Modern Mining February 2018

FLUORSPAR

Nokeng – drawing SA into the global fluorspar big league? Work is progressing apace at SepFluor’s Nokeng mine in northern Gauteng since the project was launched in mid-2017; hopes are that this R1,7 billion initiative could signal the start of South Africa becoming a global fluorspar player. Modern Mining visited the mine site with SepFluor CEO Rob Wagner to get an update.

I t has been a dozen years since Gauteng – the historic home of South Africa’s world-famous gold mining industry – saw a new mine rising from its earth, and that in itself may have been reason enough for Nokeng to be in the headlines dur- ing 2017. In fact, there are a few more exciting reasons to take note; for instance, the mine is relatively high grade and its mining process fairly low cost, suggesting that the return on investment will be considerably better than most operations in the country’s beleaguered minerals sector. But looking further ahead, it is SepFluor’s plan for an aluminium tri-fluoride (AlF 3 ) ben- eficiation facility in nearby Ekandustria that is likely to soon be raising eyebrows, and Wagner expects the economics of this venture to be clearer by mid-2018. The initial plan would be for the company’s Nokeng mine – and

subsequent operations – to feed 130 000 tonnes a year of acid- spar (calcium fluoride or CaF 2 ) into the facility, producing over 17 000 tonnes a year of surplus anhydrous hydrogen fluoride (AHF) and 216 000 tonnes a year of anhydrite (CaSO 4 ) as a by-product. The beneficiation works would also draw over 42 000 tonnes a year of AHF and produce – through a process involving imported aluminium hydroxide – some 60 000 tonnes a year of aluminium tri-fluoride

SepFluor CEO Rob Wagner on site at Nokeng, with construction underway on the conveyor culvert in the background.

for local and international aluminium smelters. “We have been working on these plans for some time, and are well positioned to imple- ment this initiative,” says Wagner. “The plant in Ekandustria already has an emissions permit and a Water Use Licence, and we have a project manager with plenty of practical experience in this field.” The proposal ticks all the boxes for tech- nological innovation and local beneficiation of minerals, so it is hoped that the relevant government departments – as well as develop- mental and commercial financial institutions – give it the support it warrants. Back at the Nokeng project 80 km north of Pretoria, the work is steaming ahead with a firm eye on the clock. To expedite the supply of power, the mine is ‘self-building’ the 14 km, 132 kV overhead line in collaboration with Eskom. This is only the third self-built line in the country but, at a cost of R80 million, will keep the mine on schedule and hold down the risk of schedule over-runs. The project has been long in preparation, Wagner acknowledges, and it is important to consolidate the credibility that his team has built. With its mining right issued and its Social and Labour Plan approved in 2011,

22  MODERN MINING  February 2018