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South Africa
Sishen Mine

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 Location:
192 km SW from Vryburg, South Africa

  Regional Office:
124 Akerboom Street
Centurion
South Africa
0157
Phone+27-12-683-7000
Fax086-295-0746
WebsiteWeb
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  • Overview
  • Owners
  • Geology
  • Mining
  • Processing
  • Production
  • Reserves
  • Costs & Financials
  • Fleet
  • Personnel
  • Filings & News

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Overview

StageProduction
Mine TypeOpen Pit
Commodities
  • Iron (hematite)
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
Production Start1953
Mine Life2039
Sishen is one of the largest open pit mines in the world – some 14km long. The jig plant at Sishen mine is the largest of its type in the world.


Owners

Source: p. 231
CompanyInterestOwnership
Anglo American plc. 53.4 % Indirect
Ownership Tree
Sishen and Kolomela are fully owned by the Sishen Iron Ore Company (SIOC). Kumba Iron Ore Limited has a 76.3% interest in SIOC (2020: 76.3%). Including shares held by Kumba Iron Ore in relation to its own employee share schemes, the Group’s effective interest in Kumba Iron Ore is 69.97% (2020: 70.04%). Consequently, the Group’s effective interest in SIOC is 53.4% (2020: 53.4%).

Contractors



Deposit Type

  • Banded iron formation

Source: Source

Summary:

Sishen mine is host to a large haematite orebody (±14km by 3.2km by 400m). Its lump ore is highly valued by steelmakers. Sishen’s lump to fine ratio is of the order of 60:40, while the global average is 30:70.

At Sishen Iron Ore Mine, high-grade hematite ore is extracted from specific stratigraphic units belonging to the Palaeo-Proterozoic (~ 2400 million years (Ma)) Transvaal and (~ 2070 Ma) Olifantshoek Supergroups, respectively.

The Superior-type banded iron-formations (BIF’s) of the Transvaal Supergroup lithologies were deposited in two related basins, one in an extensive continental shelf environment and the other in an intra-continental sea, both situated on the Kaapvaal craton.

Sishen mine is situated on the northern extremity of the Maremane anticline. At this location the lithologies strike north-south and plunge from the centre of the anticline in a northerly direction.

The bulk of the resource comprises highgrade, laminated and massive ores belonging to the Asbestos Hills Subgroup. The ore bodies are intensely folded and faulted. Dips vary according to local structures, but at Sishen, a regional dip of 11° in a westerly direction prevails.


Mining Methods

  • Truck & Shovel / Loader

Source:

Summary:

Sishen Mine is a conventional open pit mining operation applying a pushback deployment strategy. The distinctive mining areas are North Mine (G80 and G50), Middle Mine, Dagbreek, Vliegveld, Far South and Lyleveld. Material is drilled, blasted, loaded by electric and diesel (rope and hydraulic) shovels and hauled by trucks to either the primary crusher, high-grade or low-grade stockpiles or waste dumps. Benches are 12.5 m high. The ore from the opencast pit is transported to the beneficiation plant where it is crushed, screened and beneficiated through dense media separation and Jig technology.

The current mining process entails topsoil removal and stockpiling for later use during the waste dump rehabilitation process, followed by drilling and blasting of waste and ore. The waste material is in-pit dumped where such areas are available or hauled to waste rock dumps. The iron ore is loaded according to blend (grade) requirements and hauled to designated run-of-mine buffer stockpiles or the beneficiation plants, where it is crushed, screened and beneficiated.

Iron ore mining operations.
Mining started in outcrop and shallow ore areas along the north to south strike of the ore body and is generally progressing in a westerly direction along the dip of the ore body, with the mine pit becoming increasingly deeper towards the west. Four types of hard iron ore, namely massive, laminated, conglomerated and brecciate iron ore are mined. Blast hole drilling is a continuous process and blasting is done once a day, typically in the early afternoons between 12h00 and 14h00, at each of the active mining areas within the mine pit.

Vliegveld West Satellite Pit (Sishen 543 Prospecting Right Area - 1021/2007 PR).
The Vliegveld West satellite pit is situated south of the Dingleton town and is part of the current mining right area. It extends onto the Sishen 543 prospecting right area and has a reserve of 14.7 Mt with an average JIG beneficiated Fe grade of 65.8%. Vliegveld West is mined from 2020 onwards in the lifeof- operation schedule.

The Doornvlei Satellite Pit (Gamagara 541 Prospecting Right Area - 319/2006 PR). Doornvlei is situated west of the Dingleton town and has an additional resource of 37.7 Mt with a high average DMS Beneficiated Fe grade of 66.3%. Doornvlei plays an important role to enhance the product grade in the life-of- operation schedule.

