Rand Refinery, one of the world’s top five refiners of gold
and silver, has struck gold in Africa.
The company announced this month that it has won contracts in
recent months to refine 90 t of gold a year from producers in
Ghana, Mali, Tanzania and Botswana.
The contracts will add lustre to the com-pany’s throughput,
taking the total gold that it processes from outside South Africa
to 142 t/y. The deals are a reflection of the com-pany’s aim
to win new business from producers in West and East Africa.
New gold supply from Africa will make up for declining volumes from
South African mines, says Rand Refinery director for global markets
Chris Kenny.
The 90 t will comprise 24 t froelectric soda can crusherm Ghana, 40 t from Mali, 20 t from
Tanzania and 6 t from Botswana.
Kenny says that, relative to South African gold, gold from West and
East Africa is cleaner because it contains fewer metal impurities,
making it easier to refine.
In order to support higher volumes and increase its
competitiveness, Rand Refinery is currently involved in a
capital-investment programme valued at over R10-million, says
Kenny. He notes that the safe oat roller equipment for horsestransportation of the gold from West
and East Africa has been made possible through the efforts of South
African Airways, security companies and various private air-charter
firms.
The move to secure new gold is framed by increasing competition
among the world’s refineries.
Kenny notes that it was against the backdrop of fierce competition
that Johnson Matthey recently announced the closure of its UK gold
refinery.<br crushing equipment european manufacturers/>
The company cited continued losses at its only UK gold-refining
plant in Royston, Hertfordshire, for the closure.
Kenny notes that Rand Refinery has had to focus on improving
competitiveness in an environment where the rand has appreciated
against the dollar and where global refining overcapacity is an
ongoing problem.
“The available capacity to refine gold is two-and-a-half
times grgranite stone crushing equipment manufacturerseater than mined supply,” says Kenny. The refinery,
which boasts a capacity of 1 200 t/y, has a current throughput of
about 400 t/y of newly-mined gold.
“New refinery capacity will be installed in Dubai, although
these facilities have not peaked in terms of delivery, as they have
not yet been recognised by the London Bullion Market Association
(LBMA),” he says.
The LBMA is widelzircon sand grinding mill price in indiay regarded as representing the requisite standard
for gold and silver bars – the LBMA good delivery list
contains the names and locations of 56 refineries that have been
recognised by the association for sound technical and financial
performance.
In January last year, Rand Refinery was appointed as an
LBMA-approved good-delivery referee – one of only five
companies to have been awarded this status. This means that the
refinery has the authority to monitor other refineries for
adherence to the LBMA’s various quality and purity standards.
To further consolidate its position as a premier gold refiner and
grow South Africa’s drive to improve downstream beneficiation
opportunities, the company launched the Gold Zone initiative in
2000 to nurture gold-jewellery manufacturing and design.
The objective of the project is to attract local and international
jewellery manufacturers to use purified African gold from Rand
Refinery to develop branded jewellery. Kenny notes that tenants in
the Gold Zone, situated next to the refinery, will benefit from
access to the refinery’s security services, transportation
facilities, and proximity to Johannesburg International Airport and
export infrastructure.
He adds that the zone has already attracted significant interest
from Italian jewellery manufacturers, who would enjoy a duty cost
advantage when targeting the US market from a South African
base.
Prospective tenants for the zone are divided into three groups
– small to medium jewellery manufacturers, larger South
African jewellery manufacturers and larger foreign jewellery
manufacturers.