Origin of the Zeekoebaart and Nauga East high-grade iron ore deposits, Northern Cape Province, South Africa
- Authors: Harding, Christopher John
- Date: 2009-01-28T09:42:11Z
- Subjects: Iron ores , Northern Cape (South Africa)
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: http://ujcontent.uj.ac.za8080/10210/377612 , uj:14840 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/1963
- Description: M.Sc.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Harding, Christopher John
- Date: 2009-01-28T09:42:11Z
- Subjects: Iron ores , Northern Cape (South Africa)
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: http://ujcontent.uj.ac.za8080/10210/377612 , uj:14840 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/1963
- Description: M.Sc.
- Full Text:
Textural and geochemical evidence for a supergene origin of the Paleoproterozoic high-grade BIF-hosted iron ores of the Maremane Dome, Northern Cape Province, South Africa
- Van Deventer, Wikus Frederick
- Authors: Van Deventer, Wikus Frederick
- Date: 2010-05-27T06:07:22Z
- Subjects: Geology , Iron ores , Geochemistry , Northern Cape (South Africa)
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:6850 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/3281
- Description: M.Sc. , Biofuels have the potential to reduce a country’s dependence on imported oil, to ensure diversity of energy sources, to increase the availability of renewable energy sources and to address global environmental issues. In recognition of the potential benefits of the production and use of biofuels, the Department of Minerals and Energy released the Draft Biofuels Industrial Strategy in December 2006 with the aim to increase the use of biofuels in South Africa to replace 4.5% of conventional transport fuels by 2013. However, there are several barriers that need to be overcome before South Africa can establish a large-scale biofuel industry to achieve the DME’s biofuel target. This includes environmental barriers, such as the availability of land for the cultivation of biofuel feedstocks and potential threats to food security. This study focuses on these environmental barriers and aims to determine the potential for bioethanol production from maize in South Africa to 2013. To this purpose, a bioethanol potential model is developed to simulate the potential for bioethanol production from maize in South Africa between 2008 and 2013. The model incorporates four key elements that all impact on the availability of maize for bioethanol production, namely: maize demand; maize supply; the demand for maize as biomaterial; and the available land area for the cultivation of maize. The study makes further use of the scenario planning method to determine the potential for bioethanol production from maize in South Africa. Four unique bioethanol potential scenarios are designed and simulated within the bioethanol potential model developed for this purpose. Each scenario plays out a different Abstract storyline for the future social, economic and natural environment that will impact on the availability of maize for bioethanol production. The results of the bioethanol potential scenario simulations show that South Africa will be able to produce enough maize to meet the DME’s biofuel target of 1.2 billion liters of bioethanol for all scenarios between 2009 and 2010. From 2011 onwards, the bioethanol potential decreases below the DME’s target value in both the worst case and rapid change scenarios. The study concludes that the production of bioethanol from maize in South Africa will have various social, economic and environmental consequences for the country’s agricultural sector. The depletion of domestic maize supplies will seriously threaten food security and consequently, increase the country’s dependence on maize imports. This will not only affect the country’s maize producing regions, but spread throughout South Africa as the demand for agriculturally productive land for maize production increases. Domestic food security is therefore at risk and South Africa will have to resort to other energy technologies to achieve a sustainable and renewable energy future for road transport.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Van Deventer, Wikus Frederick
- Date: 2010-05-27T06:07:22Z
- Subjects: Geology , Iron ores , Geochemistry , Northern Cape (South Africa)
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:6850 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/3281
- Description: M.Sc. , Biofuels have the potential to reduce a country’s dependence on imported oil, to ensure diversity of energy sources, to increase the availability of renewable energy sources and to address global environmental issues. In recognition of the potential benefits of the production and use of biofuels, the Department of Minerals and Energy released the Draft Biofuels Industrial Strategy in December 2006 with the aim to increase the use of biofuels in South Africa to replace 4.5% of conventional transport fuels by 2013. However, there are several barriers that need to be overcome before South Africa can establish a large-scale biofuel industry to achieve the DME’s biofuel target. This includes environmental barriers, such as the availability of land for the cultivation of biofuel feedstocks and potential threats to food security. This study focuses on these environmental barriers and aims to determine the potential for bioethanol production from maize in South Africa to 2013. To this purpose, a bioethanol potential model is developed to simulate the potential for bioethanol production from maize in South Africa between 2008 and 2013. The model incorporates four key elements that all impact on the availability of maize for bioethanol production, namely: maize demand; maize supply; the demand for maize as biomaterial; and the available land area for the cultivation of maize. The study makes further use of the scenario planning method to determine the potential for bioethanol production from maize in South Africa. Four unique bioethanol potential scenarios are designed and simulated within the bioethanol potential model developed for this purpose. Each scenario plays out a different Abstract storyline for the future social, economic and natural environment that will impact on the availability of maize for bioethanol production. The results of the bioethanol potential scenario simulations show that South Africa will be able to produce enough maize to meet the DME’s biofuel target of 1.2 billion liters of bioethanol for all scenarios between 2009 and 2010. From 2011 onwards, the bioethanol potential decreases below the DME’s target value in both the worst case and rapid change scenarios. The study concludes that the production of bioethanol from maize in South Africa will have various social, economic and environmental consequences for the country’s agricultural sector. The depletion of domestic maize supplies will seriously threaten food security and consequently, increase the country’s dependence on maize imports. This will not only affect the country’s maize producing regions, but spread throughout South Africa as the demand for agriculturally productive land for maize production increases. Domestic food security is therefore at risk and South Africa will have to resort to other energy technologies to achieve a sustainable and renewable energy future for road transport.
