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South Africa
Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) Mine

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 Location:
31 km NE from Richards Bay, South Africa

  Address:
The Farm RBM
PO Box 401
Richards Bay
South Africa
3900
Phone  ...  Subscription required
Fax+27-(35)-901-3368
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  • Overview
  • Owners
  • Geology
  • Mining
  • Processing
  • Production
  • Reserves
  • Financials
  • Fleet
  • Personnel
  • Filings & News

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Overview

StageProduction
Mine TypeOpen Pit
Commodities
  • Titanium
  • Zircon
  • Rutile
  • Iron
Mining Method
  • Dredging
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Production Start...
Mine Life2038
Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) manages and operates several dredges, dry mining units, heavy mineral concentrators, and mineral separation plant. RBM has also a smelter with furnaces to produce titania slag, pig iron in addition to rutile and zircon.


Owners

Source: p. 324
CompanyInterestOwnership
BEE 24 % Indirect
Rio Tinto plc 74 % Indirect
Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) is a joint venture between Rio Tinto (74%) and Blue Horizon – a black empowerment consortium of investors (24%) and Host Communities Mbonambi, Sokhulu, Mkhwanazi, and Dube – which own 24%. The remaining shares (2%) are held in RBM employee trust.

Contractors

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Deposit Type

  • Sediment-hosted
  • Mineral sands


Summary:

The Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) heavy mineral-rich sands coastal dune deposits (Tisand, Zulti North) extend parallel to the beach. Mining was started within the Tisand lease just north of Richards Bay.

RBM is situated approximately 200 km north of Durban and 20 km northeast of Richards Bay on the east coast of South Africa. The two main ore bodies are known as the Zulti North and Zulti South leases as well as the depleted Tisand lease, which is the repository for the Minerals Separation Plant’s stockpiled tailings resource.

Zulti South
The Zulti South HMS deposit lies just to the southwest of the current Zulti North operation.

The Zulti South heavy mineral sands deposit represents an unconsolidated beach placer deposit found within a belt of undulating aeolian dunes aligned roughly parallel to the coast, of Pliocene – Pleistocene and Holocene age. At present only the Holocene dunes are mined by RBM. Material mined by RBM is from the Sibayi (<10 ka) and KwaMbonambi (57 to 6 ka) Formations, which are the youngest units of the Maputaland Group, a thin veneer set on the Zululand Coastal Plain, formed in response to sea- level changes and uplift during the Neogene (25-2 Ma) and Quaternary (2 Ma to present) periods.

The Zulti South deposit is approx. 20 km in extent along the strike and varies in width from 0.5 to 3 km. Vertical extent varies from 1 to 80 m plus.

Zulti North
The deposit covers a coast-parallel dune b ........


Mining Methods

  • Dredging
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader


Summary:

Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) uses a system of ponds and floating dredges to mine the ore body, where heavy valuable minerals such as ilmenite, zircon and rutile are recovered from the sand.

Zulti North
RBM uses six floating dredges at four mine sites (B, C, D and E) at various places within the dunes. In areas inaccessible to the dredges, or in dunes which are higher than 60 m, dry mining is performed.

A large artificial freshwater pond is created in the dunes, on which float the dredger and concentrator plant. While the dredge removes the material from the front end of the pond, the tailings generated by the separation process are stacked at the back; as a result the pond continuously moves in a forward direction. Burrowing into the mining face of the dune, the dredger advances at a rate of 2 - 3 metres per day, depending on the height of the dune. As the sand face is undermined it collapses into the pond forming a slurry, which is sucked up and pumped to a floating concentrator. At this point, the heavy minerals are separated from the sand by exploiting differences in mineral density via a multi-stage circuit of sluices.

Zulti South
Zulti South consists of several ore zones of varying geometrical properties. Grade variations within the Zulti South orebody are apparent with grade in general declining from South to North as well as from the inland side of the deposit to the seaward side.

Dry mining was selected as the mini ........


Crushing and Grinding


Processing

Flow Sheet: Subscription required

Summary:

- subscription is required.


Production:

CommodityProductUnits2022202120202019201820172016
Titanium dioxide Slag kt  ......  Subscription required *  ......  Subscription required *  ......  Subscription required *  ......  Subscription required1,116 *1,315 *1,048 *
Zircon Mineral in concentrate t  ......  Subscription required
Rutile Mineral in concentrate t  ......  Subscription required
Iron Pig t  ......  Subscription required
* Combined production for Lac Tio (Havre St-Pierre) Mine, Fort Dauphin (QMM) Mine and Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) Mine
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Operational Metrics:

Metrics202220212020201920182017
Annual production capacity  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required1,050,000 t of titanium dioxide slag1,050,000 t of titanium dioxide slag1,050,000 t of titanium dioxide slag
Annual production capacity  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required565,000 t of iron pig565,000 t of iron pig565,000 t of iron pig
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Reserves at December 31, 2022:

CategoryTonnage CommodityGradeRecoverable Metal
Proven 552 Mt Ti Minerals 1.6 %
Proven 552 Mt Zircon 0.2 %
Probable 732 Mt Ti Minerals 3.1 %
Probable 732 Mt Zircon 0.4 %
Proven & Probable 1,284 Mt Ti Minerals 2.4 % 14 Mt
Proven & Probable 1,284 Mt Zircon 0.3 % 3.4 Mt
Indicated 8 Mt Ti Minerals 9.2 %
Indicated 8 Mt Zircon 8.2 %
Measured & Indicated 8 Mt Ti Minerals 9.2 %
Measured & Indicated 8 Mt Zircon 8.2 %
Total Resource 8 Mt Ti Minerals 9.2 %
Total Resource 8 Mt Zircon 8.2 %

Financials:

Units20222021
Book Value M USD  ......  Subscription required  ......  Subscription required
Subscription required - Subscription is required



Heavy Mobile Equipment as of December 31, 2012:
HME TypeQuantity
Dredge ....................... Subscription required
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 9, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 9, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 9, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 9, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 9, 2023
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Staff:

EmployeesContractorsTotal WorkforceYear
Subscription required Subscription required Subscription required 2022
Subscription required Subscription required Subscription required 2021
Subscription required Subscription required Subscription required 2019
Subscription required 2015

Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
Annual Report 2022
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2022
................................... Subscription required 2021
................................... Subscription required 2020
................................... Subscription required 2020
................................... Subscription required 2019
Annual Report 2017
Annual Report 2016
Sustainability Report 2015
Other 2012
Other 2006
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Subscription required - Subscription is required.

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