Parsons Satellite Pit (Sishen 543 Prospecting Right Areas - 1021/2007 PR and Parsons 564 - 320/2006 PR).
The Parsons Satellite pit is planned south of the current Sishen pit and has a speculative resource, categorised as a 15.4 Mt deposit, with an average in-situ Fe grade of 64%. The importance of the Parsons Satellite pit is that it can significantly contribute to the production schedule toward the end of the life- of-operation and may develop into a significant production area in the future. The geological confidence in the Parsons deposit needs to be improved by exploration and in-fill drilling.


Crushing and Grinding
Flow Sheet: Source
Source: Source p.12, 30-33

An additional primary crusher (UPC) will be required for the processing of some of the material as the existing DMS and JIG plant crushers do not have capacity to process all of the additional ROM. A-grade and/or C-grade ore shall be crushed by the existing primary and secondary DMS crushers which have capacity of 26 Mtpa. The UPC will serve to crush additional feed material to the UHDMS and this could include both A-grade, B-grade & C-grade as well as lower grade material. The crushed material from these crushers shall then be delivered to the existing DMS tertiary crushers and the DMS stockpile. The material from the DMS stockpile is fed into the Washing & Screening Plant.


Processing

  • Jig plant
  • Wash plant
  • Dense media separation

Flow Sheet: Source
Source: Source

Summary:

Processing run-of-mine through two primary processing facilities (DMS plant and Jig plant) with a combined operating capacity of 34.7 Mtpa Saleable Product. A smallscale UHDMS plant has been commissioned in 2017, which treats some of the Jig discard material.

The screened ore size fractions are beneficiated through either:
• a ferro-silicon DMS plant, where most of the high-grade run-of-mine is treated, or
• a Jig plant where most of the medium-grade run-of-mine is treated, with two UHDMS modules treating some of the Jig discard to recover more Saleable Product.

Plant slimes are not beneficiated and are pumped to evaporation dams while the DMS and Jig (and UHDMS) discard material is stacked on a plant discard dump. Four iron ore products (conforming to different chemical and physical specifications) are produced. The product is reclaimed from product beds and loaded into trains, to be transported either to local steel mills (domestic market) and Saldanha Bay (for export market), from where it is shipped together with Kolomela product and sold to international Clients under three KIO branded products referred to as premium Lump ore, standard Lump ore and standard Fines ore.

Ultra-High Dense Media Separation (UHDMS) is a recently proven technology that will allow for the processing of future low-grade material (particularly C-grade material) originating from the ongoing mining operations as run of mine (ROM) as well as some of the low-grade material that has historically been dumped on site due to the lack of available technology. C-grade material refers to lower grade ore types containing between 40% and 48% iron.

The C-grade material to be processed will be sourced from the ROM (is part of the hanging and footwall that are already included in the mining sequence) as well as surface stockpiles. Cgrade material arising from the ROM since January 2016 has also been stockpiled separately on some of the waste rock dump areas with the anticipation that it could be processed through the future UHDMS plant. The anticipated ROM of C-grade material is 7-26 Mtpa.

DMS Upgrade.
The existing DMS Processing Plant at Sishen is to be upgraded to allow for the incorporation of UHDMS which will allow for the co-processing of both high (A-grade) and low (C-grade) grade material. The JIG plant will continue to process the B-grade material and some of the A- grade material due to a revised feed strategy. The current DMS plant comprises the following sections:
- Washing & Screening Plant;
- A Coarse Drum Plant;
- A Medium Drum Plant;
- A Coarse Cyclone Plant;
- A Fine Cyclone Plant;
- An Up-Current Classifier (UCC) Plant.

The DMS components at the existing DMS Processing Plant will be converted to UHDMS processes by the replacement of the drums currently used in the beneficiation process with cyclones; and also modifying the existing media density circuits as well as crushing circuits. The following changes are currently envisaged for the existing DMS Plant:

