The Elandsfontein phosphate deposit is situated in the south western coastal region of South Africa. This area is underlain by the Miocene and Paleocene Sandveld Group comprising of the Elandsfontyn, Varswater, Velddrif, Langebaan, Springfontein Hill and Witzand Formations. This Group is dated between the Miocene (23 Ma to 5.3 Ma) and the Pliocene (5.3 Ma to 2.6 Ma). The Varswater Formation hosts the Elandsfontein phosphate deposit. The Sandveld Group unconformably overlies the Neoproterozoic Malmesbury Group and plutons of the Cape Granite Suite.

The Varswater Formation is formed by estuary and marine sediments, which locally overlie the Elandsfontyn Formation and consists of poorly sorted angular sands and gravels grading upwards into carbonaceous clays and peaty material, known as the Langeenheid Clay Member.

Deposit Type
The Elandsfontein phosphate deposit belongs to the sedimentary phosphate deposit type known as phosphorites. These deposits have been found on most continents and it is estimated that the world inventory of this style of deposit exceeds 200 000 Mt. They range in age from the Precambrian to recent, but the commercially exploited deposits are mainly of Phanerozoic age. In South Africa, and specifically in the Western Cape Province both authogenic and diagenetically modified phosphorite deposits have been identified by Birch (1990) in the Langebaan area. In the Saldanha embayment deposits of calcium phosphate formed during the Mio ........

The Elandsfontein Phosphate Project is planned to be mined by conventional open pit mining methods, though no production drilling and blasting is necessary due to the sandy characteristics (with only low percentage of thin hard rock lenses) of the deposit. Specifically, a roll over mining method has been employed. The mining will take place in a number of discrete phases, which will reduce the overall mining foot print:
- topsoil is removed and stockpiled;
- soft overburden is stripped and hauled to the softs stockpile for the first two years only;
- phosphate ore is mined, hauled to the ROM tip, and conveyed to the plant;
- the mined-out strips are then immediately backfilled (after year 2) with the soft overburden and tailings sands from the plant; and
- topsoil is returned to the backfilled strips to complete the rehabilitation process.

The mining box cut development includes a ramp to the top of ore. Mining will proceed on several benches concurrently. The mining fleet, consisting of 50 tonne articulated dump trucks, will be loaded by hydraulic excavators in a backhoe configuration. The dump trucks will transport the material to the appropriate destination and return to the excavator in a cyclic manner.

The mining will take place sequentially from the north east to the south west of the mining licence area in cuts with a maximum mining width at the bottom of the cut not exceeding 50 m. This maximum width is to ensure the clay ........

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