Contract to double the diamond processing capacity
at Damtshaa
The Debswana Diamond Company has awarded BATEMAN a lump-sum turnkey
contract, valued at R84.3 million, to double the diamond-processing
capacity at the Damtshaa Mine near Orapa, Botswana from 200 t/h to
400 t/h of kimberlite ore.
The existing facility at the mine was supplied by BATEMAN towards
the end of 2002 as a greenfields project and was designed at the time
to be readily upgradeable.
The new facility at the mine will essentially provide a second 200
t/h stream comprising circuits for secondary crushing, stockpile belt
feeders, thickening and dense-media separation (DMS), with conveyors
to feed the DMS plant and remove the tailings. The whole plant will
be fully automated and economical to operate. Infrastructure, such
as an electricalplant store and extensions to the existing motor-control
centre and plant control systems, will also be provided.
Working with a mine owner’s team, BATEMAN is responsible for
the entire project, from design to procurement,supply, construction,
commissioning and process guarantee at the increased throughput.
BATEMAN will also supply the conveyors and the DMS plant. The DMS
plant will be one of the new 200 t/h Mega Bateman Modular Plants featuring
a two-stream system to enable it to continue to operate at 50 % capacity
during maintenance of the other half. The plant will be fully assembled
and tested in Johannesburg before its modules are conveyed 1,000 km
by road to Damtshaa and reassembled at the mine.
A locally based company, Geoflux (Pty) Ltd, will be undertaking the
civil and structural design in partnership with Bateman Projects (Botswana)
(Pty) Ltd. The objective of this arrangement is to facilitate the
transfer of skills to the citizens of Botswana and improve their capacity
to contribute to future naturalre source beneficiation projects.
The contractual start of the project was in November 2005 and the
plant is scheduled to be commissioned in the last quarter of 2006.
A strong factor in the decision to award the contract to BATEMAN is
its continued association with the mine through studies and projects
which commenced in the late 1990s.
For further information, please contact: James Neuwenhuys, BATEMAN
Senior General Manager – Diamonds, Mokenti Roborokgwe, BATEMAN
Country Manager or Bob Menzies, BATEMAN Senior Project Manager on
+27-11-899-9111
or email diamonds@BatemanEngineering.com.
