| PALABORA MINING COMPANY |
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The Palabora Mining Company (Palabora) produces 90,000 tonnes of copper each year from an underground mine adjacent to the Kruger National Park, in the Limpopo Province of the Republic of South Africa. The mine was originally an open pit operation and from 1965 to 2001 produced over 4 million tonnes of copper. Since 2003 the copper has come from a block caving operation that sits 500m beneath the open pit. The underground mine has an ore reserve of over 200 million tonnes, which should be enough for another 20 years of mining. |
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The ore is drawn from drawpoints using large diesel powered loaders and delivered to four underground crushers. From the crushers the ore is conveyed to the production shaft and hoisted 1.3km to surface. Each tonne of ore contains around 7.5kg of copper that needs to be extracted from the ore.
The beginning of the extraction process takes place in the concentrator, where the ore is crushed to gravel in an autogenous mill and then it is ground to a powder in a series of ball mills where water is added to produce a slurry. This slurry is sent to the flotation cells where the addition of reagents and air separates the copper bearing minerals from the waste rock. The waste rock is then sent to the tailings impoundment. The floated copper mineral then goes to the copper filter plant where the moisture is extracted and the dried core is sent to the smelter. |
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In the smelter the concentrate is melted in a furnace and the molten copper is purified through a series of processes involving heating and electro-winning to produce 100% copper.
The final process carried out by Palabora is the production of an 8mm copper rod by melting the copper cathode and extruding it through the casting wheel.
All of Palabora’s copper is used in South Africa, to produce copper pipe, copper cables for housing, spare parts for vehicles and other useful products. |
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Everyone at Palabora is accountable for his or her own safety. Our collective goal for all of them is zero. Whatever the situation, the safety of employees and contractors continues to be of high priority to the Company and the goal of zero injuries is pursued relentlessly.
Palabora mine is one of three major employers in the Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality employing
around 1 750 people and contributing around R500M per annum to the local economy
through wages and local purchases. |
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Palabora is committed to sustainable development and community development.
The Palabora Foundation was founded in 1987 and works with all aspects of the local community, including health and education.
Palabora strives to comply with all of the regulatory legislation with regard to environmental protection.
All of our water is contained on site in a closed circuit .
Waste dumps are capped to keep dust to a minimum and most smelter
off-gasses are captured.
The location of Palabora, sharing a common boundary with the world famous Kruger National Park, puts the operation in a unique position in that wildlife is naturally attracted to the abundant vegetation on the property.
Palabora is committed to responsible management in this regard and continually monitors the game in the area. Our signage indicates that we are “Not just a mine but also a wildlife reserve”. |
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Note : Only provide information below if you have a query on the environmental performance of
the three companies.
Any queries with regards to the environmental performance of the companies can be addressed to:
Palabora Mining Company – Gabe van der Berg
Mark Surmon (015) 780-2098 |
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CONTACT DETAILS |
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| TELEPHONE |
+27 (0)15 789-2000 |
FAX NO |
+27 (0)15 789-2066 |
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