature enabling long term contracts. The digital platform for buyers and sellers of metals and ferroalloys thereby continues to bring digital innovation to a traditional market and build the metals marketplace of the future.

T

he new feature of the trading platform provides two new elements that simplify negotiations for long term contracts. First, the multiple deliveries feature enables buyers to specify the total quantity of material with the possibility to include volume optionality. Additional settings include the number of deliveries as well as the respective delivery period/call offs.

Second, the new index-based contract feature allows buyers to choose from multiple indices in the market and thus define the index they want to base their contract price on. The pricing formula can be filled in percentage-based and/or in absolute values (e.g. index -3% +0.10 $/kg).

“It was our main goal, to provide another value-adding service to our users that is as easy to handle as our whole marketplace.”, explains Dr. Frank Jackel, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Metalshub who is taking care of the user-oriented product development. “We are also working on the possibility for buyers and suppliers to manage contract volumes through the contracting period.”

commodities from over 50 countries have registered, including industry leaders such as Outokumpu, Saarstahl, Gerdau, Traxys, Euromet, Hempel Intermétaux, Rio Tinto, Glencore and Anglo American.

To date, over 2,500 negotiations have taken place on the platform and the volume of concluded binding contracts has reached $90 million. The number of users is growing steadily as the first big metal consumers have decided to use the new long-term contract feature for all their 2020 annual agreements.

“Moving to the platform enables us to tender and close agreements digitally rather than with significant amounts of paperwork and administration”, tells Shaun Lindfield, Head of Procurement

at MAT Foundry Group LTD. “I feel that the long-term option is an excellent way for MAT Foundry Group to significantly reduce its administration outlays and create a more efficient process. “ The platform currently offers 17 product categories; Boron, Chrome, Cobalt, Copper, Manganese, Molybdenum, Nickel, Niobium, Phosphorus, Pig Iron, Recarburiser, Silicon, Sulphur, Tin, Titanium, Tungsten and Vanadium, each metal with multiple subcategories. Next to the above-mentioned features, the team also plans to expand its products portfolio as more companies join the marketplace. The ambitious goal is clear: to become the leading platform for the global metals and ferroalloys community.

By enabling long term contracts, Metalshub expands its services and is taking another step towards the team’s vision: To reduce transaction costs for commodities which are not traded over a liquid exchange such as ferromolybdenum, ferrochrome, ferrovanadium or manganese alloys.

The platform is constantly growing and expanding its international footprint in the metals and mining industry.

20 months after launch, more than 600 producers, consumers and traders of

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FEATURE

Stemming plugs for better blast containment

A

stemming plug is a cone shaped device constructed of high impact polystyrene. The circular wall of the conic shape ends with a placement part at the top. It can easily be compressed under any load to change its shape. This characteristic of the plug is used for placing the plug firmly in the hole when any load coming from stemming material applied over it. The plug is inserted in the borehole over the explosive charge.

A third of the total stemming material is placed in the hole over the explosive column to provide cushion effect against the heat produced by chemical reaction.

This protects plug from rapid deformation due to excessive heat and pressure.

Stemming plugs were first developed in University of Missouri in 1994 in order to protect explosive gasses escaping from the blast hole. The main purpose is to block the chemical output gasses those are effective source of fragmentation in blasting within the blast hole. Stemming plugs are placed in the stemming

zone of the blast hole to increase the containment of the explosive gasses.

The resultant increase in explosive energy is transmitted to the rock mass and is utilized to fragment the rock more efficiently.

full load. And vibration was reduced 37% to 63%, all confirming better blast containment. In Ghana, a gold operation saved 13% primary crusher time over a full year study. The complete studies can be read at www.VARISTEM.com.

Following initial blast fracturing, the VARISTEM working with standard stemming materials, contains expanding gases to greatly improve blast fragmentation, providing major downstream savings. It is important to remember that blast containment is the key to mine savings, including crusher time, truck movement, ANFO or gas emulsions, and labour.

In studies, comparing standard rock stemming to stemming using the VARISTEM, it has been shown that following the blast, the time of stemming movement with standard stemming was 2.3miliseconds, while the VARISTEM held for 5.3miliseconds. And, with the movement, the stemming velocity of basic stemming was 481 meters per second, while the VARISTEM slowed the velocity to 280 meters per second.

The University of Mines & Technology Ghana�, as well as the “Department of Mining Prince of Songkla University in Thailand� have independently studied fragmentation improvements using the VARISTEM STEMMING PLUGS, showing primary crusher output improved. In Thailand at the Mae Moh lignite mine, blasting vibration, shovel and crusher performance were specifically studied. Truck loading rates shovel was found to increase by 22.6%.

Overburden crushing rate was increased by 37%, even though not run at

This confirms that the VARISTEM held the expanding gases, allowing the gas to move into the blast fractures and not up the drill hole. Most mines find an average reduction of 27% in fragmentation size.

This containment also means that one can shorten stemming heights, allowing for better cap rock breakage.

One limestone operation in Canada found that using the VARISTEM in air decking they could reduce noise/vibration levels, and also achieve a reduction in explosive costs of approximately 12%.

