The project is located northwest of Rustenburg, Northwest Province, South Africa, and to the south of the Pilanesberg Game Reserve and Sun City. Covers the Frischgewaagd 96 JQ and Ledig 909 JQ farms.
The proposed mine design, comprises of an underground mine and a surface concentrator plant. The estimated Life of Mine is 35 years at a monthly production rate of 230 000 tpm, producing an average of 350 000 PGE (4) ounces per annum when steady state is reached in 2016. First production of ounces is scheduled for 2011 with a 5 year ramp to steady state.
Primary access is through a twin vertical shaft system comprising of a 8.5 m diameter downcast main, men and materials shaft (980 m depth) and an upcast ventilation shaft/second outlet of 7.5 m diameter (910 m depth). Best mining practices confirm a hybrid mining method comprising conventional drilling, blasting and cleaning with trackless transport of ore.
The intention is to build the concentrator plant in three modules that will allow flexibility and ensure optimum PGM recoveries. The design includes primary one-stage crushing into a SAG mill with Mill-Float-Mill-Float (MF2) circuit.
The plant will treat the Run-of-Mine ore to produce a concentrate that will be sold through an off-take agreement to be finalized in due course.
This greenfield project takes into account the establishment of all surface infrastructure, servitudes for bulk power and water supply, the sinking and equipping of ventilation and main shafts, associated underground infrastructure, ancillary excavations and access development to establish a footprint for full production.
Electrical self-generation contingency of R168 million taken into account to allow for possible electricity supply delay by Eskom.