PILOT CONCEPT The Jwaneng modular tailings treatment plant is a first for Debswana in introducing and testing the modular concept in the group, with a possibility of implementing it at other operations
Construction on Botswana-based diamond mining company Debswana’s Letlhakane tailings treatment plant expansion project is expected to start next month, with the facility scheduled to be handed over in the first quarter of 2017, Debswana head of corporate affairs Esther Kanaimba-Senai tells Mining Weekly.
The expansion of Letlhakane – a modular plant similar to the Jwaneng modular tailings treatment plant – will extend the life of Letlhakane diamond mine by about 20 years.
The project forms part of Debswana’s plan to invest in major expansions at its existing operations.
“Since Debswana has embarked on a long-term strategy – dubbed the resource development plan – which will result in the company producing diamonds up to 2050, all projects are aimed at sustaining the future of our operations,” Kanaimba-Senai reiterates.
Cut 8 Expansion Headway
Debswana’s $3-billion Jwaneng Cut 8 expansion project has progressed from the project phase to being operational. Waste mining is under way, as planned, to ensure that Debswana exposes ore by 2017.
“This means that there is no further required investment at Jwaneng on Cut 8, other than the normal operational costs,” she explains.
The implementation of the Cut 8 expansion, which began in 2010, is expected to extend the Jwaneng mine life to 2028 and provide access to 95-million carats of diamonds.
Kanaimba-Senai says Debswana is continuously looking for opportunities presented by new technology to enhance safety, improve efficiency and reduce costs, further noting that these applications will be shared with the public as and when they mature.
Debswana is also considering future opportunities, after Cut 8 has been mined, with the next pit expansion at Jwaneng being Cut 9, she adds.
Further, the construction and commissioning of the Jwaneng modular tailings treatment plant have been completed, with the first carats having been recovered in November last year.
The plant is a standalone, two-million-ton-a-year facility and is expected to treat 2.4-million tons of old tailings a year and produce 18-million carats over 20 years.
The Jwaneng modular tailings treatment plant is a first for Debswana in introducing and testing the modular concept in the group, with a possibility of implementing it at other operations, Kanaimba-Senai says. “This pilot concept is one of the many steps in driving Debswana towards being a world-class, high-performance organisation.”
The execution of the project was a hybrid arrangement with Cape Town-based project management company ADP Projects, as the engineering and design partners, with Debswana’s owners’ team having been responsible for construction and management, with support from the engineering and design team.
“This arrangement was also a first for Debswana and has facilitated skills transfer and invaluable experience to the owners’ team in project execution,” Kanaimba-Senai says.