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April 2015
MODERN MINING
21
MINING News
Rockwell Diamonds Inc, listed on the TSX and JSE, has reached an
agreement to sell its non-core Tirisano project for a cash consider-
ation of C$6,3 million. Located in NorthWest Province some 500 km
from the company’s Middle Orange River (MOR) operations, Tirisano
was identified some time ago as a non-core asset and a sale process
was initiated.
The mine was placed on care and maintenance in December
2012 and subsequently royalty contract miners were brought in
to continue mining operations on the property. During the subse-
quent period the contract mining operations processed an average
of 160 000 m
3
per month producing between 1 500 and 2 000 carats
per month.
After evaluating a number of proposals as part of the sale pro-
cess, Rockwell reached an agreement with a consortium made up
of the royalty miners, who have operated at Tirisano for the past
two years.
Rockwell also reports that it is expanding its exploration activi-
ties in the MOR, initially focusing on the Lanyonvale and contiguous
Wouterspan properties.
DRA lands its first-ever
phosphate project
DRA has been awarded the implementation phase of the
Elandsfontein phosphate project, located on the west coast of South
Africa, by Elandsfontein Exploration and Mining (Pty) Ltd. The EPCM
contract was awarded to DRA, and follows the recent completion of
the definitive feasibility study of the project, also carried out by DRA.
A major component of the scope of the project will be the
processing facility and its associated infrastructure, designed to pro-
duce approximately 1,35 Mt/a of phosphate concentrate. Included
in the process plant will be screening, classification, milling, reverse
flotation, dewatering and product handling. Tailings will be dewa-
tered by belt filter prior to dry stacking.
DRA’s in-house mining division carried out the design and pro-
duction scheduling of the open-pit mining operation, which will be
contracted out by Elandsfontein.
Paul Thomson, CEO of the DRA Group, comments: “We are
especially pleased and proud to be awarded the Elandsfontein
phosphate project. The award follows more than 15 months of
working closely with the Elandsfontein team on the study of the
project, during which a wide range of testwork and trials were car-
ried out to develop the optimum flowsheet.
“This is a unique project for South Africa, as the first sedimen-
tary type phosphate project carried out in the country as opposed
to igneous phosphate. In addition, it’s the first phosphate project
awarded to DRA in our 30-year history, demonstrating our versatility
in minerals processing and successful project delivery. Its award is
also a testament to the ability of our study teams in jointly solving
technical challenges in close cooperation with our clients.”
The project will be managed from the Cape Town office of DRA,
with commissioning due in August 2016.
Rockwell Diamonds sells
non-core Tirisano mine