Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum Mine Concentrator Plant

A 200 000 tonne/month concentrator at the Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum Mine (BRPM) as been established for Amplats Management Services (Pty) Ltd just outside Rustenburg, North West Province, RSA.

Project Scope

This greenfields project involved the design and detailing, procurement and commissioning of all equipment (excluding the crushing and screening plant). The major equipment included primary and secondary mills; flotation plant; concentrate and tailings handling circuits; water and air reticulation systems; and reagent storage areas. The project also covered the coarse ore stockpile and the storage silos for mill feed. The entire site area was prepared with bulk earthworks, terracing, drainage and sewage reticulation and roads, buildings and associated infrastructure.

Process Circuit

The run-of-mine (ROM) ore is delivered from two shafts by means of an overland conveyor and is fed to a conical stockpile suitable for three days' storage. Vibrating feeders draw from the stockpile and deliver the ROM ore (300mm x 300 mm x 500mm) to the crushing and screening plant. A primary jaw crusher, vibrating screens and five gyratory crushers allow the feed material to be reduced to minus 8 mm and this is conveyed to the two mill feed silos. The primary mill is a 20 ft (6,10 m) ball mill with classification by means of a cyclone bank. The overflow from this unit is fed to the primary rougher flotation cells (10tank cells of 50 m³ each) with their associated cleaner and recleaner circuits (20 m³ and 10 m³ tank cells). Recovery of platinum from the tailings stream is further improved using the secondary milling and flotation plant. The 16 ft (4,88 m) ball mill feeds a similar flotation plant of roughers, cleaners and recleaners as has been described above.

The final tailings stream is thickened in one of two high rate Bateman Ultrasep thickeners before being pumped to a tailings dam some 4 km distant using a multi-stage centrifugal pump system. The high specific gravity and the special pumping considerations required preliminary test-work by the CSIR.

The platinum concentrate is thickened using a conventional thickener and subsequently de-watered by means of a Larox filter press. This material is conveyed to one of two storage bins and then via belt feeders into trucks for despatch to the Waterval Smelter at Rustenburg.

Special Features

The new mine and concentrator plant were developed on land owned by the Royal Bafokeng Nation. Amplats has a unique working relationship with Royal Bafokeng and looks forward to long term co-operation. A condition of the project was that the Royal Bafokeng Nation and local suppliers be included in the provision of contracts, labour and services as far as possible and to this end BATEMAN and other contractors formed alliances and services which assisted with the empowerment of the communities and the transfer of skills and training. This project followed an extremely tight, fast-track programme. It was planned to a high level of detail and controlled down to every drawing to the sub-contractors and to the supply and delivery of every item of equipment to site. The construction was undertaken in a systems-oriented manner so that hot commissioning of the plant could follow the construction phase smoothly and during commissioning all services and utilities were available plant-wide. All the structural steelwork for the project was designed so that it could be galvanised and obviate the need for on-site painting after erection. The galvanised steelwork will provide appropriate protection against the elements for the anticipated 25 year plant life.

Project schedule

BATEMAN undertook the original feasibility study for the project. The project was awarded in mid-September 1998. Cold and hot commissioning of the plant's wet section was completed and handed over to the mine in December 1999. The plant is performing well with the milled ore tonnages ramping up to design throughput by mid-2000.

Further details may be obtained from: Steve Burks, Managing Director, Bateman Metals, on +27-11-899-2756 or email pgm@batemanengineering.com