- Full Text:
Beneficiation potential of low-grade iron ore from a discard lumpy stockpile and fines tailings dam at Beeshoek mine, Northern Cape Province, South Africa
- Authors: Beyeme Zogo, Jean-Clement
- Date: 2010-08-30T06:42:27Z
- Subjects: Ore-dressing , Iron ores , Northern Cape (South Africa)
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:6903 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/3415
- Description: M.Sc. , An estimated 98% of the iron ore exploited in the world is used in the manufacture of pig iron and steel, which are non-substitutable backbones of modern society. The rapid increase of world steel production over the last few years, driven mainly by economic growth in China, have required an equal increase in iron ore production, from 876.8 Mt in 2006 to 948.1 Mt in 2007. The increased rate of exploitation of iron ores has resulted in a rapid depletion of known high-grade iron ore deposits. This, in turn, has led to a dramatic increase of prices, especially for highly thought-after high-grade lumpy iron ores from BIF-hosted deposits. In the absence of any major new discoveries of high-grade iron ore deposits, mining companies have turned to lower-grade materials to assess their beneficiation potential to expand their production base and beneficiation capacity, in order to satisfy future demand. Within this existing framework, this research project was initiated to assess the beneficiation potential of low-grade lumpy stockpiles and high-grade iron ore fines at Beeshoek Iron Ore Mine, owned by Assmang Ltd. The mine is located 7 km West of Postmasburg, in the Northern Cape Province of South-Africa, and processes currently 5.60 million tons of uncontaminated run-of-mine ore per annum. Crushing, washing, classification and jigging are used to produce 2.12 million tons of (37.8% of ROM) of lumpy iron ore product. The balance (3.48 million tons) is currently not used, but is stockpiled or discarded. This includes 0.90 million tons (16.2% of ROM) of ore-grade fines, 0.86 million tons (15% of ROM) of tailings sludge and 1.74 million tons (31% of ROM) of lumpy low grade material. Both ore-grade fines and low-grade lumpy material are discarded separately; they are currently considered as waste. The low-grade lumpy is stockpiled while the fines are used to fill-in mined-out open pits. The evaluation of the beneficiation potential of these two material streams is the main goal of this study. Representative samples were collected from ore-grade fines and the current stockpile for low-grade lumpy material. Hand sorting and lithological categorization of the lumpy material facilitated petrographic and mineralogical studies using light and scanning electron microscopy, as well as X-ray powder diffraction studies. Major and trace element geochemistry were determined using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and titrimetry (to accurately determine the concentration of iron). Whole rock densities were determined for all lithotypes recognized in the low-grade lumpy material. The grain size distribution was determined for the lumpy materials by actual measurement of the diameter of a representative number of particles, and for fines by sieve analysis. Fines beneficiation tests were conducted using spiral separation and simple classification tests. Washing was used as additional beneficiation method on the fines.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Beyeme Zogo, Jean-Clement
- Date: 2010-08-30T06:42:27Z
- Subjects: Ore-dressing , Iron ores , Northern Cape (South Africa)
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:6903 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/3415
- Description: M.Sc. , An estimated 98% of the iron ore exploited in the world is used in the manufacture of pig iron and steel, which are non-substitutable backbones of modern society. The rapid increase of world steel production over the last few years, driven mainly by economic growth in China, have required an equal increase in iron ore production, from 876.8 Mt in 2006 to 948.1 Mt in 2007. The increased rate of exploitation of iron ores has resulted in a rapid depletion of known high-grade iron ore deposits. This, in turn, has led to a dramatic increase of prices, especially for highly thought-after high-grade lumpy iron ores from BIF-hosted deposits. In the absence of any major new discoveries of high-grade iron ore deposits, mining companies have turned to lower-grade materials to assess their beneficiation potential to expand their production base and beneficiation capacity, in order to satisfy future demand. Within this existing framework, this research project was initiated to assess the beneficiation potential of low-grade lumpy stockpiles and high-grade iron ore fines at Beeshoek Iron Ore Mine, owned by Assmang Ltd. The mine is located 7 km West of Postmasburg, in the Northern Cape Province of South-Africa, and processes currently 5.60 million tons of uncontaminated run-of-mine ore per annum. Crushing, washing, classification and jigging are used to produce 2.12 million tons of (37.8% of ROM) of lumpy iron ore product. The balance (3.48 million tons) is currently not used, but is stockpiled or discarded. This includes 0.90 million tons (16.2% of ROM) of ore-grade fines, 0.86 million tons (15% of ROM) of tailings sludge and 1.74 million tons (31% of ROM) of lumpy low grade material. Both ore-grade fines and low-grade lumpy material are discarded separately; they are currently considered as waste. The low-grade lumpy is stockpiled while the fines are used to fill-in mined-out open pits. The evaluation of the beneficiation potential of these two material streams is the main goal of this study. Representative samples were collected from ore-grade fines and the current stockpile for low-grade lumpy material. Hand sorting and lithological categorization of the lumpy material facilitated petrographic and mineralogical studies using light and scanning electron microscopy, as well as X-ray powder diffraction studies. Major and trace element geochemistry were determined using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and titrimetry (to accurately determine the concentration of iron). Whole rock densities were determined for all lithotypes recognized in the low-grade lumpy material. The grain size distribution was determined for the lumpy materials by actual measurement of the diameter of a representative number of particles, and for fines by sieve analysis. Fines beneficiation tests were conducted using spiral separation and simple classification tests. Washing was used as additional beneficiation method on the fines.
- Full Text:
- «
- ‹
- 1
- ›
- »