Doubling capacity at Damtshaa diamond mine
BATEMAN has been contracted by Debswana Diamond
Company's Damtshaa Mine to undertake a study on the feasibility of
doubling up the capacity of its diamond-processing plant to handle
400 t/h of run-of-mine kimberlite.
The lump-sum contract, which commenced in January 2005 and is scheduled
for completion in July 2005, is investigating the possibility of achieving
the required capacity through the installation of a second secondary-crushing
stream, stockpile belt feeders, an additional 150 t/h dense-media
separation (DMS) plant, a high-rate thickener, tailings-disposal system
and associated services. In addition, it is taking into account the
fact that the construction would need to take place while the plant
is in operation and therefore would have to be carried out with minimal
interference to normal production. In line with BATEMAN and Debswana's
commitment to safety, special attention would also need to be paid
to integrating and maintaining the highest safety standards of the
contracting and mine personnel.
BATEMAN has been associated with the plant at Damtshaa since the
start. It carried out the feasibility estimates and was then awarded
the greenfields project to establish the plant and its associated
infrastructure at the mine, located some 17 km east of Orapa in Botswana.
The fit-for-purpose plant, handed over to Debswana in November 2002,
ramped up to full production in just 28 days and has been consistently
achieving its production call ever since.
The project was carried out in partnership with four Botswana citizen-owned,
consulting-engineering companies, in line with Debswana's vision of
empowerment and skills transfer, a strategy that is fully supported
by BATEMAN. The project was also required to meet Debswana's stringent
environmental standards.
BATEMAN and Debswana worked closely together to develop a number of
novel designs and incorporated used and new equipment in the plant
to achieve the required operational capability to meet the capex constraints.
The project also made allowance for the throughput to be readily upgradeable
to 400 t/h. This required innovative design and layout while containing
the phase 1 (200 t/h) capital costs.
The processing plant has primary- and secondary-crushing, integrated
DMS, load-out and waste-disposal circuits. The load-out facility is
fully automated to deposit batches of the concentrate into truck-mounted
flasks for transportation by road for final treatment at the main
recovery facility at Orapa.
The kimberlite feed to the plant comes from the four BK pipes in the
area, after which the project was initially called. The mine is now
called Damtshaa which is a Koi word meaning 'water for the tortoise'.
For further information, please contact Graham Joyce, Bateman Country
Manager, Botswana, on +267-316-7873 or email diamonds@batemanengineering.com.
