Name and Location
Masorini Iron Beneficiation commercial plant, Limpopo, South Africa.

Client
Iron Mineral Beneficiation Services (IMBS), which includes Jonah Capital (40%) and OAO Severstal of Russia (33%), is in partnership with South Africa’s State-owned Industrial Development Corporation and  is receiving strong support from the Limpopo government.

Project Description
The project involves the construction of a 50 000 t/y demonstration facility in Phalaborwa to convert iron-ore fines into metallic briquettes for use as a scrap supplement in electric steelmaking.

The facility will use IMBS’s patented technology. To produce the cold-briquetted metallic iron the technology has been licensed to International Iron Beneficiation Group (IIBG), which will deploy it worldwide and pay royalties to IMBS, which will operate the iron-making plants with IIBG, an OAO Severstal subsidiary.

The technology enables the conversion of previously stockpiled fine and ultrafine iron-ore material into a saleable product.

The plant will produce a product called Supascrap, a low-cost metallic iron in granulate form. Supascrap has a high scrap-iron content and low direct reduced iron residuals, and is primarily used in electric steelmaking.

The next stage of the project at Palabora Mining Company is the construction of two 500 000 t/y capacity plants.

Value
The demonstration project will involve an investment of R120-million and could be the precursor to a larger R800-million project to produce 500 000 t/y of the briquettes.

Duration
The plant’s first briquettes were produced during the first quarter of 2014.

Latest Developments
The plant started commissioning in October 2013 and the key process gas generation and recovery system is operating successfully. The first briquettes have been pressed. The project is in the melting-to-granulate development phase.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Thermopower Furnaces and Hans Jasper.

On Budget and on Time?
Hot commissioning has been successful and rework is currently being performed for steady-state production.

Contact Details for Project Information
IMBS, tel +27 11 996 4920, fax +27 11 658 1286 or email jenny@imbsworld.com.