Inside mining september 2012 preview by 3S Media

www.miningne.ws

Highly commended 2011 PICA Cover of the Year - B2B Publishing MEDIA

THE KNOWLEDGE YOU NEED

HOT SEAT

MineRP’s president, Pieter Nel, on the beneﬁts of enterprise mine technical solutions

PRESTIGIOUS PROJECTS IN AFRICA

ining FROM THE INDUSTRY EXPERTS

WEIR MINERALS A successful evolution

Accolades across the continent

SPECIAL FEATURE Electra Mining Africa 2012 ISSN 1999-8872 • R35.00 (incl. VAT) • Vol. 5 • No. 9 • September 2012

CONTENTS

T H E K N O W L E D G E YO U N E E D

ining

September 2012

FROM THE INDUSTRY EXPERTS

ON THE COVER Well-established slurry pump solutions company Weir Minerals Africa has successfully evolved over the past few years to become a competitive player in the minerals processing sphere

P6 EDITOR’S COMMENT 3

What makes a prestigious mining project?

MINING NEWS

The top mining stories headlining this month

HOT SEAT 10 MineRP’s winning formula – enterprise mine technical solutions

HOT TOPIC 12 Commemorating mining’s people, places and longevity PRESITIGOUS PROJECTS IN AFRICA 16 Octea Mining’s new Sierra Leone sparkle 19 Montero Mining & Exploration: delivering an African mining first

22 Langer Heinrich: a world-class new generation uranium mine

24 Resource Generation’s Waterberg coal field aspirations 26 Stellar Diamonds tip toes forward with care and caution ELECTRA MINING SPECIAL 28 Atlas Copco 30 CSA Global 32 Regal Beloit South Africa 33 Haver Southern Africa 34 MBE Minerals 36 Marley Pipe Systems 38 Multotec 40 Tomra Sorting Solutions 42 Veyance Technologies 44 Pilot Crushtec 46 SEW Eurodrive 48 Osborn 50 Sandvik 54 Zest 56 Barloworld 57 Verder Pumps 58 Becker Mining South Africa 59 Melco MINERALS PROCESSING 60 An African minerals processing growth strategy 62 The processing key for low-grade uranium DRILLING AND EXPLORATION 64 Drilling safety needs standardisation 69 A new iron ore player on the Bushveld Complex 72 Endeavour’s fourth mine in the making CETERUM CENSEO 80 Investors still confused Inside Mining 09/2012

INTRODUCING THE BROADEST PRODUCT LINE IN THE MINING INDUSTRY

Caterpillar and Barloworld Equipment gives the mining industry access to the broadest line of underground and surface mining equipment in the world - from one source. And behind the great products are the people. A team with over 85 years of experience, innovation and entrepreneurship. And one focus: helping mining customers succeed. For more information contact our call centre on 0800 21 22 48 or visit www.barloworld-equipment.com

Scan here to go to website

Editor’s comment Publisher Elizabeth Shorten Associate publisher Ferdie Pieterse Editor Laura Cornish Head of design Frédérick Danton Senior designer Hayley Mendelow Senior sub-editor Claire Nozaic Sub-editor Patience Gumbo Marketing & online manager Martin Hiller Production manager Antois-Leigh Botma

WHAT MAKES A PRESTIGIOUS PROJECT?

It’s the little, or not so little, things that count

Production coordinator Jacqueline Modise Financial manager Andrew Lobban Administration Tonya Hebenton Distribution manager Nomsa Masina Distribution coordinator Asha Pursotham

Having decided to devote this issue to covering prestigious mining projects in Africa, I had to ask myself – what makes a project prestigious?

