Despite the volatility of the gold mining industry having a negative affect on industry players, it has created business opportunities for the company, turnkey mineral process plants, equipment and engineering services supplier Manhattan Corporation CEO Michael Pouroullis tells Mining Weekly.

He describes the current sentiment towards the gold industry as “cautious”.

“The market segment is not as strong as we saw earlier this year, specifically in the gold sector, but, then again, we see this as an opportunity for potential cost saving by offering plants that give improved efficiencies and recoveries,” he says.

Such opportunities lie in the gold mining industry, with mine management specifically looking for ways to cut costs and increase production output.

“There is a definite drive among some of our client base to consider ways of doing more with less and, during this volatile period, in a shorter timeframe,” says Pouroullis.

Economic and social factors in the industry have a major influence on Manhattan Corpor-ation, which provides solutions for clients in the gold, base metals, coal, diamonds, platinum and uranium industries.

“Recently, the gold price decreased signif-icantly, which has had a delaying impact on several prospective projects that we have been considering. The drop was rapid, making investors weary of investments into the sector. Many investors in the industry have adopted a wait-and-see approach,” notes Pouroullis.

He adds that the gold wage negotiations currently under way in South Africa bring further uncertainty to the sector but that efforts by key industry players, including government, are a positive approach to resolve this uncertainty.

Pouroullis says Manhattan Corporation is considering projects and investments outside South Africa in its continued drive to expand its geographical footprint.
“We are working on a R180-million gold mining turnkey process plant project in Ethiopia, which was awarded some months ago. The project is in the advanced design stage, with procurement under way,” he says, adding that the recent drop in the rand:dollar price, in fact, assists exporters as they are able to provide technology at a lower price in dollars, as most of the costs are in rands, with a focus on local manufacturing.

Further, the company also sent a team to Sudan to provide services, including a technical audit at two gold mining operations. The client has two brownfield projects that are currently on care and maintenance and an assessment is being done to restart operations. This would include a ‘business partner’ approach to the client, which requires a company with mining experience as well as the ability to design, engineer and supply process plant technology to re-engage the project and start producing gold.

“Our philosophy is such that we develop a customised solution from feasibility, design, engineering, shipment, construction, installation, commissioning and operational management to after- sales support, even recruiting management personnel to run the operation and skills development,” he adds.

“We intend to provide a detailed technical report, includ- ing recommendations taking into consideration the client’s requirements, such as plant capacity, mine and plant design, budget and timeframes, which will help reinitiate the operations. “The grades are attractive. Both operations are opencast, which makes the mining fairly easy to restart. “Within the next 60 days, we will have our reports, which we can submit and then move the projects to execution,” notes Pouroullis.

Further, Manhattan’s tech- nical team recently returned after performing an audit at a gold plant in Tanzania. This audit comprised a complete plant audit, including the underground machinery.

In Zimbabwe, the company is focusing on two gold processing plant projects. “We have completed a feasibility study for one project, which includes plans for the client to upgrade the existing plant capacity from its current configuration to 25 000 t/m,” notes Pouroullis.

The Phase 1 budget has been approved and the Phase 2 budget is being reviewed for approval. The client requires production from the plant by the fourth quarter of 2014.

The client is also assessing production of 60 000 t/m of material on another mine. “We have submitted our proposal. “A decision will be made once the next phase drill results are available during the fourth quarter of 2013,” he notes.

In West Africa, the company has identified growth opportunities, with a mining company assessing a proposal for the supply of a gold plant in Côte d’Ivoire. The operation is a large-scale dump reclamation, with the proposal focusing on cost-effective ways to process and extract gold from this ore. The company plans to be in production by the latter part of 2014.

“There are a lot of attractive high-grade deposits that are being explored and mines wish to develop them. I would say that Africa is where we see many growth opportunities as it is a wealthy resource continent,” Pouroullis states.
“One of our clients from the Democratic Republic of Congo is currently in negotiations with a South African financial group to raise finance for a gold project, with Manhattan providing the technical support,” he says.

The project is at prefeasi- bility stage, with plans to develop output. “We have provided supporting technical information for the client to assist in the capital raising exercise and have had a long-standing relationship with the project owners,” says Pouroullis.

Technology Advancements

Manhattan has adopted a pioneering approach to mining through its vertical integration strategy of engineering, mining, beneficiation and industrial development.

“We always consider new technology that can improve efficiencies and reduce costs,” he says, adding that Manhattan Corporation has partnered with a US-based firm that offers technology specifically suited to modular gold recovery plants.

Finance from the Export-Import Bank of the US is available for such technology to be supplied to clients outside the US, a product offering that is part and parcel of the turnkey solutions Manhattan provides.

Locally, Manhattan has engaged with a company providing a unique combination of crushing and milling solutions. Manhattan is performing an evaluation of this equipment and, if the trial runs are successful, it will be a means of enhancing current crushing and grinding circuits, reducing power use by over 50%, reducing consumption costs and achieving overall capital expenditure savings.