JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – State-owned diamond miner Alexkor was planning to revamp and recommission the metallurgical processing plant in the Muisvlak region, in the Northern Cape.
The group this week issued a tender for the design, supply, construction and commissioning of a new alluvial diamond treatment plant to replace the facility after “techno-economic and management complications” halted its restart in 2006.
The plant, located 10 km north of Port Nolloth, would enable Alexkor to re-establish a production node on the higher terrace of the Muisvlak mine, Alexkor commented in the tender documents.
However, the outdated design of the existing plant and its misalignment with best practice processing methodologies meant that the processing facilities needed a revamp.
The 1.36-million-ton-a-year, or 200 t/h, facility would effectively wash, screen and efficiently and securely concentrate the diamonds for transfer to the main sort house facility in Alexander Bay.
The scope of the tender comprised the refurbishment and recommissioning of the existing front-end ore receiving system, an ore preparation system, a dense media separation plant, a X-ray reconcentration circuit and concentrate handling and slimes and tailings disposal, besides other general services.
Alexkor aimed to use the new plant for a period of five to ten years, after which it would be relocated to another area; however, the group required the plant to be designed with a life-of-equipment of 15 to 20 years.
The tender would close February 25.