Modern Mining March 2020

MINING News

Anglo American Platinum shuts down the Anglo Converter Plant

Anglo American Platinum has announced the temporary shutdown of the entire Anglo Converter Plant (ACP), part of the chain of processing facilities, and the need to declare force majeure (an unanticipated, uncontrollable event). The company’s ACP phase A converter plant at Waterval smelter in Rustenburg, was damaged following an explosion within the converter on 10 February 2020. Nobody was injured in the incident and work has started to repair phase A, which is expected to be completed by Q2 2021. As per normal business procedure, the phase B unit was commissioned to take over from the phase A plant and was in the process of ramping up to steady state, when water was detected in the furnace. Notwithstanding extensive testing being conducted to determine the source of the water, and a number of circuits being iso- lated, water continued to be observed in the furnace. This poses a high risk of explo- sion and the company has determined that it has no other option but to temporar- ily shut down the phase B unit to ensure

The company’s ACP phase A converter plant, at Waterval smelter in Rustenburg, was damaged following an explosion within the converter on 10 February 2020.

lamation and environmental restoration facility producing quality copper cathode and cobalt in hydroxide. It is positioned to become one of the largest producers of cobalt globally upon completion of its Phase II expansion. For the precursor plant, the group plans to source nickel sulphate from third parties or produce it itself, using nickel raw mate- rials mixed hydroxide precipitate or mixed sulphide precipitate. “Our aim is to continue to responsibly service a burgeoning battery sector set to grow by 19 times by 2030, according to a recent report by the Global Battery Alliance, a public-private collaboration platform of about 70 international organisa- tions, where ERG is a founding member,” says Sobotka.  the entire ACP, Anglo American Platinum has had to declare force majeure to cus- tomers, suppliers of third-party purchase of concentrate and suppliers of tolling material, as it is unable to complete the processing of material during the converter repair. Production from own mines will con- tinue, and the concentrate from the mines will continue to be smelted at one of the four smelter complexes. However, produc- tion from own mines, as well as third-party material will not be able to be converted to refined production while the ACP is under- going repairs. 

the safety of all employees and to avoid a catastrophic event. It is anticipated that the repair works to fix the phase B unit will take approximately 80 days. As a result of the temporary closure of

Refined production guidance (‘000 ounces)

New H1 2020 guidance

Revised full year 2020 guidance

Previous full year 2020 guidance

Platinum Palladium Rhodium

400 – 450 300 – 350

1 500 – 1 700 1 100 – 1 200

2 000 – 2 200 1 400 – 1 500

65 – 75

250 – 350

--

Total PGMs (5E + gold)

850 – 1 050

3 300 – 3 800

4 200 – 4 700

Initial estimates of the impact on AAP refined production.

Eurasian Resources Group plans battery material plant for the DRC Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), a diver- sified natural resources group, says it is assessing the construction of a battery material plant to produce nickel-cobalt manganese (NCM) precursor materials for electric vehicles. “Our vision for a green economy is at the core of our continued commitment to sup- ply the most critical materials for the global battery sector,” says Benedikt Sobotka, CEO of Eurasian Resources Group. “We are lead- ing industry efforts to ensure sustainable, traceable cobalt sourcing in supply chains across Europe, North America, South Korea and Japan. Together with our partners we are considering multiple locations for the development of the precursor plant.”

The group is evaluating technical solutions offered by engineering firms BGRIMM Technology Group from China and Outotec from Finland, which will allow for the production of both NCM 6:2:2 and NCM 8:1:1 precursors, depending on market conditions. The group is planning to develop the plant in two phases. The first phase is expected to produce 90 000 t of NCM annually, following a two-year construc- tion period. The expansion will be defined depending on market conditions.

The plant will be exclusively supplied with cobalt hydroxide from ERG’s Metalkol RTR in the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose operations are in accordance with recognised responsible and sustainable practices as set out in the ERG Clean Cobalt Framework. Metalkol RTR is a historic tailings rec-

8  MODERN MINING  March 2020