TFR to move on manganese upgrade

Transnet has received approval to go ahead with the R2.3-billion upgrade of the manganese railway corridor from the Northern Cape to the Port of Ngqura in the Eastern Cape, a move welcomed by manganese miners. TFR CEO Siyabonga Gama said last week that his company could now start work on the first phase of a larger R27-billion railways and harbour development project that would lift South Africa’s manganese export capacity to over 20 million tpy, a prospect sorely needed by the manganese mining industry. TFR estimates that the first phase of the project, which will connect manganese miners in the Northern Cape with Coega, will be completed sometime in 2017. However, manganese miners are keen for work on the rail corridor to start sooner rather than later, since they are required to vacate the port of Port Elizabeth by 2016, with the understanding to move the manganese ore to Coega to ship to the deep-sea port of Ngqura. “The rail development is urgent,” David Wellbeloved, director of projects at Asian Minerals, told FTW. His company has a newly commissioned manganese mine at Hotazel in the Northern Cape, which is the heart of South Africa’s manganese mining. “But for the first time I am convinced Transnet is putting their money where their mouth is,” he said. “As an industry we have been talking to Transnet since 2005. There have been various promises in the past that didn’t materialise. Then there were delays to getting this thing going, but for now I think this is really going to be happening.” However, he noted that there was still a lot of work ahead, not only for TFR in its upgrade of the rail line, but also for the miners. “We still have to put our stockpiles closer to Coega, and we still have to do a lot of work on how we are going to get the stockpiles there,” he said. Manganese miners told FTW that they were looking forward to not having to wrestle one another for rail allocations. Also, at the port, loading capacity will be double. Ngqura has two loading berths, whereas Port Elizabeth only has one. “It is a matter of national importance and urgency to get manganese off the roads onto rail,” Wellbeloved said. “The trucks are running the roads to shreds.” TFR will upgrade the rail network from Hotazel in the Northern Cape, to support heavy loads of up to 26 tonnes, through Postmasburg, Kimberley, De Aar and Cradock to Coega Industrial Development Zone, and then on to the deep-sea port of Ngqura. Other manganese miners in the area are newcomers United Manganese Kalahari and Tshipi è Ntle, as well as established miners like Samancor, Assmang and African Rainbow Minerals. Also in the pipeline at Coega is the possibility of a ferro-manganese smelter to be built by Kalagadi Manganese, which has just started operating its mine near Hotazel. However, Kalagadi is still in the process of seeking funding for this, FTW understands. Coega will be a loading terminal for the bulk alloys producers onto ships in Ngqura. CAPTION The Port of Ngqura … R2.3 billion to be spent on upgrade of the manganese railway corridor from the Northern Cape to the Port of Ngqura.