Company Announcement - South Africa based engineering and project delivery specialist DRA has announced that it has been awarded the implementation phase of the Elandsfontein phosphate project, located on the west coast of South Africa, by Elandsfontein Exploration and Mining (Pty) Ltd. The engineering, procurement and construction management contract was awarded to DRA, and follows the recent completion of the definitive feasibility study of the project also carried out by DRA.
A major component of the scope of the project will be the processing facility and its associated infrastructure, designed to produce approximately 1.35Mt/a of phosphate concentrate. Included in the process plant will be screening, classification, milling, reverse flotation, dewatering and product handling. Tailings will be dewatered by belt filter prior to dry stacking.
DRA’s in-house mining division carried out the design and production scheduling of the open pit mining operation, which will be contracted out by Elandsfontein.
Paul Thomson, CEO of the DRA Group, comments: “We are especially pleased and proud to be awarded the Elandsfontein phosphate project. The award follows more than 15 months of working closely with the Elandsfontein team on the study of the project, during which a wide range of testwork and trials were carried out to develop the optimum flowsheet.”
Thomson continues: “This is a unique project for South Africa, as the first sedimentary type phosphate project carried out in the country as opposed to igneous phosphate. In addition, it’s the first phosphate project awarded to DRA in our 30 year history, demonstrating our versatility in minerals processing and successful project delivery. Its award is also a testament to the ability of our study teams in jointly solving technical challenges in close cooperation with our clients”.
The project will be managed from the Cape Town office of DRA, with commissioning due in August 2016.