Key Features
| Location: |
Plant is located adjacent to the Kroondal mine on the western limb of the Bushveld Complex in South Africa’s North West Province |
| Comprises: |
Processing of PGM-bearing tailings dumps and current tailings streams of neighbouring chromite mines in the Kroondal area at the Kroondal Platinum Mine |
| Management: |
Dedicated AQPSA management team |
| Production: |
Total production of 6,824 PGM ounces for FY2009
Production attributable to Aquarius of 3,412 PGM ounces |
| Life-of-mine: |
To 2016 |
| Refining: |
Offtake agreements with Anglo Platinum’s Rustenburg Platinum Mines and Impala Refining Services |
| Number of Employees: |
18, including contractors |
About CTRP
In March 2004, Aquarius announced the formation of the Chromite Tailings Retreatment Plant (CTRP). Significant tonnages of old dumps and current tailings streams derived from the beneficiation processes employed by chromite mines located nearby to Kroondal are processed through a purpose-built plant at the Kroondal Mine. In addition to the clean-up of old dumps on the Kroondal property, the project affords Aquarius the opportunity to produce low-cost new ounces while contributing to sound environmental practices. The first concentrate from the CTRP was produced in January 2005.
The project is owned by a three-member consortium, Aquarius (through wholly owned subsidiary ASACS), GB Mining, and Sylvania South Africa (Pty) Ltd. Aquarius has a participation interest of 50% in CTRP while each of the partners holds 25%. AQPSA has been contracted to operate the project and earns a management fee for services provided in this regard. Environmentally, the plant has a beneficial impact as it cleans up old tailings dumps on the Kroondal property, which are remnants of earlier chromite activities in the area.
Production
Tonnes processed by CTRP in FY2009 declined by 10% to 246,000 tonnes, a result mainly of variations in the current arisings from the chromite processing plant currently supplying CTRP and secondly, the relocation of the reclamation facilities on the chrome dump.
Head grade fell to 2.34g/t, a consequence of the increased treatment of the lower-grade material located at the outer edges of the tailings dam, one of the sources of tailing supply to the plant. Grade was further negatively influenced by the high levels of off-reef development undertaken by the chromite mining operations currently supplying the chromite recovery plant which supplies the CTRP plant.
The ongoing optimisation of the fine grind circuit resulted in a significant increase in recoveries, with an average recovery for the year of 38%.
Lower feed grade resulted in a 31% decline overall in PGM production to 6,824 PGM ounces, of which 3,412 ounces were attributable to Aquarius.
CTRP continues to perform well. This performance has been greatly improved with the successes achieved in the milling circuit which delivered a much improved recovery from the plant for the financial year. Looking forward, significant progress has been made in securing medium and long-term tailings supply sources for the plant.
CTRP - metal split
