Tag Archives: Gamsberg

President cuts the ribbon on Vedanta’s Gamsberg zinc mine in South Africa

28th February 2019Base metals, IoT, Mine operation news, Mineral project development, Mining project news, Mining services, Mining softwareAnil Agarwal, Cyril Ramaphosa, Deshnee Naidoo, Gamsberg, Gwede Mantashe, Northern Cape, South Africa, Vedanta Resources, zincDaniel Gleeson

South Africa President, Cyril Ramaphosa, has officially opened Vedanta Zinc International’s (VZI) Gamsberg mine, outside Aggeneys in the Northern Cape Province.

Ramaphosa was joined by Minister of Mineral Resources, Gwede Mantashe, Northern Cape Premier, Sylvia Lucas, and hosted by Vedanta Chairman, Anil Agarwal, Vedanta CEO, Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan, and VZI CEO, Deshnee Naidoo, at the ceremony.

The Gamsberg zinc resource, though discovered more than 40 years ago, had been held undeveloped in the portfolios of various South Africa mining companies until Vedanta acquired it in 2011, as part of the Black Mountain Mining complex. Vedanta gave the project the go-ahead in 2014, and the first blast occurred in mid-2015, eight months later. Gamsberg has a reserve and resource of more than 214 Mt with a grade of 6-6.5% Zn and an estimated life of mine (LoM) of 30-plus years.

Phase 1 of Gamsberg, celebrated today, represents a $400 million investment by Vedanta in South Africa. It has a LoM of 13 years and will see 4 Mt/y of ore produced from the open pit and 250,000 t/y of concentrate from its concentrator plant.

Investigations into Phase 2 and 3 are underway and will see production of zinc-in-concentrate increase to 450,000 t/y, and in a modular fashion ultimately, to 600,000 t/y. It will reflect an additional investment of $350-$400 million.

Vedanta is simultaneously pursuing a feasibility study into the development and construction of a smelter-refinery complex, it said.

Vedanta’s CEO, Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan, said: “More than 90% of our $400 million investment at Gamsberg has been spent in South Africa. Our expenditure with local enterprises was around R77.5 million ($5.5 million) in 2018, while we invested more than R44.6 million in 2018 on training and social projects aimed at skills development, education, health, enterprise development and municipal infrastructure support. And this was before the mine had made a single cent.”

Delivering the keynote address, Cyril Ramaphosa, said: “The Vedanta Gamsberg project is an important step in our shared journey to revive our mining industry. It confirms our view that with an effective regulatory framework, improved collaboration between all stakeholders and sustained investment, mining has the potential to be a sunrise industry. South Africa has vast undeveloped mineral deposits that we have the opportunity to exploit for the benefit of all the people of this country.”

Gamsberg is one of the most digitally advanced greenfield mining projects in South Africa, according to Vedanta. Digitalisation at Gamsberg includes Smart Ore Movement, Spatial Risk Monitoring and Management and Collision Avoidance Systems.

Sandvik OptiMine to boost safety, productivity at Vedanta Zinc’s BMM operations

18th December 2018Automation, Base metals, Communications in mining, Equipment maintenance, IoT, Mine operation news, Mining equipment, Mining safety, Mining services, Mining softwareAndre Trytsman, automation, Black Mountain Mining, Deeps, digitalisation, Gamsberg, Northern Cape, Optimine, Patrick Murphy, Sandvik, South Africa, Swartberg, zincDaniel Gleeson

Sandvik is to deliver a full OptiMine® platform to Vedanta Zinc International’s Black Mountain Mining (BMM) operations in South Africa’s Northern Cape Province.

The company will commission OptiMine for trucks, loaders and drills next year, accelerating BMM’s data-driven operation for world-class mining safety, efficiency and productivity, Sandvik said.

The OEM-independent OptiMine digital platform includes equipment/asset location tracking; planning and task management; scheduling; monitoring equipment and operations and OptiMine Analytics with IBM Watson IoT.

Andre Trytsman, General Manager, BMM, said: “OptiMine gives us end-to-end visibility and control over our underground mining operations. It was important to us to have the full scope, from scheduling to analytics, to ensure we’re optimised for the safest and most productive operation possible.

“The OptiMine platform is the next step in Black Mountain’s digital journey, delivering efficiency and increasing operational performance allowing us to unlock more value. We are excited to partner with Sandvik and incorporate the OptiMine technology into Vedanta Zinc International’s exciting digital strategy.”

Last year, Vedanta Zinc signed an agreement with GE South Africa to collaborate on digitalisation at the Gamsberg zinc project, part of the BMM operations.

Sandvik says OptiMine integrates all relevant data into one source, delivering powerful real-time and predictive insights to improve operations. It is open and scalable, providing flexibility to grow as needed, and incorporate other equipment, systems and networks, the company added.

BMM’s current operations are comprised of two underground mines – Deeps and Swartberg – and a processing plant. The Deeps shaft produces copper, lead and zinc, with silver as a by-product, and the Swartberg mine produces primarily copper and lead, with silver as a by-product. BMM is also developing Gamsberg in the Northern Cape.

Patrick Murphy, President, Rock Drills and Technologies, Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology, said: “Sandvik is proud to work with the BMM team to integrate and optimise their mining processes with OptiMine, developing a world-class, data-driven operation and accelerating their productivity and safety.”

Vedanta’s Gamsberg zinc project edges closer to commercial production

6th August 2018Base metals, Mine operation news, Mineral project development, Mining servicesGamsberg, Vedanta Resources, zincDaniel Gleeson

Vedanta Resources’ latest quarterly report indicates the zinc market could be only a month away from welcoming a new mine to its quarters.

In the company’s first quarter report (to end-June), it said the Gamsberg zinc project, in South Africa’s Northern Cape province, was on course to reach commercial production in September.

Almost 100% of pre-stripping, with 67 million tonnes of waste excavation, had been completed to the end of June, while 500,000 t of ore had been stockpiled ahead of the plant feed.

The crusher has been commissioned and the crushed ore stockpile is currently being built in readiness for commissioning of the milling and flotation area, Vedanta said. The water and power infrastructure (38 km water pipeline with pumping and storage, and 20 km powerlines with a main receiving substation) has been commissioned and construction of the high density polyethylene-lined tailings storage facility has been completed and is ready to receive tailings.

All of this progress means the company is in line to start commercial production from the plant next month, with a nine-to-12 month ramp up expected to full production of 250,000 t per year of zinc concentrate.

Gamsberg has a large reserve and resource of 214 million tonnes, with an average grade of between 6-6.5%, and an estimated life of mine (LOM) of 30 years. In phase one, which has a LOM of 13 years, 4 Mt/y of ore will be produced from Gamsberg’s open pit.

There are further phase two and phase three expansions planned at Grasberg, which could see the mine’s capacity go to 450,000 t/y and 600,000 t/y, respectively, of zinc concentrate.

ELB Engineering of South Africa is the EPC contractor for Gamsberg.