The mining process

Mining will be done by a non-stop dredging process. The mining methods which will be used have been developed in Australia and South Africa for more than 50 years. An artificial basin, called a mining pond, approximately 500 m by 300 m and up to 20 m deep, is dug on the deposit. This pond is filled with water and the first separation unit connected to a dredger will float on it. The whole system will move slowly, along a predetermined circuit. 22 million tons a year of sand will be pumped by the dredger to the floating unit. The sand will go through the first separation stage there via a number of spirals. This initial separation is based on the difference in density of various minerals. At the end of this first process, the heavy particles are separated from the lighter silica particles. The latter are immediately returned to the deposit behind the floating plant.

This mining technique has the advantage of disturbing only one small area of land at a time. The original topography of the deposit will be rehabilitated and restored by planting fast-growing and indigenous species, subsequent to mining, as the pond progress. Around 1,110,000 tons of concentrated heavy sand from the first stage will be trucked to the mineral separation plant in Mandena for the final separation stages. This process consists of a series of physical separations by spirals, and electrostatic and magnetic fractionators, producing 750,000 tons of ilmenite and 60,000 tons of Zirsill (a mixture of zircon and sillimanite) per year. After separation, monazite and silica sands will be returned to the deposit.