JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) -JSE-listed Northam Platinum is expanding its smelting facilities in Thabazimbi, South Africa to support its planned growth in platinum group metals (PGM) production using technology from high-capacity furnace and smelting plant company Tenova Pyromet.

The miner was looking to up its output by increasing the throughput of UG2 ore, which is rich in chromite and difficult to smelt, from the eastern limb of South Africa’s Bushveld Complex. The basic engineering for the 20 MW smelting furnace and ancillary systems had been completed, with the detail engineering currently under way.

Tenova Pyromet’s scope on the project covered the PGM smelting furnace, feed system and offgas handling plant, as well as the furnace building and all associated civil works, infrastructure and services.

Close collaboration between Northam and Tenova Pyromet throughout the development of the technical solution was key to successfully meeting the challenge of designing a furnace with a sufficiently broad operating range to accommodate feedstock with such widely varying mineralogy.

“This project is notable because it is a proudly all-South African initiative – drawing on the expertise of a local technology provider, local contractors and suppliers and with the vast majority of the components manufactured locally – for a South African PGM producer,” said Tenova Pyromet sales and marketing GM Andre Esterhuizen.

Northam Platinum projects and strategy manager Rene Rautenbach added that the cyclical nature of the mining industry required miners such as Northam to adopt a long-term perspective in terms of strategic capital expenditure.

“Tenova Pyromet’s solution, which provides us with the flexibility to accommodate a range of smelter feedstock, positions us well to meet our growth aspirations,” commented Rautenbach.