Project management company DRA Mineral Projects has delivered South Africa’s first wet, high-intensity magnetic separation (Whims) beneficiation plant for iron-ore.

The Whims project fulfilled an engineering, procurement and construction management contract for Khumani Iron Ore Mine, in the Northern Cape, run by manganese ore and alloy company Assmang, which is jointly owned and controlled by diversified miner African Rainbow Minerals Ltd (ARM) and mining holding company Assore Ltd.

Commissioning of the Whims plant took place between February and May, enabling the mining major to process tailings for the extraction of saleable product. DRA Minerals, therefore, delivered on its promise to complete the Whims plant within budget and two months ahead of schedule, by the end of May 2013.

Following the successful completion of the 16-million-to-a-year Khumani Expansion Project (KEP) in 2012, the Whims unit is essentially a magnetic separator that allows the deslimed -0.8mm ore to pass through a primary and secondary stage of Whims.

The selected equipment can process up to 120 t/h of solids and the overall plant consists of four primary and four secondary separation units.

The project implementation phase started in May 2011 and construction started in September 2011. First steel was erected on March 1, 2012, and the first feed material was successfully introduced at the plant on February 27.

DRA senior project manager JC Heslinga stresses the importance of exploring new avenues of technologies to ensure that the company offers its clients the best solutions for their particular projects. “The delivery of the Whims plant at Khumani mine bears witness to this,” he says.

Test work programmes on the potential of Whims technology were initiated and completed during 2010 and 2011 to add value to the Khumani operations. The results of these programmes established a high level of confidence in the mine being able to recover additional fines product if a super fines Whims processing section was added to the current processing sections.

The Whims project is building on the impressive safety record achieved during the KEP, which recorded more than 12-million fatality-free work hours. The Whims project was completed with 1.25-million lost-time injury-free (LTIF) work hours and 519 LTIF calendar days.

“The Whims project was particularly exciting for DRA, as it was the first Whims beneficiation plant built for iron-ore in South Africa and the first to be designed by our company,” says Heslinga.

He adds that much of the project’s success stems from the strength and commitment of the team, comprising employees from Assmang, DRA and minerals processing and maintenance com- pany Minopex, who assisted with plant optimisation and in commissioning.

“The success of this project has added considerably to our existing knowledge and allows us to further expand our offering to clients,” he concludes.