Modern Mining August 2018

COVER STORY

successfully in July this year and we are expecting the first ore to go through the plant this month (August) with the plant being fully commissioned by September,” says Meijers. “We are confident that we are delivering a world-class processing plant that will meet expectations.” Meijers notes that the concentra- tor incorporates – for the first time in Africa – Staged Flotation Reactor (SFR) technology from one of ELB’s many international partners, Canada’s Woodgrove Technologies Inc. Among the benefits of the SFR technology are a smaller plant foot- print, a major reduction in power and air consumption (compared to conventional flotation plants) and reduced wear and maintenance costs due to lower impeller tip speeds. “The technology is cutting edge,” states Meijers. Woodgrove has not been the only international partner of ELB to participate in the project. Also involved is ENFI, one of China’s

They’re now once again a real leader in the field of coal-fired power station design and construc- tion – as they were back in the 1980s when the last generation of power stations was built – and it has been very satisfying to work with a client of such technical competence.” ELB’s work has entailed the design, sup- ply, erection and commissioning of the terrace coal and ash handling facilities comprising 54 conveyors which feed the coal into the power station’s six boilers and remove the ash for dis- posal. These conveyors transport the coal and

leading engineering companies operating in the non-ferrous field. “ENFI was responsible for part of process design and detail design as per the scope of work of the contract with ELB being responsible for the detailed design and the construction,” Meijers explains. He adds that the construction was undertaken by ELB Construction (ELBCON), ELB’s construc- tion arm, with another group company, B&W Instrumentation & Electrical, handling the elec- trical and instrumentation (E&I) work. “Having an in-house construction and E&I capability distinguishes us from many other companies operating in the EPC/EPCM field. It allows excellent interdisciplinary management, reduces counter-party risk and ensures that we have tight control over costs and project execu- tion. At Gamsberg, we were able to undertake almost everything in-house with the exception of the civils work which was contracted out to Murray & Dickson and Teichmann.” ELB’s second flagship project, Medupi, has provided a base load of work for the company for roughly the past eight years, with the heart of its involvement being the provision of mate- rials handling systems. “Medupi has been a fantastic project for us,” says Meijers. “We’ve enjoyed an excellent relationship with Eskom and it’s been amazing to see how their capac- ity has built up over the course of the project.

ELB’s work at the Medupi Power Station has entailed the design, supply, erection and commissioning of the terrace coal and ash han- dling facilities. The concentrator plant at Gamsberg showing the mill section. The plant incorpo- rates – for the first time in Africa – Staged Flotation Reactor (SFR) technology.

August 2018  MODERN MINING  19