Safety Culture:
As Black Mountain Mine acknowledges Vedanta Zinc’s
safety policies, it is important to note that there are rules and regulations
that have to be adhered to whilst on the mine premises. These rules are not
only there to ensure corporate governance, but more importantly to ensure
everyone’s safety. Also, as Aggeneys has been declared a municipality, all standard
South African laws apply in and around the Aggeneys township, including traffic
laws.
Some interesting facts:
Exploration in this area started in
1929 when the first shaft was sunk on Swartberg – the “Black Mountain”
of the company’s name. Desultory investigations continued at sporadic intervals
after that until 1970 when Phelps Dodge Corporation commenced a diamond
drilling programme. In 1971 the Swartberg ore body was intersected, in 1972 the
ore body at Noeniespoort se Kop (“Broken Hill”) and in 1973 the Aggeneys Mountain (“Big Syncline”) ore body. The
most promising of the three ore bodies was that at Noeniespoort and an audit to
procure bulk samples for metallurgical testing was driven into the hill in
1974. In 1976 Phelps Dodge Corporation commissioned a feasibility study for an
underground mine. Late in 1976, Phelps Dodge decided to seek a partner for the
venture. Negotiations with Gold Fields of South Africa Limited (GFSA) followed
and in October 1977 an agreement was reached whereby Gold Fields and its
associates subscribed for a 51% interest in the Black Mountain Mineral
Development Company (Proprietary) Limited. The acquisition cost Gold Fields R15
million in cash. Phelps Dodge also provided an interest-bearing deferred loan
of R35 million. Loans from banks and other institutions contributed a further
R111 million.
In the late nineties the ore reserves were nearing
depletion and the mine’s closure seemed imminent. At about the same time, GFSA
decided to sell off its base metal assets, including Black Mountain.
After conducting a due-diligence study, Anglo American Corporation purchased Black Mountain
and the nearby, as yet undeveloped, Gamsberg zinc deposit.
Low key exploration through the nineties, aimed
mainly at finding extensions to the Broken Hill ore body, had yielded little
encouragement, but the geologists had always felt optimistic. With the change
in ownership almost certainly signalling an end to the drilling program, the
Chief Geologist, Pottie Potgieter, requested funds for one final hole to test
an area further out from the previously drilled holes. This proved a turning
point in the Black
Mountain history, as high
grade mineralization was intersected at a depth of just over 1000m. Funds were
immediately made available for an expanded drilling programme, and the rest, as
they say, is history. The results prompted a full scale feasibility study,
culminating in the decision to exploit what was subsequently named the “Deeps”
ore body. A 1750m shaft has been sunk and equipped, and at the time of writing,
production was ramping up to design capacity. The future of Black Mountain.
Compiled by:
S. Coetzee, H. Boucher & C. Kihn
Black Mountain Sale
to Vedanta:
Anglo American announced the sale of its Zinc portfolio to Vedanta on 10
May 2010, for a total consideration of US$1,338 million. Due to the regulatory
approval and competition clearance processes, separate completion dates were
expected for each of the three businesses within the Zinc portfolio, namely
Skorpion Zinc, Namibia; The Lisheen Mine, Ireland and Black Mountain Mining
(Pty) Ltd, South Africa.
Anglo American
completed the $364 million sale of its Black Mountain Mining zinc interests to
Vedanta Resources on Saturday 5th February 2011. The directors RK
Kumar, LJ Karstens, PE Venter and NR Williams are hard at work to make Gamsberg
their new and main priority and to put Aggeneys finally on the map of the
mining industry.
