https://www.miningweekly.com

Gold miner and varsity form R&D partnership

16th December 2016

By: Donna Slater

Features Deputy Editor and Chief Photographer

  

Font size: - +

The signing of a memorandum of understanding to form a partnership between gold tailings retreatment company DRDGold and the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering is one of the first steps in the uptake of insourcing research and development (R&D) at universities in South Africa.

While most mining companies used to have their own R&D units in-house, cost-cutting measures have led to these units being closed, and they are looking at outsourcing this work to research facilities at universities.

With the global economic downturn putting pressure on the profits of mining companies, the industry is expected to increasingly partner with universities to assist with R&D of new technologies.

DRDGold announced a five-year partnership with the Wits school on November 29, committing funding of R1.2-million a year over the next five years to the school. In turn, the R&D expertise of the school in helping the company to further enhance gold recoveries and research new technologies for its gold recovery business will be made available, as well as advice and consultancy services.

Wits School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering research director Adjunct Professor Marek Dworzanowski says the school will help DRDGold with both short-term and long-term research projects. “In the short term, we plan to assist in finding solutions to operational problems on their plant, and improving gold recovery without spending too much capital, while, in the long term, we will be helping with researching new ways of treating less and lower-grade material and still being profitable.”

The Wits School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering has vast research and industry experience in the field of metallurgical extraction and Herman Potgieter, its head professor at the school, describes the partnership as only the first step, with other similar arrangements expected to follow in the near future. “Last year, we launched a chair in hydrometallurgy and sustainable development at the school, which is held by Professor Selo Ndlovu, and this partnership will boost what we get from the National Research Foundation.”

DRDGold CEO Niël Pretorius says the company’s current resource is around 12-million ounces, which affords the company a potential life-of-mine of more than 20 years. “Improved gold recovery from the mine dump material we treat is one of the key enablers for us to grow our reserves and extend the life-of-mine.”

He adds: “Internal R&D in this area has been ongoing for some years, and it made eminent good sense for us to now forge this important new relationship with Wits to expand our search for ways to recover more gold.”

The researchers at Wits have extensive hands-on experience in the mining industry, and Dworzanowski says the partnership commits them to provide hands-on assistance and advice for the DRDGold plants on an ad hoc basis. “This is a big deal for us,” he says, adding that it is not just about DRDGold saying, “Here is a bit of money, go and do your research”, but rather a longer-term relationship that will be running over five years, where the Wits school can assist in finding practical solutions to some real challenges.

Potgieter says the school has already identified several postgraduate researchers to work on some of the ideas discussed with DRDGold, and they will be starting on some of the projects soon.

While some of the work directly related to challenges that DRDGold faces might be protected, most of the research will be on open projects and will made available to the entire gold industry.

Edited by Terence Creamer
Creamer Media Editor

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION