assmang khumani mine focus
Post on 29-Mar-2016
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WRITTEN BY JOHN HARVEY
Now that years of construction work are complete, Khumani mine is aiming for operational efficiency, employee empowerment and excellent levels of engineering.
EFFICIENCY, EMPOWERMENT
ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE
&
“In the late 1990s, Assmang, jointly managed by JSE listed
African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) and Assore, realised it was
running out of resources at the Beeshoek mine and could not
grow the business based on future anticipated capacity,” notes Willem.
Therefore, the company started initial feasibility studies to establish
the new Khumani facility, which was approved and commissioned
approximately six years ago.
With great optimism and belief about the new project, Assmang
immediately expanded the mine by installing a Whims (wet high-
intensity magnetic separation) plant and extra jigging capacity.
These successful additions now mean Khumani mine produces
14 million tonnes of iron ore per annum, adhering to the capacity
allocated by the Transnet Limited railway line that runs down to
Saldanha Bay. However, there is the possibility of increasing output
even further according to Willem.
“We are considering an additional jig plant, which will be able to
exploit more of the lower grade material available in the area and
extend the life of the mine,” he reveals.
“There is no definitive answer on capacity, because this depends
on discussions and negotiations with Transnet, but we will go through
a pre-feasibility process before finalising any design, which should
start any day now.”
Focusing on efficiencyFrom the commissioning of the mine and approval of the jig
plant expansion to the inclusion of the Whims plant, there has been
constant construction activity at Khumani. Now that these have been
completed, Willem is concentrating on making the mine as efficient
as possible.
“For the first time since commissioning the operation, we can now
concentrate on steady state conditions and are working very hard on
fine tuning the available facilities in terms of improving efficiencies,”
he notes. “This has been underway for the past year and consists of
minor projects, all of which have been successful.”
Despite doing everything in its power to run a smooth and
coherent operation, factors outside of Assmang’s control threatened
to disrupt the Khumani mine’s efficiency. During the summer months
in South Africa, there were some problems with the supply of water,
which even led to intermittent shutdowns.
“With the expansion of mining operations in the Northern Cape,
“Our employees are certainly valued and it is very important for us to have happy people and fully trained staff. We need to make sure we are doing our bit to make sure they can carry out their duties and are happy from a personal point of view in terms of circumstances, housing and schooling.”
KHUMANI MINE ASSMANG MANGANESE
Last month, Endeavour magazine spoke to Willem Grobbelaar, Divisional Manger at Assmang Limited, about its on-going commitment to staff and the various mines currently in operation. Interested in finding out more information about past, present and future projects, in particular the Khumani mine, we picked up the phone and talked to Willem once again. Here is what he had to say.
there are more demands on the Gamagara system and the Sedibeng
Water board,” says Willem.
“Water comes from a place near Kimberley on the Vaal River and
supplies all of the mining operations as well as towns, municipalities
and even some local farmers.”
For this reason, Assmang remains committed to conserving water
wherever possible and strives to re-circulate every drop so it does not
have a negative impact on the environment and production processes.
Taking advantage of existing operationsBefore the water pipeline receives necessary re-capitalisation
to bring it up-to-date, Assmang has still managed to continue with
operations thanks to its existing infrastructure.
“We actually managed to make up losses during the dry period
and catch up in terms of production,” asserts Willem. “The Beeshoek
mine is still operating, despite virtually shutting down for a year after
Khumani was commissioned. For a year, no production took place
apart from available stockpiles that were utilised to supply local
customers.
“This has been gradually ramping up again and will be given a new
lease of life with just over 2 million tonnes of iron ore being produced
per annum.”
In addition to this valuable
revenue stream, the close
proximity of both mines has also
enhanced operational flexibility,
as resources can be shared
between the two.
“This assisted us during some
problematic months, but both
mines managed to achieve their
production targets at the end of
the financial year in June,” boasts
Willem. “Moving forward, we are
looking to enhance this flexibility
and are revisiting our strategy
to see if there is anything
else we can do. This includes
exploring the lower grades
available, improving efficiencies
and possible expanding plant
facilities.”
Employee benefitsAs mentioned in our previous
discussion with Willem, staff play
a pivotal role in the organisation
and as such, Assmang offers
employees the opportunity
to own their own home. “We
subsidise our employees very
heavily, but they will be the
owner of that property and
benefit from capital growth over
time,” he reveals.
Housing remains one of
the Northern Cape’s greatest
challenges, but Willem believes
that providing solutions for a
dedicated workforce is of great
benefit for the individual and the
company as a whole.
“Overall, our housing
policy has been instrumental in
KHUMANI MINE ASSMANG MANGANESE
securing a very stable workforce,” he says. “We have an extremely
low labour turnover, albeit in the background of some very scarce
engineering skills in the country.”
Staff encouragement and rewardOn the subject of South Africa’s skills shortage, Assmang has been
proactive in its approach to recruiting talented members of staff by
setting up a training centre, with plans for construction now being
finalised.
“The primary objective of this training centre is to provide
technical expertise to our mining operations in the Northern Cape,”
notes Willem. “However, there will be additional capacity for us to
train other industry workers in the region, or even the country for
that matter.
“Before now we have had to send our artisans to other training
institutions, so this will make life better and have a positive impact on
the local community as well. We can also train people in life skills that
might be of value if they decide to leave the mining industry.”
As part of its license to operate, Assmang is obliged to conduct
certain sustainable economic development projects, an undertaking
that Willem is more than happy to carry out.
“We cover processes as
diverse as brick or even coffin
making and there is a lot of
infrastructure projects in various
towns, namely Kathu, Kuruman
and Postmasburg,” says Willem.
“Our employees are certainly
valued and it is very important for
us to have happy people and fully
trained staff. We need to make sure
we are doing our bit to make sure
they can carry out their duties and
are happy from a personal point
of view in terms of circumstances,
housing and schooling.”
With the possibility of
increased capacity, an upgraded
infrastructure and highly trained
staff, the future certainly looks
bright for Assmang Limited and
the Khumani mine.
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