Name of Project
Gamsberg zinc project.

Location
Northern Cape, South Africa.

Client
Vedanta Zinc International (VZI) is a grouping of Vedanta Limited’s zinc assets in Southern Africa and Ireland. The grouping comprises Black Mountain Mining and the Gamsberg zinc project, both in South Africa’s Northern Cape province; Skorpion Zinc, in the Karas region of southern Namibia; and Lisheen, in Ireland, which is in advanced orderly closure mode.

Project Description
Gamsberg is being developed on one of the world’s largest known, but as yet undeveloped, zinc deposits.

While Gamsberg's grade is relatively low – between 6% and 6.5% – its current reserve and resource is 214-million tonnes, and the life-of-mine is estimated at 30 years. A substantial portion of the orebody has yet to be drilled to prove additional reserves and resources.

The first phase of the project will comprise an openpit mine, a concentrator and associated infrastructure that includes:
• a tailings dam, a waste rock dump and stockpiles;
• offices and workshops;
• a power transmission line from the Aggeneys substation to Gamsberg;
• a water pipeline;
• an access road from the N14 to Gamsberg; and
• 300 to 350 housing units for accommodation requirements.

The first phase of the project is expected to have a mine life of 13 years, replacing the production lost by the closure of the Lisheen mine, in Ireland, and restoring volumes to more than 300 000 t/y.

There is also significant potential for further expansion at the Gamsberg North deposit.

Jobs to be Created
At the peak of construction the project is expected to employ about 1 500 people.

When operational, Gamsberg will employ between 850 and 900 people.

Value
The capital cost of Phase 1, through a range of innovative adjustments made by the project team to keep Gamsberg's development on track when the zinc price weakened, has been reduced from $600-million to $400-million.

About 80% of the costs for Phase 1 are committed.

Duration
The first blast for Phase 1 took place in July 2015. Phase 1 production, starting in mid-2018, will increase to four-million tonnes of ore and 250 000 t/y of zinc concentrate in a 9- to12-month ramp-up.

Latest Developments
VZIhas announced a greenfield digitalisation initiative, which will result in a Smart Ore Movement system being built into its Gamsberg zinc project.

The initiative, which is being undertaken in collaboration with digital industrial company GE South Africa, which has partnered with enterprise mine software developer MineRP, will implement breakthrough systems in the development phase of the Gamsberg project, as opposed to waiting for the project to come on line and then attempt to retrofit the systems.

“VZI places great emphasis on the concept of adapt and thrive across all areas of our business. A core philosophy at Vedanta is to embrace new technologies and practices, and we welcome the opportunity to become part of the disruption revolution,” VZI CEO Deshnee Naidoo has noted.

She has emphasised that people-centric technology has the potential to be part of the processes adopted by mining companies to offer employees, communities and investors a different future.

The concept of Smart Ore Movement centres on the need to ensure that all available information about the state of the mine, the quality of ore, the conditions of the processing plant and the value of the output product are not only made available to the mine management team in real time but also that information is presented in such a way that it allows for minute-by-minute decision-making.

This digital transformation project will target the elimination of inefficiencies that would typically exist in today’s mining operations through the application of a new culture combined with digital technology and a customised delivery approach.

As Gamsberg is a greenfield project, which will allow for the project to start operations with best practices already in place. These best practices can then be replicated in subsequent phases, as well as across other parts of the company. VZI considers this as protection against the uncertainties of inevitable disruption and intense competition, as well as an opportunity to capitalise on being the disruptor.

GE will take the strategic leadership role in the partnership. The company’s Predix platform for the industrial Internet will form the integration layer for Smart Ore Movement and further initiatives, such as cybersecurity, asset performance management and operations performance management solutions. GE will use the expertise garnered in other industries to provide seamless integration in a one-stop-shop type of environment.

MineRP will focus on enabling real-time decision-making through visibility by providing immediate access to information in relevant contexts; and through insight into the conditions, relationships and trends that are not otherwise apparent.

MineRP CEO Pieter Nel has explained that, for example, the ability to adjust the blending strategy based on real-time grade reconciliation will ensure a constant feed grade to the plant. 

This is achieved through the MineRP4.0 product-set that ingests spatially oriented data, such as the geology and mine designs from their source systems along with the shovel, trucks and stockpile positions from GE’s collision avoidance systems.

MineRP4.0 will do live calculations and optimisation of the blending and grade models to guide the contracted fleet and provide early warning to the plant, through GE’s Predix platform.

In terms of the Smart Ore Movement, four projects will be considered: spatial data infrastructure, stockpile grade modelling, blending management and production key performance indicator reconciliation.

“These four projects provide near real-time data across a portion of the mining value chain, which will include geological modelling, mine planning, mine surveying and mining operations,” Nel has said, adding that it will provide Gamsberg’s management with the vision across the system to effectively manage production.

Naidoo has estimated the project’s investment to amount to about $4-million over the next three years.

She further notes that using this technology and from the insight gained, miners can go back to mining areas that weren’t previously safe or economic to mine and make them safer and profitable.

“It is bringing the mining data that you wouldn’t typically have had in real-time, together to [generate] the insights to be more proactive more quickly to make projects more feasible,” she enthuses.

These insights allow for miners to reduce the process variation within mining operations.

The digitalisation project is only the start of the journey, as Zinc International will also consider asset performance management in the processing plant, as well as operational performance management at Gamsberg.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Aveng Moolmans (bulk mining); ELB Group (concentrator and associated infrastructure); Liviero Civils (tailings dam).

On Budget and on Time?
Yes.

Contact Details for Project Information
Zinc International Manager PR and Corporate Affairs Christo Witbooi, tel + +27 54 983 9225 or email CWitbooi@blackmountain.co.za.