Printers United Litho Johannesburg Tel: +27 (0)11 402 0571

___________________________________ Advertising Sales

Stacey Glad Tel: +27 (0)11 465 5452 Cell: +27 (0)83 567 0073 stacey.glad@lantic.net ___________________________________

MEDIA

No. 4 5th Avenue, Rivonia 2191 PO Box 92026, Norwood 2117 Tel: +27 (0)11 233 2600 Fax: +27 (0)11 234 7274/5 www.3smedia.co.za ___________________________________ Annual subscription:

South Africa: R350.00 (incl VAT & postage) SADC countries: US$80 Foreign: US$100 E-mail: subs@3smedia.co.za ISSN 1999-8872 Inside Mining Copyright 2012. All rights reserved. ___________________________________ All material in Inside Mining is copyright protected and may not be reproduced either in whole or in part without the prior written permission of the publisher. The views of contributors do not necessarily reflect those of the the publishers.

Scale, volume and grade – the bigger the mine and the higher the grade, the more impressive the project… right? I am quite certain that these criteria are what most people would look at, it makes obvious sense. I, however, have delved a little deeper and made my evaluation for the projects covered in this issue based on a number of additional factors. The word ‘prestigious’ means many things. To me, it means excelling or pushing forward in the face of adversity; it means aspiring to achieve the unachievable and adapting your business strategy with flexibility and ease to meet the evolving needs of an evolving market. So as you will see, every story I chose to write and share with you is one of inspiration, sheer determination and, in most cases, includes the will to achieve an African first – often in the face of some kind of adversity. Octea Mining, perhaps still better known as Koidu Holdings, has developed the first large-scale, commercial diamond mine in Sierra Leone. Despite the logistical and infrastructure challenges associated with working in this remote country, the company recently announced its exclusive agreement with world-renowned jeweller Tiffany & Co. That’s an African first for sure! Montero Mining & Exploration is aspiring to be the first rare earth elements miner in Africa – from 2013 onwards. And despite its junior status, the company has every intention of building a full-scale rare earths refinery, which I hope will be in South Africa, adding another ‘first’ on this company’s achievement list. Paladin Energy’s Langer Heinrich uranium mine is another project achieving accolade upon accolade. It has just completed a Phase 3 expansion and is already looking to optimise its larger plant or embark on a fourth expansion, which could effectively double its current uranium production. No other uranium mine I know of keeps growing with such rapid speed. Resource Generation, an Australian-listed coal junior, is looking to be the first junior and second

company in the world to achieve coal production from the Waterberg. Despite the numerous challenges associated with this untapped coalfield, this is one junior who is taking difficulties in its stride and, if you ask me, will be successful regardless. Finally, Stellar Diamonds, which I am not ashamed to admit a soft spot for, is a company with vast amounts of promise. I have followed this company over the years and while it still has a long path to journey on still before reaching production, I have no doubt that its enduring commitment to ‘doing things properly’ will ensure its diamond success in Guinea and Sierra Leone (not to mention the longterm projections for the diamond market). So what makes a prestigious project? These mining companies are really showing their muscle and proving that working in Africa and achieving prestige is attainable!

Come check out our stand at Electra If our prestigious projects don’t keep you occupied, our Snowden pages (12 to 15) certainly will. In honour of Inside Mining’s stand at Electra, this four-page showcase will give you further insight to what you can expect at our stand. I look forward to networking and catching up with everyone over the Electra week. I have no doubt it will be a great success, so see you there. Laura Cornish

To our avid readers, be sure to sign up and get the

latest updates and inside scoop from the mining industry. Check out what we are talking about on our website, Facebook page or follow me on Twitter and have your say. @mining_news www.facebook.com/pages/Mining-News

Inside Mining 09/2012

Mining news www.miningne.ws

Top mining stories headlining this month | AUSTRALIA | Rio Tinto advances sale of diamond mines as aluminium plan stalls compiled by Ameerah Griffin

Source: www.bloomberg.com Rio Tinto Group’s plan to sell its diamond assets is “well ad-

levels of supply and continuing strong demand.” Mining companies, including BHP Billiton, are shedding lessprofitable assets as declining prices and increasing costs trim earnings. Rio has reported a 34%

