Overview
| Stage | Production |
| Mine Type | Underground |
| Commodities |
|
| Mining Method |
|
| Production Start | ...  |
| Mine Life | 2064 |
The Wessels Mine is part of Hotazel Manganese Complex. The Wessels is an underground mine. It has vertical and incline shafts and uses the mechanized bord and pillar mining method. |
Source:
p. 60
South32 Limited holds a 60 per cent interest in Samancor Holdings (Pty) Ltd and Anglo American Plc holds the remaining 40 per cent. Samancor indirectly owns 74 per cent of Hotazel Manganese Mines (HMM), which gives South32 Limited its ownership interest of 44.4 per cent. The remaining 26 per cent of HMM is owned by Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) entities. Anglo American Plc effective ownership interest in HMM is 29.6%.
Contractors
- Subscription is required.
Summary:
South African manganese deposits are currently confined to the Early Proterozoic Transvaal Supergroup, Northern Cape Province. They can be grouped into two major categories:
1. Syngenetic carbonate-rich manganese deposits interbedded with the banded iron formations (BIF) of the Hotazel Formation, colloquially called the Kalahari Manganese Field.
2. Karst-fill type manganiferous material from residual Fe-rich manganese developed in dolomites of the Campbell Rand Subgroup in the Postmasburg Fe-Mn Fields.
The Kalahari Manganese Field is situated within a structural basin, known as the Dimoten Synclinorium, plunging at an angle of 3° to 8° to the north and northwest. It extends from Mamatwan Mine in the south for approximately 40 km to Wessels Mine in the north, with an east-west extent varying between 5 and 15 km.
Local Geology
Wessels Mine extracts high grade (above 47% Mn) manganese ore. The ore is typically coarse grained, shiny, massive or vuggy, with the principal minerals being hausmannite and braunite II (Wessels-type ore), as opposed to primary, lower grade braunite further to the south in the Kalahari Basin (Mamatwan-type ore). The current interpretation is that the Wessels-type ore was formed by hydrothermal alteration of primary Mamatwan-type ore and that the alteration took place along a system of post-Olifantshoek, north-south and east-west striking normal faults.
Summary:
Wessels Mine is a trackless bord and pillar underground mine operating at a depth of approximately 350 m below surface. Currently two areas of mineralisation are being mined. One vertical and two decline shafts access the mineralisation. Hydraulic twin boom drilling machines undertake drilling. Blasting takes place at the end of shift, using a mixture of emulsion and sensitizer, with electronic detonators to obtain a face advance of approximately 2.65 m for each blast.
The ore is blasted and front end loaders, matched with 25 t dump trucks, deliver the ore to underground primary crushers situated in the East and West Blocks. An additional crusher is being installed for the Central Block. Ore is conveyed from the various crushers to a central ore handling system consisting of storage silos close to the vertical and inclined shafts. From here the ore is transported by a cable belt conveyor up the 14 degree incline to the washing and screening plant on surface.
Mining is focused on the Lower Body (LB) and the Upper Body (UB) horizons. Only the LB is currently extracted, with extraction of the UB planned for later during the mine life. Various access points to the UB currently exist due to structural faulting and localized exploratory mining. The mine production is divided into the East, Central, Graben and West Blocks based on structural zones.
Pillar dimensions are 8 m x 8 m in the West and Central Blocks and 6 m x 6 m in the East Block with 8 m ........
Source:
- subscription is required.
Flow Sheet:
Summary:
- subscription is required.
Combined production numbers are reported under
Hotazel Complex
Operational Metrics:
| Metrics | 2021 |
|
Annual mining capacity
| ...... |
- Subscription is required.
Reserves at June 30, 2023:
Cut-off grade for Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves are 37.5% Mn.
| Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade |
|
Proven & Probable
|
58 Mt
|
Manganese
|
41.9 %
|
|
Total Resource
|
134 Mt
|
Manganese
|
41.8 %
|
Corporate Filings & Presentations:
- Subscription is required.
- Subscription is required.