Beneficiation was planned for the Sedibeng iron-ore mine, near Postmasburg, in the Northern Cape, Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) Northern Cape regional manager Mehmood Ahmed said last week during a media visit to the mine.

The Sedibeng mine, which was partially mined in the 1960s, is owned by the IDC, Tata Steel subsidiary Black Ginger 461 and black economic-empowerment (BEE) group Cape Gannet Properties 227.

Black Ginger 461 holds a majority 64% stake, with the IDC and Cape Gannet Properties 227 holding 10% and 26% respectively. The IDC also holds a 10% equity in the BEE group.

The IDC’s investment in Sedibeng Iron Ore is R290-million, of which R160-million is allocated to the BEE ownership.

Ahmed said the IDC was planning an expansion similar to that of Kumba Iron Ore.

“We are planning to expand and beneficiate the iron-ore produced, which can potentially be used as feedstock for local steelmaking, in line with the IDC’s strategic imperative,” he said.

The Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act makes provision for equit- able access to and the sustainable development of South Africa’s mineral and petroleum resources.

In line with this legislation, the project ensures that the local community shares in the mineral wealth and natural resources of the region, the IDC states.

Construction of the beneficiation plant at the mine was expected to start in 2015.

The mine was currently producing about 750 000 t/y of ore, with two shipments of between 160 000 t and 170 000 t having been completed since the mine’s start-up in October 2011, said Sedibeng Iron Ore GM Sanjit Kumar Adhya.

“However, we are planning to ramp up the project to produce two-million tons a year by 2015/16, with an expected life-of-mine of ten years,” he added.

Ore from the Sedibeng mine is transported to mining group Assmang’s Khumani mine, near Postmasburg, in the Northern Cape, from where it is railed to the Saldanha port.

The Sedibeng mining permit area hosted large exposures of banded ironstone (BIS) formations, Sebibeng Iron Ore senior manager for geology and planning Nandakumar Lakshmipathy said during the media visit.

“Such massive exposures of BIS are not observed elsewhere in the region, other than in the military area north of Sedibeng, and the potential of these stones has to be understood, especially with respect to liberation characteristics and the economic extraction of mineral values,” he said.

Three drill holes in the BIS areas were planned so that samples could be retrieved to gain a better understanding of the subsurface and physical characteristics and the mineralogy, he added.

“If the drilling yields positive results, we will work on the resource. BIS is the resource of the future and could make Sedibeng a major player; however, extensive beneficiation would be required as a result of the BIS’s mineral composition,” Lakshmipathy said.