Mining Intelligence and News
South Africa

KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Sands Operation

Click for more information

Categories

Overview

Mine TypeOpen Pit
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Titanium
  • Zircon
  • Rutile
  • Ilmenite
Mining Method
  • Hydraulic mining
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
  • Jet Boring
Production Start... Lock
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotTronox KZN Sands Operations include the:
• Fairbreeze Mine with the Primary Wet Plant (PWP);
• Central Processing Complex (CPC) just outside the town of Empangeni, is where heavy mineral concentrates are processed into mineral products and ilmenite is further converted to titanium rich slag and pig iron in two direct current arc furnaces.
Related Asset

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Tronox Holdings Plc. 100 % Indirect
Tronox KZN Sands (Pty) Ltd. (operator) 100 % Direct
Tronox KZN Sands Operations are wholly owned subsidiaries of Tronox Holdings Plc.

Contractors

Lock

- subscription is required.

Deposit type

  • Mineral sands
  • Sedimentary

Summary:

The Fairbreeze paleo dune complex is an elongated body extending south-southwestward from the town of Mtunzini for about 12 kilometers, reaching a maximum width of about two kilometers and a maximum elevation of 109 meters. Surface drainages have dissected the deposit into five discrete ore bodies, Fairbreeze A, B, C, C-Extension and D. The deposit is hosted by fine-grained sand and silt in a north-northeast trending complex of strandline/paleo dune couplets two kilometers inland from the modem coastline.

Fairbreeze is part of a regional near-shore, coast-parallel corridor of terraces and dunes composed of reddish-colored sands, the “Berea Red Sands,” along the southeastern coast of Africa from Durban to Mombasa. As with most heavy mineral sand deposits, iron-titanium oxides, rutile, zircon and other heavy minerals in the HM assemblage at Fairbreeze are inherited from their source rock provenance and modified by selective sorting during deposition. The Natal Metamorphic Province and younger rift-related basalts are interpreted as the primary source for the Fairbreeze heavy minerals. Terrestrial weathering of terrace deposits to oxidize iron minerals, followed by a period of extensive reworking of coastal sediment by static sea levels completed the formation of the Fairbreeze deposit.

The Fairbreeze deposits consist almost entirely of older (Pliocene parent) Berea-type red sands, which have been exposed to a long period of weathering resulting in the disintegration of the original components to form silt-sized particles and clay. Progressive enrichment in the swash zones of several beaches, which developed along the large coastal beach/dune system, resulted in the concentration of heavy minerals.

Heavy minerals, derived from weathering of inland rocks and sediments, were deposited into the ocean by the Tugela River, concentrated because of progressive enrichment in the swash zones of several beaches, which developed along the large coastal beach/dunal system. Ilmenite, zircon and rutile represent the primary valuable heavy minerals (VHM) of this deposit.

The Fairbreeze deposits span 526 ha, with a total length of more than 15 km, striking 34 0, and reaching 630 m in width. Generally, the different ore bodies have depths close to 30m, and the elevation drops from around the 10m amsl in the southwest to around 70m amsl in the northeast.

Heavy minerals are disseminated in the dune systems with general preference of higher concentrations at the ridge of the dunes.

Reserves

Lock

- subscription is required.

Mining Methods

Lock

- subscription is required.

Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Milling equipment has not been reported.

Processing

Lock

- subscription is required.

Production

The production of Rutile includes natural rutile and leucoxene.

The production of Ilmenite includes multiple grades of TiO2, grades of Ilmenite.

The owner did not publish production data for 2020.
CommodityProductUnits2023202220212019201820172016
Heavy Minerals Concentrate kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Zircon Mineral in concentrate kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe55534631
Rutile Mineral in concentrate kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe25221912
Ilmenite Mineral in concentrate t  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe
Iron Pig kt 11210452

Operational metrics

Metrics202120202019201820172016
Tonnes processed  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe9,506 kt
Annual production capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe25,000 t of rutile mineral in concentrate25,000 t of rutile mineral in concentrate25,000 t of rutile mineral in concentrate25,000 t of rutile mineral in concentrate
Annual production capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe220,000 t of titanium slag220,000 t of titanium slag220,000 t of titanium slag220,000 t of titanium slag
Annual production capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe120,000 t of iron pig121,000 t of iron pig121,000 t of iron pig121,000 t of iron pig
Annual production capacity  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe55,000 t of zircon mineral in concentrate55,000 t of zircon mineral in concentrate55,000 t of zircon mineral in concentrate55,000 t of zircon mineral in concentrate

Production Costs

Commodity production costs have not been reported.

Financials

Units2023
Book Value M USD  ....  Subscribe

Heavy Mobile Equipment

Fleet data has not been reported.

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 17, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 17, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 17, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 17, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 17, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 17, 2024

EmployeesYear
...... Subscription required 2021
...... Subscription required 2019

Aerial view:

Lock

- subscription is required.