Modern Mining February 2018

FLUORSPAR

property, there is a 20 m thick layer averaging 38,16 % calcium fluoride and 25 % iron, over a 200 m by 400 m plateau capping Plattekop Hill which overlooks the site where the con- centrator infrastructure is being constructed. Total proven reserves amount to 2,7 million tonnes (Mt) containing over a million tonnes of calcium fluoride. A far larger, but lower grade, deposit resides at Outwash Fan, 3 km south of Plattekop; with

Nokeng received its final approvals in 2013. In the recent difficult investment climate, it took until the middle of 2017 for the financ- ing to be completed – requiring an onerous R700 million-odd in equity to secure the rest of the project’s cost in debt from South African, Dutch and German lenders. Contractors have wasted no time in getting going, with Group Five Construction initiating earthworks, civils and other site work in the second half of 2017. A joint venture compris- ing DRA Projects and Group Five was awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the mine. Two boreholes are operational – in a well-field that will include 14 boreholes – and a potable water plant is now commissioned to deal with the high fluorine content of the raw water. Road infrastructure is being upgraded to suit the mine’s needs, and the earth mat for the on- site substation has already been completed. A tailings dam contractor is to be appointed in the next few weeks; the mining contractor, to be appointed shortly, will be on site by early in the second quarter at the latest. Mining will focus on two high-quality, adjacent haematite-fluorspar deposits – Plattekop and Outwash Fan. At the Plattekop

Aerial view of part of the Nokeng site showing the conveyor culvert being constructed under the D567 provincial road, beyond which the site for the primary crusher is being prepared. Construction underway on the site of Nokeng’s primary crusher, with the Maccaferri retaining wall in place.

February 2018  MODERN MINING  23