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Mining and Quarrying Overview of Mining in North West Province
The mining industry is a very important economic sector in
South Africa, accounting for approximately one third of
GDP, and 50% of foreign exchange earnings. Mining employs
12% of the workforce directly and as much as one third
inclusive of associated industries. Minerals sales, (export
and local combined) amounted to R 52,29 billion in 1994.
Mining is one of the key sectors of the North West
Province, which produces 70% of the world's platinum from
the mines in the Rustenburg region as well as the third
largest provincial output of gold, at 139,2 tons (24% of
the total) in 1994. In 1994 there were 87 mines in North West out of the RSA
total of 843, and there have been further new developments
and some closures during the past ten years, as well
continual expansion of the mining sector.
There are extensive transport systems on road and rail
within the mining properties that are not described in
detail in this section. Some mines have up to 40 kilometres
of track, locomotives, wagons and loading stations at the
shafts and pits with unloading complexes at their central
reduction plants.
Rustenburg: Chrome ore being delivered to smelter by road
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The major mining activities in North West are:
- Gold
- Platinum
- Chrome
- Nickel and Cobalt
- Manganese
- Vanadium
- Lead and Zinc
- Fluorspar
Quarrying Activities include:
- Granite
- Slate
- Dolomite
- Gravel and Aggregates
Gold MiningGold is the largest mineral foreign income earner in South
Africa, contributing 27.4% in mineral revenues. The gold
industry is also responsible for employment of 56% of South
Africa’s mine labour force.
South Africa is the world’s largest gold producer,
although
in 2004 the production fell to the lowest production level
since 1956. In 2003 gold production fell by an estimated
6.5% to 373,074 kg and reduced further in 2004. However,
gold still accounted for an estimated 37% of dollar export
revenue. 95% of South Africa’s gold mines are
underground
operations, reaching depths of over 3.8 kms. Coupled with
declining grades, increased depth of mining and a slide in
the gold price, costs have begun to rise and as a result
production has been steadily falling. The future of the gold industry in South Africa depends on
increased productivity. South Africa as the world's largest
producer of gold, is more exposed than any other country to
slumps in price because its deep level mines are the
highest cost producers in the world. South Africa’s
gold
mines have the highest production costs in the industry.
South Africa has enormous gold ore reserves, estimated at
40 000t, representing 40% of global reserves. South
Africa’s main gold producing area is concentrated on
the
Archaean Witwatersrand Basin. The Witwatersrand basin,
which has been mined for more than 100 years and has
produced more than 41 000 tons of gold, remains the
greatest un-mined source of gold in the world. Major new
projects, new technology, new approaches to the
organisation of work, better labour relations and some
commercial innovations are starting to reshape this
industry. Unlike most other gold deposits in the world, the
Witwatersrand (“Wits”) is a gold placer
deposit, with gold
being hosted by conglomerates and grits. The Wits
sedimentary basin is massive and stretches through an arc
of approximately 400 kms across the Free State, North West
and Gauteng Provinces. The Wits outcrop in the Transvaal
highveld started the gold rush over a hundred years ago and
resulted in establishment of the city of Johannesburg.
The gold mines in North West province were developed in the
20th century in the so-called 'Potchefstroom gap' and
further west along the Vaal River near Klerksdorp and
Orkney. There are 7 mines in North West in the Klerksdorp-
Orkney complex.
Orkney: Private railway industrial diesel locomotive
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Some of the richest mines are found in these areas and
therefore, most of the associated industrial activities and
concentrations of people occurred in these parts of the
Province. Because gold mines in the North West Province are
younger than those in Gauteng, they still have a
significant life span.
Inevitably, large tracts of farmland were acquired by the
mining industry, while the associated urban development
also took up significant areas previously used for
agriculture.
Platinum MiningThe establishment of the platinum mining industry during
the last two decades has reduced the relative proportion
of mining income from the gold and diamond mines, while
that from platinum mines increased to such an extent that
the North West Province is now known as the 'Platinum
Province'. Platinum mines and the associated mineral
processing industry are found around Rustenburg, north of
the Magaliesberg. Platinum has overtaken gold as the most
important mining product in the Province.
Platinum Mine Railway
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The platinum group of minerals includes platinum,
palladium, rhodium, osmium, rhenium, iridium and ruthenium,
but only platinum, palladium and rhodium are produced in
any substantial quantities. South Africa accounts for 50%
of the worlds platinum and palladium production and holds
55% of global reserves. The industry accounted for 33% of
dollar export revenue in 2003 with 148,348 kg of platinum
being produced. Unlike the gold industry, the platinum
markets have a constant demand from Japan and the USA.
South Africa’s platinum mines also produced 16,816 kg
rhodium and 70,946 kg palladium in 2003 and provided jobs
for approximately 90,000 people. Over the past few years there has been expansion of
Bafokeng Rasimone (annual production of 250,000 oz),
Modikwa (annual production of 162,000 oz),
Amandelbult/MiddelPunt Hill (annual production of 107,000
oz) and the Waterval project with an additional 395,000
oz.
