Rand-Air provides compressed air for environmentally friendly East Rand dump reclamation project

Rand-Air, a leading local provider of portable air and power and a responsible corporate citizen welcomes the opportunity to be involved in projects of an environmentally-friendly nature, which, at the same time, also benefit the community.

The project concerned involves the reclamation of four historical mine dumps at the site of the former Zincor zinc refinery just to the south of Springs. The refinery was constructed from a former uranium plant belonging to the defunct Vogelstruisbult gold mine. These dumps include a high-hazard certified waste tailings dam, two gold tailings dams and an iron/lead/zinc residue dump.

The initial phase of the project entails hydro-mining the neutral leach dump, which comprises 2.5-million tons of zinc material that will be processed over an eight- to nine-year period. The neutral leach dump was formed between 2000 and 2010 as a result of zinc/copper ore treatment from the effluent plant. The zinc tailings will be treated with acid leach filtration followed by hydroxide precipitation and filtration.

This metals reclamation project is being carried out by EBM Projects, a subsidiary of Vele Private Equity which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Vele Investments. The project has a net present value is in excess of R1-billion and the estimated value of the property’s remaining in-situ lead, silver, gold and iron-ore resources is estimated at about R22-billion.

By removing potentially hazardous metals from these defunct dumps, EBM Projects is eliminating a potential environmental risk, while at the same time creating direct and indirect work opportunities for some 700 individuals. This initiative is welcome in a region where job opportunities are relatively scarce.

“We are hiring out three of our top-of-the-range compressors, two GA315FF and a GA160VSDFF. The compressed air is being used to operate the filter presses which remove water from the mineral products,” explains Rand-Air’s Business Development Manager Henry Fourie. The rental contract commenced in February this year and will continue for a five-year period.