- The existing Washing & Screening Plant at the DMS Plant will be modified. This will involve the modification of the screen panel sizes.
- The material from the Washing & Screening plant shall be sent to the Quaternary Crushing Plant to crush the material as required by UHDMS technology.
- A new oversize conveying system will be erected from the existing Washing & Screening Plant to the existing conveyor feeding the stockpiles ahead of the exiting Quaternary Crushing Plant.
- No changes will be made to the Quaternary Crushing Plant.
- The crushed material from the Quaternary Crushers shall be sent to the Quaternary Screening plant which will separate the material into three size fractions. The existing Quaternary Screening Plant will be modified to Screen Quaternary oversize material after Quaternary Crushing.
- Upgrade of the existing Drum Plant by removing drums and replacing with cyclones. The Drum Plant will be converted to a coarse UHDMS Plant.
- Development of a new conveyor from the Quaternary Screening Plant to the existing Drum Plant.
- Upgrade of the existing Coarse and Fine Cyclone Plant involving upgrades to specific densification systems.
- The existing Coarse Cyclone Plant will be converted to the Fine UHDMS Plant.
- The existing Fine Cyclone Plant will be converted to the Superfine UHDMS Plant.
- Development of a new conveyor from the Quaternary Screening Plant to the existing Fine Cyclone Plant.
- The UCC Plants will be modified to treat grits, if required.
- Feeders at the in-pit stockpile will be replaced next to the DMS Tertiary Crushers.
- Modification of the product transfer, common lump product and plant discard conveyor.
- Two new conveyors at the Discard Transfer Station and a new Discard Emergency Stockpile at the foot of the existing Discard Dump.


Production:

CommodityUnits2022202120202019201820172016
Iron (hematite) Mt 27 ^282529293128
All production numbers are expressed as lump & fines. ^ Guidance / Forecast.

Operational Metrics:

Metrics202120202019201820172016
Total tonnes mined 184.01 Mt184.69 Mt218.8 Mt220.5 Mt199.5 Mt178.3 Mt
Ore tonnes mined 37.9 Mt36.2 Mt37.7 Mt38.4 Mt37.8 Mt41.2 Mt
Waste 146.13 Mt148.53 Mt181.1 Mt182 Mt161.7 Mt137.1 Mt
Annual production capacity 34.7 Mt of iron (hematite) lump & fines
Stripping / waste ratio 4.1 4.8 4.7 4.3 3.3

Reserves at December 31, 2021:
Ore Reserves are reported above a cut-off of 40.0 %Fe.
Mineral Resources are reported above a cut-off of 40.0 %Fe.

CategoryOreTypeTonnage CommodityGrade
Proven 384.9 Mt Iron 57.6 %
Probable 211.3 Mt Iron 48.9 %
Probable Stockpiles 57.2 Mt Iron 48.3 %
Proven & Probable 596.2 Mt Iron 54.5 %
Proven & Probable Stockpiles 57.2 Mt Iron 48.3 %
Measured 176.7 Mt Iron 59.4 %
Indicated 222.4 Mt Iron 55.4 %
Measured & Indicated 399.2 Mt Iron 57.2 %
Inferred 12.6 Mt Iron 50.8 %

Commodity Production Costs:

CommodityUnits202120202019201820172016
Cash costs Iron (hematite) USD 29.2 / t   22 / t   23.9 / t   21.9 / t   22 / t   20.2 / t  

Financials:

Units202120202019201820172016
Capital expenditures M ZAR 2,290  1,793  1,693   2,508   88  
Revenue M ZAR 67,612  51,971  40,698   29,383   30,252   26,644  
EBITDA M ZAR 51,446  37,652  28,695   20,261   18,842   16,186  



Heavy Mobile Equipment:
HME TypeModelRef. Date
Drill Epiroc Jul 12, 2022
Shovel Komatsu 4100 XPC Dec 31, 2020
Truck (haul) Komatsu 860E Dec 31, 2021
Truck (haul) Komatsu 960E Dec 31, 2020

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
Chief Operating Officer Vijay Kumar LinkedIn Apr 12, 2022
Drilling Manager Freedom Moseamedi LinkedIn Apr 12, 2022
Mine Manager Danie Fourie LinkedIn Apr 12, 2022
Plant Production Manager Jaco Bruwer LinkedIn Apr 12, 2022
Process Operations Manager Bongani Mohlongo LinkedIn Apr 12, 2022
Safety Manager Emma Mbelebele LinkedIn Apr 12, 2022

Staff:

EmployeesContractorsTotal WorkforceYear
4,360 3,386 7,746 2020
4,370 4,306 8,676 2019
4,312 4,440 8,752 2018
4,194 3,112 7,306 2017
4,040 1,426 5,466 2016
5,575 2,269 7,844 2015
5,736 2,582 8,318 2014

Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
Other 2022
Annual Report 2021
Annual Result 2021
Corporate Presentation 2021
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2021
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2021
Annual Report 2020
Annual Result 2020
Integrated Report 2020
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2020
Annual Report 2019
Annual Report 2019
Integrated Report 2019
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2019
Environmental Assessment 2018
Integrated Report 2018
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2018
Environmental Assessment 2017
Integrated Report 2017
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2017
Integrated Report 2016
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2016
Integrated Report 2015
Year-end Mineral Reserves 2015
Integrated Report 2014
Integrated Report 2011

Aerial view:

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