A new plant at Anglo Platinum's Modikwa mine is helping to recover water and pgms in a more sustainable manner, mineralsprocessing.com reported on Tuesday (8th December).

Modikwa is situated in the platinum-rich Bushveld Complex in South Africa, where the abundance of mining projects has heaped further pressure on the already scarce water supplies.

However, the dewatering plant is helping to combat this problem and CST Wastewater Technology, the firm which provided the technology for its design, believes other miners should follow suit.

"This plant has allowed the mine to minimise the stress placed on the mining region's extremely limited water supply by managing its water resources more efficiently," Managing Director Mike Bambridge told the news provider.

"The success of this project, its positive impact on the mine's bottom line, including the reduction in the mine's environmental footprint, illustrates the prospects for use by other mines in similar situations."

Mr Bambridge noted that the plant allows Anglo to reduce its production costs, while also achieving platinum recovery of 4g/t from the dry filter cake that ensues from dewatering sludge.

Anglo Platinum, which is the world's largest producer of the precious metal, posted equivalent refined platinum production of 1.24 million ounces for the half-year ended 30th June 2009.

Source:

Dewatering technology pays for itself in two years (08/12/09)

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