Mining & Metals
The mineral sands of northern KwaZulu-Natal hold rich mineral wealth.
The mining and quarrying sector accounts for less than 2% of provincial gross domestic product (PGDP) but the province’s mineral sands and beneficiation plants are important to the nation’s minerals sector. In addition, the export facilities at Richards Bay, which handle most of the minerals mined further north in South Africa, make a massive contribution to the functioning of the country’s mining sector.
KwaZulu-Natal is home to two aluminium smelters (in Richards Bay), three steel plants, a manganese smelter and four concrete factories.
Mineral sands
The rich, dark sands of northern KwaZulu-Natal contain the most important mineral resources of the province: the amount of titanium found in the ilmenite, rutile and leucoxene in the vicinity of Richards Bay and St Lucia represents the fourth largest reserve of this mineral in the world.
The year 2009 was not a good one for the titanium market, with global demand in the decorative coatings and aerospace industries well down on previous years. Analysts predict that the market will pick up in 2010 on the back of Chinese demand. The importance of these minerals in modern production methods means that as soon as the world economy picks up, this sector will be among the first to benefit. Global demand for titanlure has grown enormously in recent times as the material is tough, light and resistant to corrosion. Thus it has been popular in the construction of aeroplanes, camera bodies and military hardware. Titanium dioxide adds opacity to paints, fibres and plastics while titanlure dioxide is vital in the pigment industry.
Another important mineral to be found in the sands is zirconium: it presents in zircon sand and as baddeleyite, a kind of zirconium oxide. These are important for use in refractories and foundries as well as in the production of abrasives, ceramics and chemicals. They also have applications in nuclear reactors (fuel cladding) and in aerospace engineering.
The leading company with regard to the extraction of these minerals is Richards Bay Minerals, which supplies the world with about a quarter of its demand. It has extensive ore holdings along the coast and is the largest titanium slag producer in the world.
KZN Sands (an Exxaro subsidiary) is the other major mineral company operating in the uThungulu district. It focuses on smelting ilemnite to produce titanium slag and is a foremost black economic empowerment venture. It operates a mine at Hillendale (south of Richards Bay) which supplies a heavy minerals concentrate to a processing facility at Empangeni. Other products include pig iron, zircon (of which 100% is exported) and rutile.
The region has other minerals such as aluminium and calcitic marbles.
Coal
Although the Waterberg region north of Johannesburg is seen as the next big thing with regard to supplying the coal that South Africa’s new power stations need, northern KwaZulu-Natal’s coalfields are being revived and increased demand (some commentators predict that the country will need to find an extra 75 million tons per annum into the foreseeable future) and improved technologies mean that fields previously thought to be marginal can be mined.
Miranda Minerals has been very active in KwaZulu-Natal. With several projects at different stages of development, the company is focusing on the Klip River coalfields around Dundee and Glencoe. The Sesikona project is due to come on stream in 2010 with a measured resource of 3.9 million tons, while Uithoek, due to start mining in the course of 2010, has a measured resource of 6.7 million tons. Burnside has indicated and inferred resources of 35.5 million tons. An environmental impact assessment was due to be completed by April 2010 and if Burnside is approved, mining should begin in the last quarter of 2011.
Miranda is a JSE-listed company and is expecting that its increased volumes from its KwaZulu-Natal operations will enhance it bargaining position with respect to offtake and forward sale agreements.
The upgraded Richards Bay Coal Terminal exported more than 60-million tons of coal in 2009 and will be rolling out Phase Five of its expansion plan in the course of 2010.
Other minerals
Some low-grade bauxite has been found in parts of the province, although sometimes in environmentally sensitive areas. Vein gold mining is undertaken near the northern border with Mozambique. The Umzinto goldfield has several sites where gold occurs, but mining for this mineral has only ever been on a small scale.
The Marble Delta Formation inland from Port Shepstone produces carbonates from three large quarries. High grade material is used as filler in paint, paper, toothpaste, bread and plastic; lower-grade material is used in rubber, glass and fiberglass and the third quarry provides limestone for the major NPC-Cimpor cement plant nearby.
