Engineering project house Bateman Engineering is in the process of issuing the final engineering drawings for the Cut 8 project, at the Jwaneng diamond mine, in Botswana. To date the project has commissioned a recrush conveyor system and mineral sizer.

The company will have expended in excess of 200 000 engineering hours during the design, construction and commissioning phases of the project, producing almost 1 200 drawings, says Bateman Engineering Projects principal process engineer for sub-Saharan Africa Jan Booyse.

The Cut-8 project will increase the life-of-mine by eight years beyond 2017, and will maintain production of the mine at its current rate of 12,5-million carats to 15-million carats a year once the diamnd market improves. The mine, which is owned by diamond miner De Beers’ and the Botswana government’s joint venture (JV) Debswana, will secure about 95-million carats over the life-of-mine, which will be extended to 2025 through the Cut 8 project.

The project is scheduled for completion by the end of this year, says Booyse.

“Bateman has been involved in the Cut 8 project since 2006, when a number of feasibility studies were conducted on a new Jwaneng main treatment plant (MTP) necessitated by the encroachment of the pit on the current main treatment plant,” explains Bateman project manager Christoff Badenhorst.

He adds that the MTP studies investigated the application of new diamond-processing technologies to create a fully integrated facility, with considerably improved operational efficiencies.

“Independent work conducted by Debswana during the feasibility study phase concluded that modifications and relocation of discrete areas of the MTP, affected by the pit encroachment, was a better solution than building a new plant,” says Badenhorst.

The modifications involve intricate brownfield interfaces on critical sections of the plant, which were engineered to have minimal impact on Jwaneng’s production.

“The project has also become a showcase for Bateman’s capabilities beyond mineral processing plants, where Bateman designed all the services and infrastructure to support the expanded mining fleet, projected to become one of the largest on the continent. The company has consequently cemented its position as a one-stop-shop service provider,” says Badenhorst.

Currently, the Cut 8 project construction phase, managed by Flour, has created more than 1 700 jobs, of which 88% are held by Botswana citizens. The stay-in-business project is the largest private capital investment in Botswana, with $3-billion allocated for the Cut 8 project over 15 years. This will result in additional revenue of $15-billion, maintaining the substantial contribution of the Jwaneng mine to the economy of Botswana. Jwaneng is the richest diamond mine in the world.

Further, the project has impacted positively on Jwaneng and the surrounding communities through skills transfer, new business development and the establishment of new standards in safety, health and environmental practices.

Plans for Botswana

Bateman country manager for Botswana Ketane Sithole says that the company has experienced many challenges in securing a workload in Botswana to build a sustainable business.

“Bateman realises the importance of securing new project work to facilitate the growth of Bateman Projects into a self-sustaining business,” he adds.

Sithole has identified certain initiatives to secure a sustainable workload in the country, which include the use of citizen-owned subcontractors for engineering and construction activies, the staffing of the Bateman Projects Botswana office with Botswana citizens and the training of Jwaneng staff through secondment to Bateman’s Boksburg office, in South Africa.

“Bateman Projects Botswana is fully committed to the policy of citizen empowerment and localisation, which aims to train and develop Botswana citizens over time to fulfil the employment needs of the country. “Through this policy, the company aims to ensure sustainability of its service offering in Botswana, and reduce its depend- ence on expatriate skills and labour to a minimum,” says Sithole.

He explains that, at various times since Botswana’s independence from Britain, in 1966, localisation of the mining sector has received increased attention from government and corporate Botswana.

As a result of the global finan- cial crisis negatively affecting the diamond industry, which accounts for about 70% of Botswana’s export earnings, attention is once again being paid to the employment of Botswana citizens.

Bateman felt the impact of the recent economic recession and had to significantly adjust its recruitment and employment plans in relation to its decreased workloads and project reschedules.

“As businesses recover from the recession, Bateman Projects Botswana will focus on works and projects being executed by expatriate persons or companies to employ local citizens with relevant and adequate skills and capacity,” Sithole points out.

Debswana also developed an organisational policy, in 2006, based on the legislative requirements, termed the community engagement and empowerment programme. Bateman Projects Botswana’s efforts are intended to complement such initiatives.

“Together, these documents provide the framework of commitment expected from contractors to Debswana, specifically, and the broader Botswana economy,” concludes Sithole.

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