Modern Mining May 2020

GOLD

Tailings retreatment pays dividends That mining activity has been severely curtailed under the strin- gent COVID-19 lockdown restrictions is no overstatement. However, for Pan African Resources, tailings reprocessing is providing a lifeline due to the easily accessible nature of tailings retreatments, allowing the company to continue producing close to forecasted production, writes Munesu Shoko .

T he COVID-19 pandemic has presented sig- nificant challenges to the global mining sector. Apart from unprecedented disruptions to production, which will impact mines’ forecast annual production, market projections indicate that commodity prices could also fall closer to trough levels in the near term and make significant cuts to mining companies’ earnings forecasts. In fact, commodity prices across the mining indus- try have been declining as the industry considers the devastating aftershocks of this “Black Swan” event. In South Africa, the Minerals Council South Africa forecasts that the industry may have lost about R1,5‑billion a day during the initial 21-day lockdown period where most mines, except those classified as essential services, were completely shut. At the start of the South African lockdown, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy advised that mining operations would be scaled

Cobus Loots, CEO of Pan African Resources.

down significantly. The industry, however, scaled up operations under Level 4 of the lockdown, with most surface operations allowed to operate at 100% capacity. During this time, deep level mining, which is labour intensive by its very nature, has been com- pelled to continue operating at 50%. Under these stringent restrictions, mid-tier African- focused gold producer Pan African Resources, says the business of tailings reprocessing is providing the

The business of tailings reprocessing is providing the much-needed reprieve for Pan African Resources due to the easily accessible nature of its tailings retreatments.

12  MODERN MINING  May 2020