SamQuarz

Date of acquisition:

September 2004

Location:

10km east of Delmas, Mpumalanga Province

Type of operation:

Open pit

Commodity:

High quality silica and chert

Reserves and Resources:

Quality deposit with 60.63Mt of proven and probable reserves of quartzite and 11.48Mt of reserves (updated 1 October 2008)

Current production level:

1.33m ROM tonnes a year

Plant nominal capacity:

Silica plant - 1.5 million ROM tonnes; chert plant - approximately 0.75 million ROM tonnes

Mining rights status:

New order mining right conversion approved and valid for 30 years

Total number of employees:

251 (including contractors)

Current markets:

Metallurgical, glass and construction industries in South Africa

Competitive advantage:

High-quality deposit/resource; long LOM over 40 years; technologically advanced processing plant; close proximity of mine to key customers on long-term offtake agreements

Capital expenditure FY 2009:

Forecast R16.33 million

In operation since 1955, SamQuarz is the largest producer of high-quality silica in South Africa, used primarily in the production of glass and in the metallurgical smelting process, and meets 35% of the country’s total annual consumption. The operation, which produces two key products - high quality silica and chert - comprises a large open pit and processing plant.

With respect to geology, this quality deposit occupies a mega-sinkhole that formed in cherty dolomites of the Malmani Sub-group. The dolomites are overlain in unconformity by a layer known informally as the ‘giant chert’. Both the giant chert and the quartzite are part of what is known as the Rooihoogte formation. The current mine design indicates a combined final pit area of about 46 hectares at 23 level, which is a maximum depth of 230 metres below surface. The successful exploration programme conducted in October 2008 resulted in an increase in the reserve base of the mine to 60 million tonnes of proven and probable reserves of silica and 11.48 million tonnes of proven and probable reserves of chert.

SamQuarz has well-defined markets for its products. It supplies a number of blue-chip companies in the glass manufacturing industry and metallurgical sector, including:

• PFG, Consol and Nampak in the glass sector; and
• Xstrata Chrome, Samancor, the Evraz Group’s Highveld Steel and Vanadium operation, Assmang and Siltech in the metallurgical industry.

The mine has also successfully penetrated the construction sector and is now aiming to develop new markets in the foundry industry.

View the Directors’ review on SamQuarz in the Annual Report 2009. (PDF – 161KB)