Modern Mining August 2018

CHROME

screening, multi-stage spiralling and mag- netic separation with the spirals technology having been developed in conjunction with Multotec. The entire process is designed to extract chromite from the -1 mm fraction of the plant feed.” In all, there are seven plants on site which collectively incorporate 15 spiral plant mod- ules, with each module having a 45 t/h capacity. All the plants have been put in since ACF – under its present ownership – started operations in 2014 with the exception of what is known as the pilot plant, which was origi- nally erected by a previous operator at the site and has been refurbished by ACF. Each new plant put in has built on the experience gained with its predecessors. The newest plant – Plant 6 – was commis- sioned in April this year and is a four-module facility, the largest to date. Further capacity is on the way and it is envisaged that a total of 19 modules will be operational by year’s end. Currently, the seven plants are produc- ing about 30 000 tonnes of product per month – which is marketed through Glencore – but will eventually ramp up to a capacity of 50 000 tonnes per month. Plant 6 has been equipped with two high- rate tailings thickeners – supplied by South African company Magra Process Engineering – which allow for the recovery of around 80 % of the process water. A further benefit derived from the use of the thickeners is that the tail- ings from the plant now dry out faster. This means that the material can be returned to the mining sites – where it is used in rehabilitation – much sooner than was previously the case.

ACF is currently busy with a programme to ret- rofit the thickeners to all the other plants. Each plant has its own mining village, with accommodation – mainly containerised – being provided for approximately 900 employees. Electricity is supplied from gensets as the entire ACF operation is off-grid. The gravel road network connecting the various sites totals over 80 km. ACF is operated by the Moti Group, which is the majority shareholder of the company. Sakunda Holdings (Pvt) Ltd is the minor- ity shareholder. Moti was founded by South African entrepreneur Zunaid Moti, who has built up a business empire encompassing not only mining but also property, aviation, security and financial services, and trans- port and logistics. The Group says it has already invested around US$250 million in Zimbabwe and will be doubling this to make it one of the biggest foreign investors in Zimbabwe’s economy. Photos by Arthur Tassell (unless otherwise acknowledged)

The newest plant, Plant 6, is a four-module facility (photo: ACF).

August 2018  MODERN MINING  29