Madagascar nickel to be refined in East Rand town
It is most probable that the processed nickel and cobalt sulphides produced by the planned $2,25-billion Ambatovy nickel project, in Madagascar, will be refined in Springs, in eastern Gauteng.
Ambatovy is expected to produce 60 000 t of nickel and 5 600 t of cobalt anually at full pro- duction, with first production taking place in 2009.
To accommodate this, the current plan is for the construction of an 80 000 t/y capacity re- finery in Springs, adjacent to, and benefiting from, Impala Platinum’s (Implats’) existing and extensive infrastructure in the Far East Rand town.
The refinery’s capacity has been set to allow it to refine the material from Ambatovy and Implats’ current operations.
Implats has a 37,5% share in Ambatovy, with Canada’s Dynatec also holding 37,5% and Sumitomo of Japan having the remaining 25%.
Ambatovy is located in the central highlands of Madagascar, near the town of Moramanga, some 130 km from the capital city of Antananarivo and about 265 km from the port city of Toamasina, on the island’s east coast.
The main highway and railway from Antan-anarivo (elevation: some 1 500 m) to Toamasina run through Moramanga.
The mine site has an elevation of some 1 000 m.
The plan is for the ore to be converted into a slurry and transported through a 195-km pipeline, which will follow the railway right of way, to a processing plant to be built at Toam-asina.
The processing plant will be built at the port city in order to facilitate the importation of required bulk materials, such as coal, limestone, sulphur and acid.
After processing, the nickel and cobalt mixed sulphides will be bagged and shipped to South Africa, transported to Springs, refined and re-exported.
The orebody at Ambatovy is homogenous and shallow and so easy to mine.
In fact, mining will consist of excavation only, making this one of the lowest-cost nickel operations anywhere in the world; over its first ten years of operation it is expected to have average cash operating costs of $0,67/lb of nickel after credits.
A feasibility study by SNC-Lavalin on be- half of Dynatec was completed in February this year, and a detailed engineering study will be undertaken jointly by Dynatec and Implats, which should be finished by February 2006.
This detailed engineering work is expected to cost no more than $80-million, and the formal decision to proceed with the project will be made after this phase is completed.
The three shareholders in the project each bring valuable benefits to it.
Dynatec possesses extensive expertise in mining and hydrometallurgy, dating back some 50 years, and is an expert in the processing of laterite nickel deposits.
The company is home-based in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, and has some 1 300 employees.
Implats has 30 years’ experience in nickel refining and, with the location of the refinery in Springs, also ensures infrastructure synergies.
Sumitomo, which is one of Japan’s biggest integrated trading and investment enterprises, brings significant financial capacity, expertise in developing big resource projects and a guaranteed offtake of 30 000 t/y of nickel for the first 15 years of the project.
As for Madagascar, the country is the fourth-biggest island in the world, some 1 600 km long by 800 km broad at its widest point; it has a population of about 18-million, mainly of Indo-Malay descent.
Fomerly ruled by the French, it gained independence in 1960 and its legal system is based on French civil law.
Since 1997, the country has undertaken significant structural reforms, making itself more attractive for foreign investment and moving to integrate itself into the global economy.
These reforms included updating a mining code, a labour code and a companies code and, in 2002, a new large mining investment law was promulgated, providing for fiscal stability, reduced income and dividend taxes, caps on local taxes, reduction or elimination of valued-added taxes and customs duties and the right to international arbitration of disputes.
Ambatovy is expected to produce 60 000 t of nickel and 5 600 t of cobalt anually at full pro- duction, with first production taking place in 2009.
To accommodate this, the current plan is for the construction of an 80 000 t/y capacity re- finery in Springs, adjacent to, and benefiting from, Impala Platinum’s (Implats’) existing and extensive infrastructure in the Far East Rand town.
The refinery’s capacity has been set to allow it to refine the material from Ambatovy and Implats’ current operations.
Implats has a 37,5% share in Ambatovy, with Canada’s Dynatec also holding 37,5% and Sumitomo of Japan having the remaining 25%.
Ambatovy is located in the central highlands of Madagascar, near the town of Moramanga, some 130 km from the capital city of Antananarivo and about 265 km from the port city of Toamasina, on the island’s east coast.
The main highway and railway from Antan-anarivo (elevation: some 1 500 m) to Toamasina run through Moramanga.
The mine site has an elevation of some 1 000 m.
The plan is for the ore to be converted into a slurry and transported through a 195-km pipeline, which will follow the railway right of way, to a processing plant to be built at Toam-asina.
The processing plant will be built at the port city in order to facilitate the importation of required bulk materials, such as coal, limestone, sulphur and acid.
After processing, the nickel and cobalt mixed sulphides will be bagged and shipped to South Africa, transported to Springs, refined and re-exported.
The orebody at Ambatovy is homogenous and shallow and so easy to mine.
In fact, mining will consist of excavation only, making this one of the lowest-cost nickel operations anywhere in the world; over its first ten years of operation it is expected to have average cash operating costs of $0,67/lb of nickel after credits.
A feasibility study by SNC-Lavalin on be- half of Dynatec was completed in February this year, and a detailed engineering study will be undertaken jointly by Dynatec and Implats, which should be finished by February 2006.
This detailed engineering work is expected to cost no more than $80-million, and the formal decision to proceed with the project will be made after this phase is completed.
The three shareholders in the project each bring valuable benefits to it.
Dynatec possesses extensive expertise in mining and hydrometallurgy, dating back some 50 years, and is an expert in the processing of laterite nickel deposits.
The company is home-based in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, and has some 1 300 employees.
Implats has 30 years’ experience in nickel refining and, with the location of the refinery in Springs, also ensures infrastructure synergies.
Sumitomo, which is one of Japan’s biggest integrated trading and investment enterprises, brings significant financial capacity, expertise in developing big resource projects and a guaranteed offtake of 30 000 t/y of nickel for the first 15 years of the project.
As for Madagascar, the country is the fourth-biggest island in the world, some 1 600 km long by 800 km broad at its widest point; it has a population of about 18-million, mainly of Indo-Malay descent.
Fomerly ruled by the French, it gained independence in 1960 and its legal system is based on French civil law.
Since 1997, the country has undertaken significant structural reforms, making itself more attractive for foreign investment and moving to integrate itself into the global economy.
These reforms included updating a mining code, a labour code and a companies code and, in 2002, a new large mining investment law was promulgated, providing for fiscal stability, reduced income and dividend taxes, caps on local taxes, reduction or elimination of valued-added taxes and customs duties and the right to international arbitration of disputes.
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