Capital Equipment News December 2017

MINERAL PROCESSING

ects wasn’t available, especially for diamond mining. We started designing and building our own custom built plants to meet opera- tional requirements for cost-effective min- eral processing,” says Ken Basson, director Plant and Engineering at B&E International. “We later decided that due to the skills and expertise we had garnered in this regard, we would offer this to the market as we saw a definite gap that we could fill in terms of purpose-built process plants and the relat- ed maintenance and operation on behalf of mine owners,” adds Basson. While the company has several models in place to suit a range of customers and appli- cations across an array of commodities, it is the BOOT (Build, Own, Operate and Transfer) model which Basson believes is a unique value proposition, especially for new mining companies seeking to get started in a chal- lenging mining sector where raising capital is often a big challenge. “We offer these ser- vices across a wide range of commodities, including coal, copper, diamonds, manga- nese, platinum and gold,” says Basson. Toll model B& E International offers an innovative toll model for processing plants that reduces the upfront capital requirements for start- up mining companies. Basson says this model is designed mainly for smaller mining companies, or those who are new to the mining business, who often find it very difficult to raise all the necessary capital to commence mining projects. Through this operation concept, B&E Inter- national assumes all design, operational and financial risk for the project by offering a toll- based mineral processing model. Two mod- els are available in this regard, namely the EPCM (Engineering, Procurement, Construc- tion and Management) and the BOOT model. “The BOOT concept is generating a lot of interest at this stage, especially from junior miners. We have executed a number of successful contracts where we design, construct and operate a plant on behalf of a mining customer, allowing them to focus on other critical aspects of their operation,” says Basson. Under this model, B&E International retains the ownership of the plant for a pre-determined number of years, normally five years, and charge a toll rate depending on the production output. The customer has the option to take over the ownership of the plant after an initial five-year period, where they would then pay only the residual value of the plant based on an amortisation formu- la that could be agreed in advance. “This removes the burden of paying for the processing plant upfront, while guard- ing against the risk of any underperforming

plant, which can be detrimental to the whole mining project,” says Basson. Key advantages There are several advantages related to the BOOT model. Mining costs a lot of money, especially in greenfields projects where, in many circumstances, mining houses don’t have the financial muscle to fund all their capital needs, from explora- tion, pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, to building infrastructure, developing the mine and investing in a processing plant. The model significantly cuts up-front costs for equipment, facilities and skilled person- nel, while reducing ongoing operational costs. B&E operates the processing plant on a toll basis where the customer pays on a cost per ton basis. “The advantage to the customer is that we assume all the risk relat- ed to the non-performance of the plant. If the plant doesn’t perform, we don’t get paid,” says Basson. Consequently, the customer is guaranteed continuous production, minimis- ing the risk of possible operational down- time, and in turn, guaranteeing productivity. “The client actually gets the best of both worlds. The model mitigates the business risk to a very large extent, while at the same time, B&E International, as a contractor, also assumes all the financial, technical and op- erational risks of the project,” adds Basson. Basson adds that from an equipment pro- curement point of view, a major advantage for the customer is that, having gained a lot of experience in operating process plants over the years, B&E International has the necessary knowhow when it comes to choos- ing the right equipment for the job at hand. “We offer the client what we believe is the best on the market when it comes to capital equipment. We have been in this business for long and we are well aware that equip- ment selection is of great significance,” says Basson. Solutions for existing projects In terms of existing projects, B&E Interna- tional can offer two-fold solutions. Firstly, the company has the capacity to come in and conduct plant audits in order to estab- lish the bottlenecks on the existing pro- cessing plants before recommending the necessary solutions to optimise the plant’s productivity. “We can come in and identify the con- straints and bottlenecks on the existing plant and be in a position to offer solutions to op- timise the performance of the plant,” says Basson. Great footprint Apart from South Africa, B&E has over the years garnered enough experience to

undertake and support projects in Africa. In addition to its South African headquarters, B&E International has a wide project footprint with permanent bases in Namibia and Botswana. “We currently do a lot of work in SADC countries, such as Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia. We have also previously worked further north in countries such as Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),” says Basson. Working in these countries requires a great deal of support capacity. For example, if a plant operating in the DRC breaks down, it can take up to two weeks to get spares there from South Africa, which is quite a long downtime period. “We understand the complexities of working outside South Africa because we have done it for a long time. For example, we own our own aircraft, which is very handy when there is need to fly engi- neers or spares to these far fung areas as a matter of urgency,” says Basson. In conclusion, Basson believes that the BOOT concept is the future of mining. “Mines have a lot of other things to take care of. We remove the burden of having to look after their processing plants, which is a very im- portant part of the mining operation at large. The processing plant is the heart of the mine, if it doesn’t perform, everything else suffers. Our focus is to maximise return on invest- ment for our clients,” concludes Basson. b

A primary coal crushing station designed and built by B&E International.

Ken Basson, director plant and engineering at B&E International.

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS DECEMBER 2017 24