Rio Tinto's Argyle mine

| SOUTH AFRICA |

Lonmin’s epic disaster South African President Jacob Zuma announced a national week of mourning for the lives lost at Lonmin’s Marikana mine in Rustenberg. An inquiry has been launched as the country demands answers as to why police fired live ammunition into the crowd of striking miners, who were armed with traditional weapons. Thirty-four miners were killed and many were injured when police shot at striking miners. The strike action started with workers demanding a salary increase, which quickly turned into a turf war between two unions: the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union. The union leaders at Marikana lost control of the situation and were unable to calm angry miners. Violence erupted, leading to the death of two security guards, two police officers and miners not taking part in the protest. The death toll is 44. On Monday, 20 August, the 259 miners who were arrested appeared in court, where bail was denied. At the peak of the unrest, Zuma left Mozambique, where he was due to attend an African Union summit, to visit Marikana and launch an inquiry into the ‘massacre’. An inter-ministerial committee has been formed, led by Minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane. Lonmin gave workers until 20 August to return to work, but reconsidered this threat and backed off from firing workers who did not return to work. Former ANC Youth League leader, Julius Malema, who actively supports nationalisation of mining, addressed several thousand Marikana mineworkers, saying Zuma should step down, as well as police minister, Nathi Mthethwa.

Inside Mining 09/2012

vanced”, while the divestment of its aluminium operations has stalled after prices for the lightweight metal fell. The company is looking at multiple options for its diamonds division, CFO Guy Elliott, told reporters recently. “The diamond sector looks interesting and healthy, especially if you look into the medium and longer term, in view of the low

drop in underlying profits to US$5.2 billion (R43.35 billion) for its financial year. In October this year, Rio announced its intention to sell 13 aluminium assets, including smelters and alumina plants in Australia, the US and UK to improve its finances. Rio has also said it may consider an initial public offering for its Pacific aluminium unit.

| EUROPE | Anglo American completes acquisition of De Beers shareholding Source: www.miningne.ws Anglo American has completed the acquisition of its 40% shareholding in De Beers from CHL,

which represents the Oppenheimer family interests, thereby increasing Anglo American’s shareholding in De Beers to 85%.

Under the terms of the November 2011 agreement between Anglo American and CHL, Anglo American has paid a total cash consideration of US$5.2 billion (R43.35 billion), comprising the agreed purchase price of US$5.1 billion and a number of adjustments as provided for under the agreement. Anglo American was able to take over De Beers after the diamond-rich Botswana government, which owns a 15% stake in De Beers, agreed to forego its right to buy another 25%.

Cutting edge solutions that will boost your business. Husqvarna Construction Products has the market’s widest, most innovative and powerful range of machinery and hcc`g Zcf h\Y WcbghfiWh]cb UbX ghcbY ]bXighf]Yg ]bW`iX]b[. kU`` gUkg k]fY gUkg Ã ccf gUkg [f]bX]b[ UbX dc`]g\]b[ equipment, drilling machines, power cutters and remote demolition robots and diamond tools. As in many other Vig]bYgg UfYUg h\Y ZihifY cZ h\YgY ]bXighf]Yg `]Yg ]b YZÂ W]Ybh WcadfY\Ybg]jY gc`ih]cbg ¶ ]bghYUX cZ g]b[`Y dfcXiWhg" That’s why our focus is on exciting and innovative systems for the future.

HUSQVARNA CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS

Visit us at our stand A20 at the Electra Mining Show 2012.

Cover story

WEIR MINERALS AFRICA

A successful evolution Well-established slurry pump solutions company Weir Minerals Africa has successfully evolved over the past few years to become a competitive player in the minerals processing sphere, writes Laura Cornish.

GROWING AND GROWING

012 is going to be a record year for Weir Minerals Africa, with forecast sales predicted to be higher than ever before,” says the company’s sales and marketing director, Gavin Dyer. “This can be attributed to a number of factors, but is largely owing to the increasing successes we are celebrating across our entire, broad product range. And although it has been a slow process, we believe we have gained market acceptance of our evolution from pump supplier to minerals processing solutions provider,” Dyer continues. And although the company will not be exhibiting at Electra this year, it will devote its time to hosting clients who are attending the four-day exhibition, in addition to devoting time taking its clients to site, across the globe, where its products are running successfully in various applications. In addition to slurry pumps, Weir Minerals Africa’s products include a range of dewatering and process water pumps, a range of mill lining systems, hydrocyclones, valves, vibrating screens, high-pressure grinding rolls, as well as rubber hoses and sheeting. Despite accommodating such a vast product range, the company is equally devoted to investing the time and money into the necessary research and development required to ensure it offers the market the latest stateof-the-art technology and upgrades. Investing in facilities is another important business component for the local company’s holding company, the Weir Group, and further guarantees that it can deliver on its promises. “We are doubling the size of our product ranges every one or two years, introducing

