mining weekly platinum production

http://www.miningweekly.co.za/article.php?a_id=111018



Recent testwork on flotation feed material by company consultant Mintek demonstrated “excellent potential for PGM recovery”.

The R20-million plant is part of a project to recover chromite and PGMs from the tailings of Samancor’s chrome mines.

Sylvania’s first chrome-recovery plant as part of this project is also located at the Samancor Millsell mine, where it has been producing metallurgical-grade chromite concentrates since August last year.

The expansion of the project will see the construction of an integrated plant to recover both chrome and PGMs from mine tailings at Samancor’s Steelpoort chrome mine.

Commissioning of this R27-mil-lion plant is expected next month, at which time Sylvania will have two operational PGM flotation plants.

Sylvania has an agreement with Samancor for Sylvania to construct four PGM-recovery plants and five chrome-washing plants to treat chrome tailings.

Once Sylvania has established its operations at Millsell and Steelpoort, it will commission a further two PGM-recovery plants and three chrome-washing plants over the next 12 months.

EMPOWERED

Sylvania Resources has concluded an empowerment deal with Ehlobo Metals, in which the company will acquire 26% of Sylvania’s South African subsidiaries, Sylvania Metals and Sylvania Minerals.

Sylvania Metals holds Sylvania’s chrome-washing plants, and Sylvania Minerals holds Sylvania’s platinum-retreatment plants.

Ehlobo is set to invest up to R40-million in the business as part of the deal.

Ehlobo is owned by Ehlobo Resources, which is headed by Alistair Ruiters and Rafique Bagus.

Ruiters was the director-general of the Department of Trade and Industry from 1999 to 2005, with Bagus the CEO of Trade and Investment South Africa from 1996 to 2002.

Sylvania Resources is involved in two other PGM projects on the Bushveld Igneous Complex.

The first project is a 25% interest in a consortium which is led by Aquarius Platinum.

The consortium constructed a purpose-built plant at the Kroondal mine to extract PGMs (platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold) from the tailings of the nearby Xstrata and LanXess chrome mines.

The chrome tailings retreatment plant is managed by Aquarius Platinum, and has been in production since January 2005.

Sylvania’s other project, Everest North, is located on the farm Vygenhoek, on the eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex.

Sylvania is conducting exploration drilling as the initial part of a feasibility study for mine development.

According to the current project development plan, mining could start in October next year.