The arrival in China of the vessel carrying the first bulk shipment of manganese sinter from the Kalagadi tolling project, in the Northern Cape, is imminent.

The sinter is from South Africa’s black-owned, black-managed and State-backed Stanley Nqobizizwe Nkosi manganese sinter plant near Hotazel, which was opened by President Jacob Zuma in December.

The first 44 000 t was due in China on Thursday, May 8, after being shipped from the Port of Saldanha in early April.

“We had some iron-ore on the ship as well and it basically went from Saldanha to Singapore for bunkers and it’s discharging at Tianjin on the 8th,” Metmar CEO David Ellwood told Mining Weekly last week.

The foray into manganese is a diversification for the JSE-listed Metmar, which has turned a R28.9-million 2013 loss into a R50.3-million 2014 profit, mainly as a result of product diversification.

The integrated black-controlled manganese mining company, Kalagadi Manganese, which is headed by executive chairperson and cofounder Daphne Mashile-Nkosi, built the sinter plant.

Kalagadi Manganese CFO Sello Motau told Mining Weekly at the launch that investment at Hotazel at that stage, including the development of the underground mine and infrastructure, was R5.3-billion, of which the sinter plant had absorbed R1.6-billion.

Metmar has sold the manganese sinter to eight smelters, which will provide feedback on its quality, which is expected to outdo other high-grade rival material.

Local users have reported efficiency improvement of between 15% and 20%, which means that the sinter stands to sell at a considerable price premium.

“It’s still early days and we’ll have to see where the actual price settles,” cautioned Ellwood.

In terms of the tolling agreement with Kalagadi, Metmar can upgrade 800 000 t of manganese fines to sinter.

While the financial year ahead is likely to continue to be challenging for commodity market participants, Metmar puts its tolling agreement and Kalagadi’s own operations high on its list of projects and initiatives that are expected to begin contributing to the company’s revenue and returns “in the near future”.

Others include new orders for a wide spectrum of commodities, including iron-ore, steel and scrap, as well as the granting before year-end of a mining right at the Sefateng chrome mine, which it has identified as a core asset.

In the 12 months to February 28, Metmar recorded a 5% increase in traded volumes to 731 429 t, which saw its turnover rise by 38% to R2.1-billion.