Weir Minerals Africa's offering includes slurry pumps, vibrating screens and wear resistant liners

Inside Mining 09/2012

Cover story

new additions to our brand families. Our cyclone portfolio and screens portfolio have achieved sales far beyond our expectations,” Dyer mentions. Despite the company’s growing success, its future growth aspirations remain intact and business models have been executed to ensure personal and company targets are met and exceeded. It is no secret that Weir is acquisitive by nature. “There are definite gaps in the minerals processing stream that we have every intention of filling. We want to provide solutions and equipment across the entire process stream, while retaining our status as a premium supplier.”

Carrying the risk – and delivering on its promises One of the most innovative and client-attractive offerings is Weir Minerals Africa’s product trial period packages. “With new or unfamiliar products, we offer to operate the equipment on the m for a trial time frame mine frame,

which enables the client to determine whether the product is suitable or not. This is a very successful marketing exercise for us and is extremely effective in helping the industry become familiar with new products and their benefits. During this period, the operational costs of the equipment and the cost of the equipment itself is covered by Weir Miner-

A Linatex double deck banana screen prior to despatch to De Beers in June 2012

by a passionate management team. Weir Minerals Africa also places a lot of emphasis on individual employee growth and empowerment. Every product manager is encouraged and empowered to grow their portfolios

“We are doubling the size of our product ranges every one or two years, introducing new additions to our brand families” als,” Dyer explains. And the success is evident with 97% of the trial runs resulting in equipment orders. Trial periods on site also enable the company to identify areas for improvement, so changes can be made wherever necessary.

Empowering its employees There is a positive vibe amongst its employees, which to a large extent is generated

and aspire to take on more responsibility. “Through this, our staff are motivated, passionate and innovative, which all contributes to our company’s overall success,” Dyer points out. As a result, a number of the company’s employees have delivered first-time achievements (within the group) and are setting global benchmark standards. It is not just the company’s product offering that has changed, but the mindset of its employees and its devotion to offering clients solutions, not just equipment. The African subsidiary employs some 1 300 personnel, and is also working on improving its current Level 7 BEE rating. “Our focus here is aimed at investing at grass roots level, such as graduate development programmes.” The company has an extremely low staff turnover rate as well.

Changing perceptions Coupled

with

growing

its

Warman AH 14/12 slurry pumps qu prior to quality assurance checking

Inside Mining 09/2012

Cover story

ABOVE LEFT Weir Minerals Africa frequently hosts industry professionals in knowledge sharing sessions ABOVE RIGHT Isogate slurry valve placed in the Cavex cluster

business and brands is the necessity to change the face of the business, which Weir Minerals Africa has fulfilled. In essence, this means working equally as hard on weaknesses as maintaining strengths. “Our rate of deliveries, particularly on our pump brands, has been challenging, but we

to improve communication regarding each other’s needs and delivery capabilities. This aims to prevent disappointments for our clients.” The results are already evident. According to Dyer, the company has received praise from both mining clients and project engineers.

“2012 is going to be a record year for Weir Minerals Africa, with forecast sales predicted to be higher than ever before.” Gavin Dyer, sales and marketing director, Weir Minerals Africa have streamlined the manufacturing process and have reduced our overdue pumps to almost zero. Working with our own suppliers and instituting stringent deadline control has assisted us in improving our deadlines,” Dyer notes. “We are also partnering with our key account clients, working with them

At the end of 2010, Weir Minerals Africa initiated customer satisfaction surveys, which have provided the company with insight into the mining industry’s perception of its capabilities and areas that require improvement. “Even though we have come such a long way in changing the sector’s perception of who we

are and how we do business, this is only the start of our journey towards achieving greater success and is something we will continually strive to improve and uplift,” says Dyer.