There are plans to develop the Pandora deposit (230,000
oz), located close to Brits on the Western Bushveld. The
development of the Twickenham deposit, located along the
Eastern rim of the Bushveld, is anticipated to produce
160,000 oz per year. All these expansions and the $55
million
upgrade at Rustenburg, collectively are intended to
provide for 1.3 million ounces (moz) of extra production. The Kroondal mine near Rustenburg produced an estimated
1.04 moz PGM in 2003, including 493,000 oz palladium and
131,000 oz rhodium. Plans are underway to boost platinum
production to 2 million oz by 2006
Expansion of the industry is continuing with South Africa's
third largest gold producer, having delineated a potential
platinum resource just north of its existing gold mining
operations, in the North West Province at the Stella
Project, with initial resource of 3.4 moz p.a. Chrome MinesSouth Africa has about 70% of the world’s total
chrome
reserves, most of it in North West Province in the Bushveld
Igneous Complex (BIC), which produces 75% of the
world’s
ferrochrome. Zimbabwe and Kazakhstan are other major
producers. Combined with Zimbabwe, Southern Africa has 90%
of global chromite reserves and produced 7,417,329 tons of
chromium ore in 2003.
Train with Chrome
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Several platinum mines also produce chromite as a by-
product. There are several primary chrome mines,
specifically designed to provide chromite feed to the
ferrochrome industry. Most of South Africa’s chrome
mines
are developed along the Eastern BIC, in the Steelpoort
Valley in Mpumalanga, but the Western Chrome Mines are
located near Mooinooi on the western limb of the BIC in
North West province. The western Chrome mines comprise five
mining operations, the Waterkloof, Buffelsfontein,
Elandsfontein, Millsell and Mooinooi mines.
Pendoring: Chrome ore being loaded from road to rail
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The total combined ore reserves exceed 450 million tons,
calculated to a depth of 300 metres, with an annual
production capacity of more than 4 million tons. With total
chromite resources exceeding 1,8 billion tons they are
expected to support current mining activity for well over
200 years at current rates of extraction. While some ore is
exported, more than 80% is converted into three grades of
ferrochrome (charge chrome, intermediate-carbon
ferrochrome, and low-carbon ferrochrome).
There are major producers with operations in the North West
province at Kroondal, Rustenburg and production operation
near Brits. A production joint venture has established the
Wonderkop ferrochrome facility, which will see an annual
production of 180,000 tons of ferrochrome per year.
Road Transport of Ore
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Pendoring: Private company locomotive shunting wagons for loading
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Diamond MinesDiamond mining occurs primarily along present and ancient
riverbeds in the lower reaches of the Vaal River catchment
and consists mainly of open-caste alluvial diggings. There
are also numerous operations associated with small-scale
diggers in the Province.
South Africa has the most diverse range of diamond deposits
in the world. Deposits include open pit and underground
kimberlite pipe/dyke/fissure mining, alluvial mining as
well as on and offshore marine mining. South Africa’s
diamond industry produces a stable 10 million carats
annually of which 90% is exported. South Africa produces 9%
of global production and is ranked 4th in the world in
terms of rough diamond production. The industry employs
some 14 500 people. In 2003 South Africa’s diamond
production reached an estimated 12.5 million carats
compared with 11.2 million carats in 2002 (worth an
estimated $900 million). Most production is sourced from kimberlite mines (9 Mct),
followed by alluvials (920 000ct) and then marine (64 000
ct). South Africa’s kimberlite mines are located
mainly in
the central northern parts of the country. Over the last
100 million years most kimberlites have had a significant
amount of erosion taking place, resulting in several
billion carats being eroded and transported fluvially. This
has resulted in numerous alluvial diamond deposits along
the Orange and Vaal rivers. Finally, ancient beach terraces
and marine deposits located along the west coast constitute
an enormous resource.
In North West several new ventures are being
investigated ,such as the Vaal River Project (near
Bloemhof, north of Kimberley) where an alluvial resource
located near Bloemhof in the North West Province is being
exploited. The operation has an estimated reserve of 18
million tons of gravel in two deposits at Kareefontein and
Gansvlei.
Another option has identified a diamondiferous gravel
resource in the Schweizer Reneke district of North West
Province, which is expected to yield. annual production of
around 8,000 carat per year . Nickel and CobaltMost of South Africa’s nickel and cobalt is produced
as by-
products of platinum mining activities on the Bushveld
Igneous Complex (BIC). South Africa produced 385,000 tons
of nickel in 2002. Cobalt production in 2003 totalled
271,382 kg. ManganeseSouth Africa has 80% of the world’s known
economically
mineable manganese ore reserves which occur near Hotazel in
the Northern Cape Province. Reserves are estimated at 12
billion tons. Although other countries produce greater
tonnage’s (e.g. China, Ukraine and other CIS
countries),
their metal content is low (23% manganese) compared to ores
produced by South Africa, Gabon, Australia and Brazil. If
low-grade production discontinues from these countries,
South Africa will then have 92.7% of global total reserves.
In 2003 the country produced 3,500,638 t of manganese ore.
