BATEMAN has been awarded a contract to upgrade
the treatment plant at Namdeb’s Elizabeth Bay Mine near Lüderitz
on the coast of Namibia. The contract forms part of the Elizabeth Bay
Liberation Project and was formally signed in Lüderitz, Namibia
on 10 April 2003.
The N$400M project, which commenced in November 2002
and is scheduled for completion in June 2004, involves both modification
and technological upgrade of the existing treatment plant, thus making
it possible to treat much of the mine’s remaining potentially-viable
deposit.
The project has the potential to increase the life-of-mine
by at least 10 years and will enhance the sustainability of Lüderitz.
It will provide ongoing employment for the existing staff of about 170,
as well as creating close to 40 new permanent jobs. During project execution,
it is planned to employ Lüderitz residents as more than 80 % of
the 500 project personnel during the peak of the construction phase,
with a small percentage of technical staff being drawn from South Africa.
The comminution technology included in the flowsheet
design makes it possible to handle previously-untreatable cemented ore,
clay-rich ore and wet material. The existing process was designed to
treat exclusively dry run-of-mine feed.
BATEMAN will engineer, design, procure and construct
the extension to the current plant which includes primary, secondary
and tertiary crushing, two stages of primary screening and a ball-milling
process.
BATEMAN Senior Manager, Strategic Development, Rob
Bennett, said a special feature of this project is that it represents
a true partnership between the parties involved, BATEMAN and Namdeb,
to maximise the synergy between the respective organisations’ core
capabilities.
“BATEMAN contributes specific diamond process
and flowsheet integration skills, experience in project execution in
Namibia, as well as proven project-management systems and implementation
capability; and Namdeb, detailed knowledge of the resource and operations
in the area, access to the De Beers group technical- and operational-expertise
base and an ongoing commitment to the local Lüderitz community.
“The project’s contract deviates from the
typical contractor / client arms-length agreement in many respects and
provides a solid platform for meaningful collaboration between the parties
at all levels, both internally and external to the core project team,
all aimed at bringing the project in on time and on budget. In return,
any savings and benefits gained are to be shared equally by the partnership,”
says Bennett.
“Furthermore, an important feature of this contract
is that the success will be measured not only in traditional terms of
time, scope and budget, but also in terms of the long-term positive
contribution to the local Namibian community.” For more information,
please contact:
James Nieuwenhuys, General Manager, Bateman Diamonds,
on +27-11-899-2262 or
email jamesn@bmi.co.za.
