Name and Location
Tshipi Borwa manganese project, Northern Cape, South Africa.

Client
South African broad-based black economic-empowerment (BBBEE) company Ntsimbintle Mining owns 50.1% of Tshipi é Ntle Manganese Mining (Tshipi) and Jupiter Mines owns 49.9%.

Ntsimbintle represents many divergent BBBEE shareholders, including Safika Resources, Nkonjane Economic Prospecting and Investments, John Taolo Gaetsewe Development Trust and ASX-listed OM Holdings.

Project Description
The Tshipi project, located about 20 km south-west of the mining town Hotazel, in the Kalahari manganese field, is an advanced mining development project, with a defined mineral resource estimate of 163-million tonnes grading at 37.1% manganese. Of the total resource, 62-million tonnes are classified as indicated resources and the remainder as an inferred resource.

The ore is contained within a 30-m- to 46-m-thick mineralised zone, which occurs along the entire strike length of the Borwa property.

Tshipi is an openpit mining operation using a standard truck-and-shovel opencast mining approach. The Borwa mine property is located adjacent to the Mamatwan openpit manganese mine, which has been operating for more than 47 years. Total run-of-mine ore tonnes are planned at 2.4-million tonnes a year. There are sufficient resources to ensure a 60-year life-of-mine at this production rate.

The mining of the openpit has been outsourced to Aveng Moolmans. All the other parts are being run on an owner-operator basis.

Tshipi has constructed and commissioned its own dedicated rail loading facility, which has joined the existing transport rail line a few kilometres from the site.

Value
The project cost R2.2-billion.

Duration
Mine development started in 2011, with first ore mined in October 2012 and first manganese exported in December 2012.

Latest Developments
Tshipi Borwa exported two-million tonnes of manganese ore in 2014 and has become the fifth biggest manganese mine in the world.

Tshipi exported one-million tonnes of semicarbonate medium-grade manganese ore in its first year of production, and two-million tonnes in its second year. “This aggressive production ramp-up was achieved in spite of numerous challenges encountered developing the R2.2-billion mine, which included the construction of a state-of-the-art processing plant, railway carriage loading station and railway siding,” says Tshipi’s CEO Brendan Robinson.

The majority of the Tshipi product was railed to the ports of Port Elizabeth, Ngqura and Saldanha using the Transnet National Rail network, with the remaining ore being transported by road/rail combinations.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Aveng Moolmans (removal of the overburden and drilling, blasting and hauling the manganese ore); Senet (engineering, procurement and construction management, or EPCM), as of January 2013.

On Budget and on Time?
Although the mine is currently producing, the updated project schedules indicate that the outstanding portions of the capital infrastructure will be fully commissioned in 2014.

The final cost is likely to be about R160-million, or 10%, higher than the original budget.

Contact Details for Project Information
Jupiter Mines, tel +61 8 9346 5500, fax +61 8 9481 5933 or email info@jupitermines.com.
Tshipi é Ntle Manganese Mining, tel +27 11 706 9004.
Senet, tel +27 11 409 1300 or fax +27 11 409 1301.
Aveng Moolmans media contact Cheryl Whitaker, tel +27 10 202 7000, fax +27 10 207 7204 or email cwhitaker@moolmans.com.