A few producers - dominate South African manganese
production, one has an underground operation at Wessels
and an opencast mine at Mamatwan, both located near Hotazel
in the Northern Cape. Mamatwan is an open-pit operation and
Wessels is an underground mine. They have a combined annual
capacity of 3.4 million tons of ore which includes 1.1
million tons used for sinter production. 40% of production
is exported to ferroalloy producers, whilst the remainder
is converted to alloys and manganese metal (which is then
exported). Another major player is South Africa’s largest
exporter,
with two operating mines; N'Chwaning and Gloria. The
N'Chwaning shaft development (costing $60 million) is going
ahead which should see manganese production increase to
nearly 2 million tons per year. Through this expansion
programme, mine life has been extended by more than 20
years.
A smaller undertaking operates the low grade Ryedale mine
located near Ventersdorp in the North West Province. The
lowg-rade material is used in the gold mining industry to
extract uranium from ores. The mine produces in the region
of 50 000 tons per year. VanadiumSouth Africa is the only vanadium producer in Africa,
producing 25,000 tons in 2002 from reserves estimated at
3 million tons. Production operations includes the Vantra
mine, near Brits which has the capacity to produce
5 million kgs of vanadium oxide per year and the Mapoch
Mine, which produces high grade vanadium. Lead and ZincSouth Africa’s lead and zinc production is sourced
from three mining operations, Maranda, Pering and Black
Mountain. In 2003 South Africa produced approximately
39,941 t lead metal (in concentrates) and 41,239 t zinc (in
concentrates).
The Black Mountain Mine is situated in the Northern Cape
near Aggeneys. The facility produces zinc concentrate
together with lead and copper concentrates, from which
silver is also recovered. An expansion program at Black
Mountain, including the sinking and equipping of a vertical
shaft down to 1750 m should extend the life of Black
Mountain to past 2013. In North West province, the Pering zinc mine is located 140
kms north of Kimberley, near Reivilo. The mine attained
full production in 1987 producing approximately 6000 tons
of zinc per year. Ore reserves were estimated at 6.9
million tons grading at 1.98% zinc and 0.69% lead. The mine
was expected to close down at the end of 2004, as ore
reserves were being depleted and no additional reserves had
been located after an extensive regional exploration
program. FluorsparFluorspar is mined in the Zeerust area for export, in the
form of Acid Grade and Met Grade fluorspar in powder form.
The inputs to the process are the 1.65 million tons of
stone quarried and transported within the mines by own road
vehicle fleet and the chemical reagents, received on road
from Gauteng.
Fluorspar on Road
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Outputs are the 1.6 million tons of treated waste that is
dumped by own fleet within the mining operation.
About 150,000 tons of fluorspar per year is transported by
road to Durban in bulk bags and 16,000 tons to Gauteng for
local consumption.
Other MiningOther mining operations in North West Province include
manganese (Lichtenburg), vanadium, nickel, silver, gabbro,
banded-ironstone, crocodilite, travertine, salt
(Delareyville and Vryburg), Wonderstone (Ottosdal),
andalusite (Marico) and asbestos {Pomfret; now abandoned).
Many of the major and most profitable mineral resources,
with the exception of platinum resources have been largely
exploited, with uncertain future potentials. Quarrying Granite
There are numbers of large and small quarrying operations
in North West, primarily in the area to the north of Brits,
Marikana and Rustenburg, where granite outcrops provide the
material for cut dimension stone, which is transported from
the quarries to the cutting plants.
The stone is produced in the form of blocks for export or
worked locally to produce machined slabs for further
working as tombstones, counter tops, paving, floor tiles
and surface plates for building decoration.
The estimated output of the industry in North West is
approximately 100,000 tons per year.
Total granite exports through the port of Durban for 2004
(from all provinces) was 119,000 tons.
Marikana: Loading granite blocks to rail wagon
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Slate
There are many slate quarrying operations in North West
producing slate for floor tiles. Most of these are in the
Swartruggens, Marico and Koster areas.
Dolomite
Large quantities of Dolomite and limestone is produced at
Beestekraal, Zeerust and Lichtenburg (Dudfield) areas,
primarily for the cement industries in both North West and
Gauteng regions.
Atlanta: Loaded wagons waiting to be marshalled into block load train
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Gravel and Aggregates
There are large quarrying operations in North West in
several areas producing aggregates for the construction
industry. The products are based on norite and quartzite,
some of which is derived from waste in the dimension stone
industries. Building sand is also mined in most of these
areas from the weathered deposits of the same materials.
Transport in the Mining and Quarrying IndustryThe mining industries in North West province make extensive
use of rail transport, both within the mining operations
and for delivery of coal and transport of export products.
Analysis of the rail movements of mining commodities shows
that in 2004 there were movements of the following products: Coal to the mining companies from Ellisras 485,000 tons
Ferrochrome for export 818,000 tons
Chrome Ore 840,000 tons
Fluorspar 101,000 tons
Zinc 8,500 tons
Antimony 220 tons
Copper 432 tons
Granite for export 396,000 tons
Train with containers of slate for export
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