An obligation to the industry “Our obligations extend further than supplying quality equipment and solutions to the sector. We also believe it is our responsibility to invest in upskilling future generations and driving new people into our industry.” Weir Minerals Africa sponsors university students and continues to supply technical equipment such as scientific calculators to science and maths students at school. The company has also assisted in starting new small-to-medium enterprises in the Middleburg region to uplift general skills in mining communities. Closer to home, the company more recently introduced a new concept internally, aimed at sharing knowledge across all company spectrums. Basic introductions across all of its product lines are a useful tool for all company employees to have, and even certain mining industry professionals have taken to joining in its knowledge sharing sessions. LEFT Two Cavex cyclone clusters in a coal mining application BELOW Warman AH 14/12 pumps prior to inspection at the quality verification station at Weir Minerals Africa’s Alrode facility

Inside Mining 09/2012

In each issue, Inside Mining offers advertisers the opportunity to promote their company’s products and services to the appropriate audience by booking the prime position of the front cover which includes a two-page feature article. The magazine offers advertisers an ideal platform to ensure the maximum exposure of their brand. Please call +27(0)11 465 5452 to secure your booking.

Breakthrough mining solutions.

Long recognised for our ability to engineer efﬁcient and reliable equipment, Joy Global is taking mining to even higher levels through the enhancement of cost-focused technologies. Our proven solutions and worldwide customer partnerships allow us to continue to lead the way in developing results-driven equipment and unmatched customer support — all at the lowest cost for mining operations. joyglobal.com

Come and visit us at Electra Mining 2012 10th – 14th September s Hall 5, Booth C20

Hot Seat

ENTERPRISE MINE TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS

MineRP’s winning formula International mining technology and consulting company MineRP has achieved phenomenal growth over the past year. This has established the momentum that will see the company double in size by 2015, company president, Pieter Nel, tells Laura Cornish.

A JOURNEY PAVED WITH GOLD

lthough recognised in the mining industry today for his technological skills in the information and technology sector, Nel is a miner by heart. “My mining career started in 1991 when I joined international management consulting firm Byrne Fleming Consulting. I spent my time working underground shifts, looking at optimisation plans for major mining companies like Gold Fields,” Nel begins. He went on to join Kingsley McAdams Consultancy (KMC) in 1995, which was acquired

by MineRP – formerly known as Graphic Mining Solutions International (GMSI) – in 1998. “I very quickly became involved in the technological processes and systems that MineRP has become globally recognised for, particularly enterprise mine technical solutions development. This portion of the business generated 65% of the company’s revenue around that time,” Nel continues. “Like me, the majority of MineRP’s current employees have considerable mining backgrounds, which have combined successfully with the information technology business aspect. This is not typical in this line of business, and it’s something I believe has grown to emerge as a true competitive edge.” In 2006, Nel was appointed MD of MineRP and has continued to contribute significantly towards the growth the company has already achieved and is working towards.

MineRP: formed on solid foundations Perhaps less well-known are the roots upon which MineRP has grown. The company was established as a subsidiary to Anglo American gold division in 1997 and focused on mine technical systems and solutions development,

“MineRP is the only technology company capable of providing framework integration across every mining value chain component.” Pieter Nel, president, MineRP from geological modelling through mine planning and operational management. Jim Porter, Director: Centre for Mechanised Mining systems at the University of the Witwatersrand, was MD of the company at the time. In 1998, the company was acquired by international ICT company, Gijima Holdings. GMSI was rebranded in October 2011. “MineRP better reflects who we are and best positions us to achieve our global growth targets.” Today, MineRP has worked with every major mining house in South Africa, including AngloGold Ashanti, Anglo American Platinum, Spatial analysis of Block Model colour coded to grade

Inside Mining 09/2012

Hot Seat

Anglo American Thermal Coal, Gold Fields, Impala Platinum, Harmony Gold, Lonmin, Kumba Iron Ore, De Beers Consolidated mines, BHP Billion Coal South Africa and Xstrata Coal South Africa. The company most recently implemented mineral resource management and enterpriselevel integrated planning solutions for one of the world’s largest iron producers, BHP Billiton Iron Ore, including its multi-mineral ore body, the Olympic Dam mine in Australia – one of the first such implementations outside of the East, Middle East and African region.

