Debswana in Jwaneng tailings plant talks

LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent | Friday July 23, 2010 00:00

Debswana Process Engineer, Omphile Ntabeni, said plant construction would start once negotiations were finalised.  However, Ntabeni would not disclose the cost of the project since, he said, they were still at a design stage.  'We have not finalised the costs,' he said. The tailings plant, estimated to handle over 30 million tons, has been in the pipeline since March 2008 but construction was delayed by  the global recession.

In a recent communique, the Group Manager for Public Relations and Corporate Affairs, Esther Kanaimba-Senai revealed that the project was awarded to an ADP/Firestone partnership in 2008 after a formal tender process.  However, she said, 'the Firestone and Debswana project teams plan to conclude negotiations in relation to the proposed operating charges as soon as possible'.

Ntabeni clarified that the Modular Tailings Treatment Plant (MTTP) Project was conceived with the objective of fast-tracking project delivery and accelerating receipt of revenue from the Jwaneng MTTP tailings resource. 'The project was approved by the Debswana board in March 2008 but implementation was delayed due to the global financial crisis.'

He said the design philosophy of the plant is based on the 'Rapid Deployment Plant (RDP) concept and as such the plant will be made up of pre-engineered modules which can be added or removed from the circuit with minimum difficulty.

The semi-transportable nature of the plant allows the plant to be relocated between Debswana operations or to remote satellite deposits. The MTTP will comprise the following sections: Scrubbing, Crushing, DMS, de-grit and Thickeners, Recovery and Sort house. The final concentrate from the MTTP Recovery will be exported to the Jwaneng's Fully Integrated Sort House.

He added that Debswana has to explore various funding options for the project and is currently in a BOOT (Build, Own, Operate and Transfer) contract negotiations with Firestone Diamonds Limited.  'The BOOT contract will allow Firestone to secure funding for the project, building the plant, own the plant, operate the plant and finally transfer ownership to Debswana at the end of the contract.  The MTTP project will move into the implementation phase as soon as Debswana and Firestone have finalised contractual agreements and financing terms.'

In her statement, Kanaimba-Senai stated that the modular tailings treatment project is critical for Debswana as it would provide an opportunity to determine whether the modular concept can be for other tailings resources within the company.

She said an ADP/Firestone Diamonds partnership was selected as the preferred bidder in 2008 to supply, construct and operate a modular tailings treatment plant.