Modern Mining January 2024

MINING News

Kazera Global, the AIM-quoted investment company, has placed an order for a pul sating diamond jig unit for its Deep Blue Minerals diamond project in Alexander Bay, South Africa. The company remains focused on advancing production at its Deep Blue Minerals Project, in which it holds a 64% interest. The 20 tons per hour processing capac ity pulsating diamond jig is expected to be Alexander Bay, South Africa. Historically, Deep Blue has worked with Alexkor to get its Muisvlak diamond gravel process ing plant operating correctly so it and other contractors in the area can process their diamond gravel. However, despite best efforts, it has become increasingly apparent that achieving this consistently is not achievable in the short term. Deep Blue has therefore received approval from Alexkor to use a pulsating jig to pro cess its diamond gravel and then deliver very high concentrate gravels to Alexkor for final sorting and sale. This means the volumes to be transported will be con siderably reduced (so reducing costs) and also means that security of our prod uct will be improved. Pulsating jigs are widely used for diamond recovery and, with a processing capacity of 20 tons per hour, we believe this purchase provides a cost-effective way to improve operations swiftly and dramatically at Deep Blue”. The use of the pulsating diamond jig is an attempt to unblock the diamond mining process for Deep Blue by bypassing the Muisvlak plant completely and allowing Deep Blue to deliver only very high con centrate diamond gravels to Alexkor for final sorting.  Andrada Mining’s lithium pilot plant produces first lithium concentrate Kazera Global purchases pulsating diamond jig The pilot plant at the Deep Blue Minerals diamond project. in operation in early 2024. The unit will help overcome diamond gravel process ing issues at Alexkor’s Muisvlak processing plant. Dennis Edmonds, CEO of Kazera Global, commented: “Having recently inspected a pulsating diamond jig in operation, we have placed an order for a unit which will be deployed at Deep Blue Minerals’ diamond mining operation in

believe our efforts throughout the year have the potential to place Andrada at the forefront of lithium development in Africa. The discovery of additional lithium within the company owned Lithium Ridge and Spodumene Hill also underscores

Andrada Mining, an African technology metals mining company with a portfolio of mining and exploration assets in Namibia, has successfully commissioned and achieved first production at its lith ium (bulk-sampling) pilot plant. Production ramp up to 250 tonnes a month is planned during first quarter of the 2024 calendar year. Andrada Mining CEO, Anthony Viljoen commented: “We Bushveld Minerals inks agreement for the acquisition by Southern Point Resources

the possibility that Namibia’s Erongo region could be a key participant in the global lithium

Andrada Mining CEO, Anthony Viljoen.

AIM-listed Bushveld Minerals, the integrated primary vana dium producer, has entered into a definitive agreement for the acquisition by Southern Point Resources - Fund 1 SA L.P., represented by its general partner SPR GP1 (SPRF), of 50% of the issued shares of Bushveld Vanchem (BV), which owns the Vanchem vanadium processing plant (Vanchem), for an acquisition price of some US$21.3 million. The purchase by SPR of Bushveld’s 64% equity interest in a subsidiary that owns the Mokopane Vanadium project for $3.7 million, remains on track.

landscape, with the potential to host a cluster of significant mines. The early results from the recently commissioned lith ium processing pilot facility have instilled unwavering optimism. We are also pleased by the ongoing negotiations with lithium off takers that target Andrada’s involvement in all downstream lithium markets, and we look forward to providing further details as these negotiations progress. Overall, we consider the pilot plant serves as a crucial de-risking element in the Company’s lithium portfolio, further bolstering our confidence in Andrada’s lithium strategy.” 

Craig Coltman, CEO of Bushveld Minerals, commented: “We are pleased to be announcing a definitive agreement on another piece of the overall $69.5-$77.5 million funding package first announced in September. We look forward to working closely with our new partners at Vanchem to unlock value in this significant asset. We hope to announce further progress on the overall funding package in the coming weeks and months.” 

4  MODERN MINING  January 2024