The last financial year (July 2011 – June 2012), and the path to 2015 “We have had a phenomenal year and financially performed better than any previous year,” he says. According to Nel, the company is also the largest research and development investor in its business sphere – specifically with regards to mine technical solutions. The company recently appointed numerous highly skilled technologists, who will deliver more controlled and structural solutions to the market. “We believe the sector is ready to advance its enterprise solutions, and bringing specialist technologists on board to inject into the industry will help us achieve our growth aspirations. We have furthermore identified the need to partner with the right international and local partners in order to secure the process we need to follow to double in size by 2015,” Nel outlines.

The MineRP advantage and competitive edge MineRP has taken huge steps in fostering closer relationships between providers of mining technical solutions around the globe that traditionally focus their solutions on various functions across the mining value chain. With formal, published invitations to other vendors to integrate their solutions with MineRP’s SpatialDB platform and multiple such integration arrangements already in place, the company is steadily moving towards a situation where system developers can focus on their area of speciality – be that geological data management, mine planning and scheduling, survey, optimisation or any such technical function – leaving the intricacies of data integration to MineRP. This allows mines to deploy expert mining technical systems of their choice throughout

Spatial analysis of Design & Actual OverUnderbreak

their global operations without the need to standardise on a single vendor. Not only does SpatialDB allow for data integration, but it also provides mines with the ability to globally collate and visualise massive sets of mining technical data using SpatialDash, a web-based data visualisation and analysis tool, on any mobile or desktop device capable of browsing the internet.

The three pillars of growth: • Geographical expansion – while MineRP has numerous well-established branches across the world, the intention is always to expand further. The company is in the process of establishing its first African branch outside of South Africa in Ghana and another in Adelaide, Australia. Current offices: • South Africa: Rustenburg and Centurion • Eurasia: Istanbul

• Latin America: Santiago • Canada: Sudbury, Calgary and Toronto • US: Denver • Australia: Brisbane and Perth • Expanding and further developing capabilities for the company’s second business component – consulting and advisory services • Further developing technology to support integration of information across the entire mining value chain. “MineRP is the only technology company capable of providing framework integration across every mining value chain component, regardless of the software and systems installed,” Nel notes. Many companies in the mining technical software space provide systems that integrate with each other, but MineRP has taken a giant leap forward with the development of SpatialDB – an open standards-based database, designed with specific connectors and extensions suitable to collect, interpret, unify and visualise data from a variety of sources – not only MineRP’s own systems.

Spatial analysis of Design vs Actual

Inside Mining 09/2012

HOT TOPIC

A PHOTOGRAPHIC CELEBRATION

Commemorating mining’s places people, and longevity

Le Cong Binh, who won the best composition for his photograph titled ‘The road to the quarry’.

LEFT Tailings dams can be a major source of water pollution if not managed properly

Inside Mining 09/2012

HOT TOPIC

The mining industry never fails to arouse emotion in those who come in contact with it, and this was certainly the case with the entries for Snowden’s 2012 photo competition, ‘Celebrating the Mining Industry’.

he technology solutions company, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, has good reason to celebrate the industry through its annual photo competition - an opportunity to promote and educate about the industry in which it has been involved for a quarter of a century, and which touches so many aspects of our lives., The overall 2012 winner, who received US$10 000 (R80 925), was Javier Arcenillas from Spain for his photo, ‘The industrialisation of Lithium in Bolivia’. Arcenillas was exposed to mining from a young age in Bilbao, Spain, where he grew up near mining activity. Ray Collins has worked in underground

Ray Collins for his photograph titled ‘Through the arches’ in the ‘People in mining and their stories’ category

Inside Mining 09/2012