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GOLD
August 2016
MODERN MINING
29
FY2015 was just over 150 000 ounces.
A further benefit of the Ergo operation is that
it is environmentally friendly in the sense that
it consolidates material from poorly-designed
historic tailings dumps into modern, well-
designed facilities, at the same time freeing
up previously sterilised land for development.
DRDGOLD puts enormous effort into rehabili-
tating what remains of these old dumps and has
revegetated 283,75 ha of top surfaces and side
slopes over the past five years.
The Ergo assets stretch across the central
and eastern Witwatersrand over a distance
of 62 km and include not only the Brakpan
plant – originally established in the late 1970s
by Anglo American – but also the standalone
Knights plant in Germiston, milling and pump
stations at Crown Mines and City Deep (both
former plants), as well as an extensive network
of pipelines. The Brakpan plant is the flagship
operation and is responsible for the majority
of gold production (about 75 % with Knights
accounting for the balance), with most of its
feedstock (roughly two thirds) being sourced
from the Elsburg tailings complex. The overall
resource being exploited by Ergo amounts to
10,8 Moz of gold.
DRDGOLD has been involved with the Ergo
assets since 2007 (initially in joint venture with
Mintails, whose stake it purchased in two deals
in 2008 and 2010) and has since modernised
Top:
The flotation section
of the FFG circuit at the
Brakpan plant.
Above:
The flotation plant
separates the incoming
feed into high-grade (the
flotation concentrate) and
low-grade (the flotation
tails) streams.
and extended the operation, among other
things constructing a 50 km long, 600 000
tonne/month capacity, HDPE-lined pipeline
to link Crown and the Brakpan plant. The FFG
circuit is the latest enhancement of the opera-
tion and is designed to recover an additional
0,03 g/t from the tailings material (which gener-
ally has a grade in the region of 0,28 g/t) passing
through the plant.
Talking to
Modern Mining
during the media
visit, Jaco Schoeman, DRDGOLD’s Operations
Director (he also carries the responsibilities of
the COO position), said that the need for the
FFG was identified several years ago when