JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim- and JSE-listed Jubilee Platinum has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with fellow JSE-listed platinum-miner Northam to study the potential of constructing a new direct current arc furnace to treat a portion of platinum-group metal (PGM) concentrate from Northam’s Booysendal mine.

In terms of the MoU, the parties would form a joint venture to investigate the feasibility of building and operating a 7 MVA furnace facility, using Jubilee’s ConRoast process, to treat PGM concentrate from the Booysendal mine, near Lydenburg, in Mpumalanga, which was still under development.

Northam CEO Glyn Lewis said in a statement that the additional furnace facility could hold significant benefits for the company’s operations, as it would provide Northam with added smelting “optionality”, in close proximity to its operations, while also reducing its reliance on electricity supply from Eskom.

“This is a significant development in the commercialisation of the ConRoast technology, following the successful completion of the trial phase of development. Northam has played a pivotal role in the research and development phase of the ConRoast technology, having provided platinum concentrate for testing campaigns at the Mintek operation,” Jubilee CEO Colin Bird added.

The ConRoast process was developed by South Africa’s Mintek and had been licensed exclusively to Jubilee’s 100%-owned Braemore Resources subsidiary until 2020.

The research and development phase on the technology had been completed in March.

In May, Jubilee had acquired a brownfield smelting facility, in Middelburg, in Mpumalanga province, for $14-million, which it expected to become the first site of its ConRoast furnace build programme. The site had an independent power source.

Northam’s Booysendal mine was expected to start producing next year.

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