Modern Mining April 2015

MINING News

DRA lands its first-ever phosphate project

Rockwell Diamonds Inc, listed on the TSX and JSE, has reached an agreement to sell its non-core Tirisano project for a cash consider- ation of C$6,3 million. Located in NorthWest Province some 500 km from the company’s Middle Orange River (MOR) operations, Tirisano was identified some time ago as a non-core asset and a sale process was initiated. The mine was placed on care and maintenance in December 2012 and subsequently royalty contract miners were brought in to continue mining operations on the property. During the subse- quent period the contract mining operations processed an average of 160 000 m 3 per month producing between 1 500 and 2 000 carats per month. After evaluating a number of proposals as part of the sale pro- cess, Rockwell reached an agreement with a consortium made up of the royalty miners, who have operated at Tirisano for the past two years. Rockwell also reports that it is expanding its exploration activi- ties in the MOR, initially focusing on the Lanyonvale and contiguous Wouterspan properties.  DRA has been awarded the implementation phase of the Elandsfontein phosphate project, located on the west coast of South Africa, by Elandsfontein Exploration and Mining (Pty) Ltd. The EPCM contract was awarded to DRA, and follows the recent completion of the definitive feasibility study of the project, also carried out by DRA. A major component of the scope of the project will be the processing facility and its associated infrastructure, designed to pro- duce approximately 1,35 Mt/a of phosphate concentrate. Included in the process plant will be screening, classification, milling, reverse flotation, dewatering and product handling. Tailings will be dewa- tered by belt filter prior to dry stacking. DRA’s in-house mining division carried out the design and pro- duction scheduling of the open-pit mining operation, which will be contracted out by Elandsfontein. Paul Thomson, CEO of the DRA Group, comments: “We are especially pleased and proud to be awarded the Elandsfontein phosphate project. The award follows more than 15 months of working closely with the Elandsfontein team on the study of the project, during which a wide range of testwork and trials were car- ried out to develop the optimum flowsheet. “This is a unique project for South Africa, as the first sedimen- tary type phosphate project carried out in the country as opposed to igneous phosphate. In addition, it’s the first phosphate project awarded to DRA in our 30-year history, demonstrating our versatility in minerals processing and successful project delivery. Its award is also a testament to the ability of our study teams in jointly solving technical challenges in close cooperation with our clients.” The project will be managed from the Cape Town office of DRA, with commissioning due in August 2016.  Rockwell Diamonds sells non-core Tirisano mine

April 2015  MODERN MINING  21