Business review
Operational review continued
6hours average train cycle time in each direction
36kph average rail speed
Infrastructure Infrastructure is one of the most important aspects in mining in West Africa and the development of such infrastructure is essential to the economic growth of Sierra Leone. The Tonkolili Mine and associated infrastructure has been one of the fastest developed projects in Africa, progressing from initial construction to a 20Mtpa capacity within 30 months. 2012 was a pivotal year in witnessing the transition from the construction phase to the operational phase. Mining infrastructure is an extremely broad and multidisciplined competency, which draws on a large cross-section of the teams’ capabilities from roads, rail, buildings, power supply and project management amongst others. AML has strengthened the operating team, with the appointments of a new CEO and COO, and HSE and Business Development professionals. Corporate and social responsibility has been central throughout these operations.
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At the large wet process plant, the drive motor on the apron feeder was replaced with a higher power, higher torque motor, which has considerably increased input feed rates; the cyclones were modified from a bottom size of 150 microns to 75 microns and the screen decks were changed from 2mm to 0.8mm, which has the potential to increase recovery and saleable product yield; and the scrubber was relined as part of standard maintenance. On the railway, work included the installation of five turnouts and various track modifications ahead of tying in Car Dumper 2 and rail loop at Pepel, as well as connecting the north side of the locomotive workshop. At the port, various modifications were made to transfer tower and chute configurations to further increase throughput and reduce blockages. However, subsequent to this shutdown, we experienced a belt tear in our major overland conveyor at the wet processing plant at the mine, which prevented the plant from operating for the remainder of March and early April 2013. Exports, though, continued satisfactorily from our significant port and mine stockpiles. The No. 2 car dumper at Pepel was successfully commissioned, with first ore being offloaded on 29 April 2013. From 18 May to 16 June 2013 we successfully despatched 10 Cape Size Vessels carrying 1.7 million tonnes of product and we demonstrated the average annualised run rate of 20Mtpa. With all final modifications now complete, we were able to achieve the target 20Mtpa run rate across the entire operating system in unison during the period from 18 May to 16 June 2013. Of equal importance is the fact that these operating accomplishments were achieved during the start of the rainy season in Sierra Leone with 355mm of rain falling at the port facilities since the beginning of May, an early demonstration of the success of our wet season shipping strategy in FY13. Our focus now is to continue to successfully manage our production and infrastructure through the wet season, and we remain on track to meet our previous guidance of exporting 13–15Mt in 2013, and to bring the cost of production down to circa $30/t by year end. Stephan Weber Chief Operating Officer