This is achieved using the VARISTEM in air decking, allowing shorter stemming heights, plus a reduction in explosives.

Field studies confirm that air decking of 20% is possible without noticeable loss of blast fragmentation. And, if gas emulsions are used, this air decking allows inconsistent gas emulsion heights, while still achieving consistent stemming heights.

TH VARISTEM gear design allows for compression in varied drill holes, while also preventing any damage to the detonating cord. The durability of the VARISTEM resists the blast force/heat sufficiently long enough to

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accomplish its job of containment. While mainly destroyed during the blasting, its low cost allows single use blasting.

The full web site, showing all studies and videos, can be found at www.

VARISTEM.com. The company will gladly work with any mine, providing sufficient samples to confirm their claims. They do ask that in evaluation of this product that a full study be made, as simply looking at a muck pile is not reliable. When studying crusher output, the proof of its value will be confirmed.

There are distributors in various regions of the world, although presently in Africa, the VARISTEM would be supplied from the USA. The savings at the quarry will easily offset the low cost of this product.

The supplier is searching for a working distributor to cover Africa.

Note, this firm also supplies a selffusing silicone tape used extensively in underground mining to keep electrical and communication connections free of dust and water. This pure silicone tape will stretch around any connection, bonding only to itself. So, if one wants to remove the tape, it is easily done without leaving any messy adhesive. Samples of this product can also be provided. The web site is www.xtremetape.com.

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FEATURE

Voice, operational data and signalling over a single infrastructure

N

atural resources can be transformed in prosperity and sustainable development in many regions but, to make it possible, is completely necessary to have an efficient transportation system that allow to move the mine production towards the ports. In this sense, Teltronic, with a huge experience developing the safest radio communication system worldwide and a leading position in transport sector, has some significant references which have contributed to create radio solutions that ease freight transport. The main objective is to provide systems that enable to increase both speed and security and reduce operation costs. Talking about signaling applications, the most frequent in freight transportation is PTC, Positive Train Control. The system was developed in USA and mining lines usually employ it. The difference with other system such as ETCS (European standard) or CBTC (used in trams and metros) is that in this case the intelligence resides in the train because, as the environments are normally inhospitable, with long distances through jungles or deserts, it’s more difficult to install equipment on land. Thus, this kind of systems gives the train more autonomy to work with a data reading obtained at a certain point of the

line. This railway control system requires the support of robust and reliable communications, which shall be based on radio technology in order to reduce the wayside equipment, that is difficult to deploy and presents high maintenance costs in this kind of environments. At that point, TETRA technology allows voice communications and data transmission, and its efficiency has been already proven, not only with PTC, but also with ETCS and CBTC protocols.

Teltronic was responsible for providing a TETRA communication system and its integration with PTC signalling in the Nacala railway corridor, that offers a logistic solution for the transportation of coal from the Moatize Mine, in Mozambique, to the maritime terminal in Nacala, on the Indian Ocean, through a new 912 km-long railway corridor which pass through Mozambican jungle and Malawi. The communications solution proposed by Teltronic allows VALE (Brazilian mining company exploiting the mine) to get the maximum performance of the system. By means of a single and unified communications infrastructure, service is provided to all applications and railway systems such as signalling applications, wheel bearing temperature supervision system, derailment

system and voice services to provide communications between drivers and other groups of users. That is, with just one digital network it is possible to manage voice and data simultaneously.

In addition, Teltronic is able to offer a complete solution. In Nacala corridor, the deployment is based on the NEBULA TETRA infrastructure, that thanks to a 100% Ethernet IP architecture provides high flexibility in the solution design; onboard equipment has been designed following the recommendations of several signaling systems manufacturers and it presents an Ethernet link to be connected to the vital on-board computer and, finally, the control center is based on Teltronic’s CeCo-TRANS system, which allows interaction with the trains by means of a synoptic line display that shows fleet positions in real-time.

With Nacala Corridor project, but also with others such as the one developed for FENOCO, in Colombia, Teltronic has proven TETRA technical viability to offer safe and efficient communications in the railway environment, providing voice, operational data (location, alarm and event management) and PTC signaling data over a single infrastructure.

ADVERTISER’S INDEX Agru..............................................................................................OBC Ansultech ........................................................................................01 Becker Mining...................................................................................09 DWD Drilling ...................................................................................11 Expert Geophysics............................................................................19 Metslurry ........................................................................................ 17 African Mining Indaba ....................................................................IBC NTN................................................................................................IFC Oxylance .........................................................................................05

PERI STEM ......................................................................................25 Ritmo ..............................................................................................07 Significant Site Services....................................................................31 Truflo pumps ...................................................................................25 TTV Fluval ......................................................................................15 Welding alloys ................................................................................21

FMDZ is a bi-monthly magazine for mining industry incorporating, exploration, oil, power, drilling and other large scale extraction, storage, transport, Market and utilisation of Africa’s Copper Belt wealth and resources.

First Mining DRC-ZAMBIA is published 6 times per annum: Jan/Feb, Mar/Apr, May/Jun, Jul/Aug Sept/Oct and Nov/Dec.

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