Aim- and JSE-listed Jubilee Platinum has been awarded the rights to recover plati- num-group elements (PGEs) from high PGE-bearing dumped chromite tailings on the Dilokong chromite mine, near Burgersfort, in Limpopo.
The exploration and development company reports that the right enables Jubilee to beneficiate and recover contained PGEs from about 800 000 t of historic dump tailings, as well as between 8 000 t/m and 15 000 t/m of current and future operations from the mine.
The company, headed bytheory of jaw crusher operation CEO Leon Coetzer, aims to establish a R120-million beneficiation plant, which is expected to treat a projected peak of 20 000 t/m, or 240 000 t/y, of historical dump tailingconcrete crusher costs over six years, after which monthly treatment tonnages will be dependent on mine arisings.
The dump tailings are believed to contain between 3.5 g/t and 4 g/t PGEs, and between 90 000 oz and 100 000 oz of PGEs. The platinum- trepresentative crusher and screens serbiao-palladium ratio of the contained PGEs is believed to be about 2.8:1 – a potentially favour- able ratio for the project’s economics, says Coetzer.
It is estimated that, over 11 years, the PGE beneficiation project will generate an average revenue of R67-million a year, peaking at R97-million a year when treating both dump tailings and mine arisings.
Jubilee will fund the project initially and aims to develop a special-purpose company, in which it would hold an initial 67.5% interest, with the option to increase its holding.
The Dilokong mine and ferrochrome smelter operation is wholly owned by ASA Metals, a joint venture between China-based Eastern Asia Metals and the Limpopo Economic Development Enterprise (LEDE). LEDE subsidiary Corridor Mining Resources holds the PGE mining rights to the dump tailings and mine arisings.
The contract reinforces Jubilee’s mine-to- metal strategy and enables the company to install a new direct current arc furnace for the further roll-out of the ConRoast technology, which it owns in association with South Africa’s State-owned minerals research organisation, Mintek, of Randburg.