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Platreef will be the largest PGMs mine in the world, promises Friedland

Ivanhoe Mines CEO Robert Friedland

Ivanhoe Mines CEO Robert Friedland

10th February 2016

By: Kim Cloete

Creamer Media Correspondent

  

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CAPE TOWN (miningweekly.com) – Africa-focused explorer and project developer Ivanhoe Mines is confident that its Limpopo-based Platreef mine, which is expected to produce 12-million tonnes a year, will be the largest platinum group metals (PGMs) mine in the world “by a massive margin”.

Addressing conference delegates at the 2016 Investing in African Mining Indaba, in Cape Town, executive chairperson and founder Robert Friedland said the mine would start operations in 2019 and would be continuously expanded in a series of stages until it is the largest platinum/palladium mine globally.

Friedland said the project embodied 18 years of effort and an “astronomical” amount of drilling in an area half the size of Manhattan, New York. The orebody of the mine, which is situated close to Mabopane, south of Polokwane, is 700 m deep.

Friedland said the mine would be a state-of-the-art, modern mine, expected to last for the next 100 years, and that it would make the most of new automation technology. 

“Everyone working [at the mine] will be in an air-conditioned cab and there will be no exploitation of human labour. It’s the kind of mine operation where there will be no fatalities or injuries. The men and women who work here will be very well paid professionals who will lift nothing heavier than a pencil,” said Friedland.

He added that the No 2 shaft would be the largest mining shaft in South Africa.

Friedland also revealed that the community around the mine had been widely consulted, with 150 000 community members becoming equity shareholders. He noted that around 74% of employees came from surrounding communities.

Further, a new water pipeline from the Goshielo dam would supply the mine with water, while Eskom supplied bulk power.

Friedland highlighted Japan as a strong and supportive strategic partner for the project, which relied on Japanese government-supported project financing and takeoff agreements.

Meanwhile, Ivanhoe is also forging ahead with its Kamoa copper mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which he said was the largest undeveloped copper mine in the world.

Chinese mining group Zijn Mining has acquired a 49% stake in the mine, which is in the early stages of development. Phase 1 involved stockpile and crushing, while Phase 2 would see the acquisition of the project’s first modern smelter. Friedland said he expected the plant to produce 300 000 t of copper a year in the second phase.

“If we can get hydroelectric power from the DRC, then there’s no reason why we won’t be able to produce one-million tonnes of copper a year.”

Friedland added that young, local professionals would be hired to work at Kamoa.

“They will be paid accordingly and will make more money than doctors and dentists in their country.” 

He said the DRC would be well on its way to a revitalised copper industry, which could be further boosted by the Kakula exploration area – another ‘”spectacular” discovery even thicker and higher grade than Kamoa.

“It’s astronomical copper and [I give] all credit to the hundreds of people who worked on this discovery.”

Meanwhile, Friedland also advocated platinum and copper as the answer to healthier air.

He said air pollution was killing more people than HIV and malaria combined, while 1.4-million people in China had died as a result of air pollution.

China had pledged to remove six-million high-emission cars and trucks from the nation’s roads, while also building trams fuelled by platinum fuel cells, which use platinum particles as a catalyst to split hydrogen fuel into ions and electrons.

Worldwide, countries were turning to fuel cells for cars, drones and even smartphone chargers, which boded well for the future of platinum, said Friedland.

He added that copper’s outlook was also positive.

“Copper is the friendly, green bug-fighter. It kills off all kinds of bacteria and is used in hospitals. Copper kills these terrible bugs. Stainless steel is dead. We need copper today.”

Edited by Samantha Herbst
Creamer Media Deputy Editor

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