APPROVED IDP DOC 2011-16.BA PHALABORWA.pdf

magnetite, nickel sulphate, anode slimes, sulphuric acid and vermiculite. A major exporting
country of the Pabalabora mining company is Switzerland.
Foskor: Foskor is the world’s largest producer of phosphate and phosphoric acid. Foskor
produces phosphate rock, copper concentrate, magnetite and fused zirconia’s through a
smelting furnace process. The Foskor group has two mining operations, namely a phosphate
rock mine and beneficiation plant situated in Phalaborwa; and a phosphoric acid plant situated
in Richards Bay. The major exporting countries of Foskor are India, Japan and Brazil.
Consolidated Murchison Mine (Metorex Group): Situated at Gravelotte close to Phalaborwa in
the Limpopo province, Consolidated Murchison is the single largest antimony orebody known in
the world, having produced in excess of nine million tons of high-grade stibnite ore. Gold is
produced at Consolidated Murchison as a co-product of antimony. The top exporting countries
of Consolidated Murchison Mine are Mexico, India and China.
Copper is mined and processed by Phalaborwa Mining Company (PMC) into copper rods. The by-
products of the mining of copper are phosphate and sulphate, which are further processed by
Foskor. There are opportunities for small scale mining in the municipal area. Possible mining projects
in the Ba-Phalaborwa area include:
Expansion of rock phosphate by Foskor;
Phlogopite processing facility
Koalin clay project
Surface strip mining of mineral sand in Gravelotte
Steel production plant (Magnetite processing)
Red River Mining (Mining of Ilmenite)
Iscor/Kumba (Mining of Ilmenite)
The following table portrays the development potential as identified within the mining sector of Ba-
Phalaborwa.
Table B.19: Development potential within the mining sector in Ba-Phalaborwa
DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL POTENTIAL PROJECTS
Large variety of mineral deposits
• Local mineral processing
beneficiation activities
and
• Small scale mining operations
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