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Overview
MINING
Samancor Chrome’s mines are located on the eastern - Eastern Chrome Mines (ECM) and western - Western Chrome Mines (WCM) limbs of the Bushveld Igneous Complex. Typical production levels amount to some 3 Mt per annum of saleable chromium ores for both internal consumption (approximately 2.3million metric tonnes - Mt -per annum) and local and export sales (approximately 0.7 Mt per annum).
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Eastern Chrome Mines (ECM)
ECM is situated approximately 350km north-east of Johannesburg, close to the town of Steelpoort in the Limpopo Province, and consists of three underground mines, two opencast mines, four surface beneficiation plants and two tailings re-treatment plants, typically producing around 2.0 Mt of saleable product per annum. |
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Western Chrome Mines (WCM)
WCM is situated approximately 130km north-west of Johannesburg, close to the town of Mooinooi in the North West Province, and consists of two underground mines, two surface beneficiation plants and two tailings re-treatment plants typically producing around 1.5 Mt of saleable product per annum. |
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SMELTING
Samancor Chrome operates three smelting operations being, Ferrometals (FMT), Middelburg Ferrochrome (MFC) and Tubatse Ferrochrome (TFC), with a total of 16 charge chrome furnaces capable of producing 1 Mt per annum of charge chrome. Technology deployed is open and semi-open Submerged Arc Furnaces (SAF) with two closed furnaces at FMT, and two 60 Megawatt Direct Current (DC) furnace at MFC. |
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Ferrometals (FMT)
FMT is situated in Emalahleni (formerly called Witbank), Mpumalanga, and operates six charge chrome furnaces, (4 open and 2 closed), one metal recovery plant and a Intermediate Carbon Ferrochrome (IC3) converter. In addition, a Pellet and Sintering Plant (PSP) converts fine ore and UG2 (Upper Group 2 layer of the Rustenburg Layered Suite) into sintered pellets for use in the furnaces. FMT employs 545 permanent and non-permanent employees (including those dedicated to the production of IC3). The plant was established in 1959 and is currently the largest charge chrome producing site in the world with an expected life in excess of 25 years. Fifty percent of Furnace 4 is subject to a joint venture agreement between Samancor (50%), Posco (25%), and Samsun (25%), and Furnace 5 is subject to a joint venture agreement between Samancor (51.%) and NSA Metals (49%).
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Middelburg Ferrochrome (MFC)
MFC is situated in Middelburg, Mpumalanga and was established in 1964 as a Low Carbon Ferrochrome production facility. Charge chrome was first produced on this site in 1974 by Middelburg Steel and Alloys (Pty) Ltd, which was acquired by Samancor in 1991. The core business of MFC is the production of charge chrome from two SAFs, one two DC furnace’s and a metal recovery plant. The expected useful life of the facility is at least 25 years.
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Tubatse Ferrochrome (TFC)
TFC was initially built as a three-furnace operation in 1975 as a joint venture between Gencor Ltd and Union Carbide Inc (USA). In the same year, the Union Carbide Inc. shareholding was taken over by Samancor, and in 1989 Samancor acquired the Gencor Ltd shareholding. During the years 1989-1990 the plant was expanded to five furnaces with the sixth furnace being built in 1996. The plant is situated in Steelpoort, Limpopo Province and is in close proximity to ECM. The core business of the operation is the production of charge chrome using six SAFs, one metal recovery plant, and a Pellet and Sintering Plant (PSP). The smelting complex inlcudes Tubatse Chrome, a joint venture with Sinosteel and NST Ferrochrome (Pty) Ltd., a joint venture with Nippon Denko. The expected useful life of the facility is at least 25 years. |
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