Featured Project: Boikarabelo Coal Mine, Limpopo

Boikarabelo Coal Mine, Limpopo

Description: The Boikarabelo coal project is located in the Waterberg area of the Limpopo Province. Boikarabelo has probable reserves of 744.8 million tonnes of coal – an increase of 108.8 million tonnes, making it one of the largest remaining coal deposits in the country. The Boikarabelo coal seam is between 20 metres and 30 metres below the surface, enabling low-cost, open-cut mining. The seam is between 120 metres and 130 metres thick, with zones of varying quality thermal and soft-coking coal. Phase 2, planned for 2018, will involve ramping up production to 20 million tons of product coal. The estimated capital cost for the project is $480 million.

Status: Underway

Industry: Mining

Region: Limpopo

Sector: Private

Value: R 100 million+

Timing: First coal production is expected in the first quarter of 2019.

Notes: Resgen said it had experienced a slight delay in financial close of the project. The mid-December approvals target represents a “slight slippage” in Resgen’s preferred timeline to develop the mine, but the company said that, if achieved, it meant financial close would likely be reached by March 2017, with the Boikarabelo mine producing its first coal in the first quarter of 2019.

If you are a valued Projects subscriber, you can find more details click here http://www.l2b.co.za/Project/Boikarabelo-Coal-Mine-Limpopo/8677

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About Eldary Carpenter

I have been with Leads 2 Business for 5 years and absolutely love working for such a dynamic company. I started off as a Content Researcher in the Tenders Department before being promoted to Customer Relations.

Mine! Mine! Mine!

posted in: Uncategorized 0

 

Mine1

 

So….here we are… 2016…. and how’s it going?

To be perfectly honest this year has already started to kick my butt all over the place, some good …. some badish, but mainly just so much change, and even more prospect of change, but don’t get me wrong, [tweetthis]I love change just as much as the next butterfly, but man it’s exhausting!!![/tweetthis]

 

But here, here is something that hasn’t change…. My knowledge about African Mining!! lol! Yip and this is what I am blessed to be blogging about today! Buckle up friends, its going to be a “blast”… get it? Blast? Mining? ye…..

 

African Mining

 

Anyhoo, here is the “411” on Mining in general right now…. we may get to Africa later… hopefully!

Well as I write this, the biggest mining gathering in the world has just taken place, More than 6,000 delegates from 100 nations gathered at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town , from the 8th – 11th Feb 2016.

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Why? Well, with commodity prices plummeting as they are, the struggle to retain or obtain foreign investment is a real one  #TheStruggleIsReal

Let me start by saying….The feeling is not good thus far.

[tweetthis]In South Africa alone 47,000 jobs were lost between 2012 and 2015.[/tweetthis]

Half of the coal mines and iron ore mines and 80% of the Platinum industry is losing money – not exactly a good investment for anyone I’m afraid.

I found this very interesting and really just horrifying! …..South Africa is ranked number 11th in Africa as one of the “most attractive investment countries”?????  What? am I the only one who feels like we should be number 1!?!

 

 

 

One of the Presentations of the Indaba came as a “bail out plan”, and was presented by 474615293 Nikolai Zelenski, Chief Executive Officer of Nordgold, he claims Nordgold has a Proven Strategy in a Lower Price Environment.

nordgold

So Who is Nordgold?

“Nordgold (LSE: NORD) is an internationally diversified low-cost gold producer established in 2007 and publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange. The Company has expanded rapidly through carefully targeted acquisitions and organic growth, achieving a rate of growth unmatched in the industry during that period. In 2015, Nordgold produced 950 thousand ounces of gold. The Company operates 9 mines and has 2 development projects, 4 advanced exploration projects and a diverse portfolio of early-stage exploration projects and licenses in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Russia, Kazakhstan, French Guiana and Canada. Nordgold employs more than 8,000 people.”

Now to be perfectly honest with you, I don’t have what it takes to break down and unpack a strategy of this magnitude to anyone, so I’m not even going to try, but I do know how to copy and paste, so go wild;)

www.nordgold.com/investors-and-media/presentations/

 

Mining in Africa… well here it is, I have searched high and low and here is the low down….

Commodities dropped sharply last year, and news from Matthew Davies of BBC Africa is that there will be no recovery this year, he reported that In Zambia, the country’s main export, copper, now sells for less than half than it did just three years ago, now my math is not great, but that sounds terrible!!!

And I’m right because some mining companies have even halted production all together and miners are losing their jobs at the rate of knots.

This has led to a plunge in the currency, and a rise in inflation which is expected to continue…….

And as fate would have it several other African countries are in the same boat, including big oil producers like Nigeria and Angola!

