Name and Location
Kalagadi Manganese project, Northern Cape and Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Client
Kalagadi Manganese is held by ArcelorMittal (50%), Kalahari Resources (40%) and the Industrial Development Corporation (10%).

Project Description
The project involved the construction of a manganese mine and a 2.4-million-ton-a-year high-grade sinter plant (Umtu sinter plant), near Hotazel, in the Kuruman area of the Northern Cape.

The output required to produce this amount of sinter will be three-million tons a year.

An additional component of the project is the construction of a 320 000 t/y ferromanganese smelter complex in the industrial development zone (IDZ) of the Coega deep-water harbour, in the Eastern Cape.

The plant will be designed to also produce silicomanganese as an alternative product.

The smelter will be situated in Zone 6 of the IDZ metallurgical zone and could possibly be expanded to handle 640 000 t of ore.

The project area overlies the Kalahari manganese basin and is estimated to contain 80% of the world’s known high-grade manganese resources.

An evaluation of historically available information indicates that up to one-billion tons of mineable ore could exist under the prospecting area, covering 8 000 ha.

Value
R11-billion, which will be funded by 40% equity and 60% debt.

Duration
The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.

Latest Developments
The Stanley Nqobizizwe Nkosi manganese sinter plant was launched on November 29. The sinter plant has been named after Daphne Mashile-Nkosi’s deceased husband and a shaft has been named after a woman in the area, Thembeka Myedi, also deceased, who helped Kalagadi to secure its mining licence.

The R1.6-billion sinter plant will be capable of producing 2.4-million tons of sinter a year.

The complex, which is expected to be operational from May next year, has produced manganese sinter using fines from neighbouring mines with the same geology.
The sinter plant had been operational until September 2013, when a transformer failed.

This will be repaired during December and is expected to resume functioning in mid-January.

Total investment on the site to date, including the development of the underground mine and infrastructure, is R5.3-billion.

On the surface is the tall mine headgear, a 17-million-litre water reservoir, an 11 kVA power line, 9.8 km of mine-built road and an 18.6 km rail link.

The underground ore has a manganese content of 37% to 38%, which the sinter plant will enhance to 47% and 48%.

Kalagadi is also continuing with its plans for the construction of a manganese smelter in the Eastern Cape.

Discussions are under way with leading development finance institutions (DFIs) to fund the smelter, for which procurement is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2014.

International DFIs have shown a keen interest in the complex because of its beneficiation offering and its unique African characteristic of being managed by women.

Four 63 MVA furnaces are expected to be procured initially, with an additional two furnaces that could be included at a later date.
Export Credit Agency funding is expected to be secured to buy the furnaces.

Envisaged is the railing of 700 000 t/y of sinter to the smelter, in the Coega IDZ, at the deep-water Ngqura port, near Port Elizabeth, which is designed to yield 320 000 t/y of high-carbon ferromanganese.

Of the 2.4-million tons of sinter expected to be produced a year, 700 000 t is earmarked for the smelter and the rest for export.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Mineral Corporation (geological consultant); MDM Engineering (bankable feasibility study, front-end engineering and design; engineering and construction management); Civcon (main contractor); Shaft Sinkers and Grinaker-LTA (shaft sinking); Neutron Engineering (bulk earthworks for the shaft); Tubular (main and ventilation shaft headgears); Outotec (sinter plant); and Esorfranki Geotechnical (piling contract).

On Budget and on Time?
The project is on track and is expected be commissioned by July 2013.

Contact Details for Project Information
Kalagadi Manganese, tel +27 11 808 2000, fax +27 86 673 2122 or email info@kalagadi.co.za.
Esorfranki Geotechnical MD Roy McLintock or Tammy Davies, tel +27 11 882 3906, fax +27 11 882 3112 or
email info@esorfranki.co.za.
Civcon, tel +27 11 206 9660, fax +27 11 316 6604 or email info@civcon.co.za.
Grinaker-LTA, tel +27 11 578 6000, fax +27 11 578 6161 or email enquiry@grinaker-lta.co.za.
Outotec investor relations vice president Rita Uotila, tel +358 20 529 2003 or email rita.uotila@outotec.com.
MDM Engineering marketing manager and public relations manager Vanessa Evans, tel +27 11 993 4300, fax +27 11 886 9306 or email Vanessa@mdm-engineering.com.