[tweetthis]I’m starting to think mining is at fault for everything bad in my life![/tweetthis]

Ridiculous Avo prices, cellulite and rising fuel prices!…. I know they are at fault for at least one of those.rolling eyes

 

But I am an eternal optimist, romantic and impossible dreamer, so I believe the cellulite will pass…. lol! no really, I have hope that yes, maybe not this year, but in the future our Mining economy will rise once more, the fact that people are talking about it, must mean it’s important and is being made a priority so I will not need to fret another moment about this!

Relief, the pressure was really getting to me!

 

 

But apparently pressure in the mining industry is a good thing…. fbfffaa05b0bec0317176754817d40f8

 

Well this has been real… thanks. If you find the time and want to get in touch with any of the mining projects we currently following at

Leads 2 Business, please feel free to contact myself, SherinaS@L2B.co.za or Support@L2b.co.za and we will be more than happy to oblige!

 

 

I look forward to hearing from you 😉

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About Sherina Shawe

"You have to do everything you can, you have to work your hardest, and if you do, if you stay positive, you have a shot at a silver lining." from: Silver Linings Playbook.

Finding Diamonds in the Rough

 

Diamond in the rough
Photo cred : itsjonahhorst.deviantart.com

 

Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without one. – Confucius

For my blog this month, seeing as the subject is mining and diamonds I thought I would find some interesting facts on diamonds, where they are found, how they are mined and more:

The word diamond derives from the Greek word “adamas,” which means invincible or indestructible.

The largest diamond ever discovered was called the Cullinan diamond, and weighed in at an amazing 3106 carats, or 1.33 pounds. Discovered in 1905 in South Africa, the mine’s owner and the South African leaders gave the diamond to King Edward. The Cullinan was eventually cut into nine large diamonds and 100 smaller ones, and the three largest of these are on display in the Tower of London as part of the crown jewels.

Diamonds are formed hundreds of kilometers below the surface, as carbon is squeezed under intense temperatures and pressures. Kimberlite pipes bring the gems to the surface in eruptions that sometimes rise faster than the speed of sound. The pipes are rare. Of the more than 6000 known kimberlite pipes in the world, about 600 contain diamonds. Of these, only about 60 are rich enough in quality diamonds to be worth mining. West Africa has many “artisanal” operations in which people sift through river sediments for the occasional diamond eroded from a kimberlite pipe upstream. But a few pipes have been found in the thick jungle.

Africa is the world’s largest producer of diamonds, producing as much as 50% of global production. To date, Africa has produced over 75%, in value, of the world’s diamonds with more than 1.9 billion carats worth an estimated $US 158 billion mined. Angola, Botswana and South Africa are leading producers of diamonds.
Mining activities are centered around South Central Africa, with diamonds being produced primarily from kimberlite mines (South Africa, Angola, DRC, Ghana, Tanzania, Lesotho and Botswana), followed by alluvial dredging operations (Angola, CAR, Namibia and South Africa) and offshore marine diamond activities (South Africa and Namibia).

Before any actual mining even takes place, prospectors need to locate diamond sources first. To hit pay dirt and get to the larger sized rough crystals, geologists follow the trail of secondary diamond sources to determine where the primary sources of pipe deposits are.
Once the pipes are found and the presence of diamonds is proven true and profitable, shanks are inserted into the ground at the ore-bearing pipes and huge amounts of soil are extracted. In order to make mining efficient and effective, the raw rock and soil are typically not examined on-site.
Instead, they are transported to special plants where the ore is processed and the rough diamonds are extracted. Depending on how rich the ore is, a few hundred tons of ore might be sieved just to produce a single carat of gem quality rough diamonds.
Even after extraction, the precious gem is still far from being set in an engagement ring. Rough stones are then sorted into various gem-quality categories and industrial-specific grades. Thereafter, the roughs are sold, cut, polished and commercialised.

An estimated 10 million people globally are directly or indirectly supported by the diamond industry. From the countries where they are sourced to the countries where they are polished and sold, diamonds are supporting millions of people globally. In the African country of Namibia, the diamond mining industry is the largest single employer after the government. In Botswana approximately 25% of the labour force is directly or indirectly linked to diamonds.

“A Diamond is Forever” – NW Ayer Agency – One particular diamond producer got all the credit for this sentence that forever changed an industry, but the actual statement was delivered by an advertising agency. Before this impressive marketing campaign, diamonds were not necessary identified with romance, marriage or engagement. They were considered decorative jewellery and used for a variety of purposes. Then came the brilliant strategy of linking diamonds to the most sacred and beloved of American institutions; the wedding ceremony. However, one can’t truly say that prior to the 20th century, no lover had ever thought of diamonds as a romantic gift – in fact, one of the most famous diamond gifts in history was a diamond necklace given by Napoleon Bonaparte to Marie Louise.

And to end on a humorous note: “I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond.” ― Mae West

Sources
Mbendi
Wikipedia Open Pit
Wikipedia Underground
Brilliant Earth
Beyond 4 cs
Science Mag
Diamond Facts

About Marlaine Andersen

Leads 2 Business Advertising Co-ordinator and Digital Designer

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