downstream opportunities and challenges! · annual report . mintek operates in the latter stages of...
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NSTF Science Councils Symposium:
Beneficiation of SA’s Natural Resources
Mineral Beneficiation … Downstream Opportunities and Challenges!
Peter Craven General Manager, Business Development
17 September 2014
Mintek – The home of minerals beneficiation!
3
• is one of the largest and oldest mineral and metal
technology institutes in the world (80 years old in 2014)
• is a state-owned Science Council, governed by an Act of
Parliament, with a board appointed by the Minister of
Mineral Resources
• focuses on all aspects of minerals processing and
beneficiation, with the exception of iron- and steel making
and coal processing
• has a permanent staff of about 750, including 250
engineers and scientists
• undertakes R&D and furnishes commercial testwork and
consultancy services to clients worldwide
• Has an annual budget of about €50 million:
– 50% funding from state sources, focused on research
– 50% commercial income, derived from various services
to industry (About 800 commercial projects last year)
Mintek ……
Mintek in numbers
250 scientists and
engineers
R200m R&D
budget
R300m technology
sales
44 published
papers
71 conference
publications
3 patent family
filings
680 media
references
65,000 chemical
analyses
588 technical
reports
60 direct new
SMME jobs
100 SMME
trainees
80 part-time
bursars
47
full-time bursars
720 commercial
projects
81 interns
Source: Mintek 2013
Annual Report
Mintek operates in the latter stages of the Mining Value Chain
Exploration Mining Concentration Refining Value
Addition
Pyrometallurgy
Hydrometallurgy
& Biotechnology
MINTEK
Council for
Geo-Sciences
(CGS) Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
Mintek’s extensive R&D underpins its commercial services
• Mintek spends R250m annually on applied R&D (~50% of its budget)
• These R&D outputs are transferred to industry either in the form of
commercial service work or, on occasion, technology licences
• Mintek undertakes ~ 800 commercial projects annually, evidence of the
high regard industry has for our technology
Mintek sells innovation !
Mintek’s R&D strategy is aligned to the NDP
Points specifically identified in NDP:
• Improved extraction efficiency to extend ore resources
• Improved energy and water efficiency
• Beneficiation to downstream, value-added products
Mintek’s R&D strategy includes these NDP points,
and additionally includes:
• Mining, industrial and consumer waste treatment
• Small-scale and artisanal mining
• Improved extraction technologies for precious, base,
ferrous and energy minerals
Mintek’s management of innovation
• Combination “market pull” and “technology push” approach
• Industry need ascertained from:
– Commercial testwork activity
– Industry-specific workshops
– Participation in networks like SAMMRI
• Technology opportunities identified from:
– Mintek internal early-stage research
– Close relationship with technology vendors
– Extensive international network
• Strategy articulated in medium- to long term strategy (Mintek 2020)
• Highly structured research management process:
– 8 “platforms”, based on government priorities, strategic drivers, industry needs
– Allocation of funding (~R250m) between these platforms
– “Top Down” calls for internal proposals in these areas
– Selection of projects from “Bottom Up” proposals
– Cluster project management
Mintek test facilities are often operated at industrial scale
Tapping of Mintek’s test DC furnace
Site work is often conducted in very difficult conditions!
Copper heap bioleach test facility in Iran
Mintek sometimes supplies technology on a turnkey basis
Turnkey gold refinery using
Mintek Minotaur® technology
Project example - Cliff Resources Chromite
• 18 month Canadian ferrochrome project for Cliff Natural Resources
– to Bankable Feasibility Study level
• Started with laboratory scale testing
• Concluded with large pilot smelting campaign
• Included mineral processing and pyrometallurgy
• Over 500t of ore tested
• A 2-year high-temperature heap bioleaching project for one of the largest copper
projects in Chile
• Highly successful technically in demonstrating that copper extraction could be
controlled within the desired range
Project example - Chilean copper heap leach project
• Encompasses many different dimensions
• DMR definition in the Beneficiation Strategy:
“…beneficiation, or value-added processing, involves the
transformation of a primary material (produced by mining
and extraction processes) to a more finished product, which
has a higher sales value”
• To a metallurgist – any act of processing the mined ore
• To an investor – anything that adds value to a project
“Mineral Beneficiation” - different meaning to different people
Benefit to the national economy is beyond question
• Creation of “decent jobs”
• Foreign direct investment, fiscus contribution and forex
earnings
• Diversification of industry
• Reduced dependence on depleting resources
• Transition from resource economy to high-tech economy
• Skills development
• Improved livelihoods in proximate communities
But There are a number of hurdles that also
need to be recognised and overcome
Critical determinants for project investment …
• Financing - proximity to financial markets & shareholders
• Availability of creative assets (entrepreneurial capabilities)
• Favourable business environment
• Access to feedstock and other inputs at competitive pricing
• Access to technology
• Skilled operational staff
• Access to markets – relationships and proximity
Massive difference between ….
Increasing the sales price of a product
As measured by R/unit of product, R/unit of metal contained in product, higher sales revenue, etc
and
Increasing value to the project investor
As measured by ROI, shareholder value, etc
Source: Deloitte report – Positioning
for mineral beneficiation, 2011
• Internal railage often more expensive than sea-freight
• Often lack all “ingredients” (coke, sweeteners, bulk chemicals, etc)
• WTO limits protective tariffs
• Close interaction with proximate market often more valuable
• Proximity to shareholders is advantageous (They prefer investing in their
backyard, where they understand the risks)
Proximity to ore resource - often not an economic advantage
Any successful business needs a clear,
material, sustainable competitive advantage!
Minerals industry is particularly “global”
• Dominated by multinationals
• Even juniors are increasingly globally disseminated
• Production landscape has changed considerably over the past 50
years. Mining-minerals processing-smelting-manufacturing chain
seldom confined within one country’s borders
• Bauxite–alumina–aluminium is a good example
• Strong competition from other resource-rich countries and
developed economies to retain downstream industry – won’t willingly
give up market share (EU example)
Mining company thoughts on downstream diversification (or
vertical integration)
For • Better appreciation of “value in use”
• Move from resource to intellectual assets
• Price setting – control of downstream activities
Against • Less value in intermediate stages
• Competing against clients
• Moving away from expertise base
• Shareholder expectations
• Company structures and culture
• Doesn’t diversify portfolio - still exposed to same cyclicity
International investor perception of SA as an “innovation
economy” is relatively poor ….
Source: INSEAD Global Innovation Index 2014
South Africa rates 53rd out of 143 countries
Also a negative perception of SA as a “competitive economy”
Source: World Economic Forum, Global
Competitiveness Report, 2014
South Africa rates 53rd out of 148 countries
SA is second only to Russia in terms of energy usage to
generate unit of GDP
• SA has a large, energy-intensive mining and resource extraction component
• SA’s historical low energy cost has attracted energy-intensive industries (eg aluminium
refineries)
• Need to recognise energy-intensive mineral beneficiation activities, to decide whether these will
be of most overall benefit to the economy
SA is increasingly short of technical skills
• Global issue, in both developing and developed world, but worst in Australia and Africa
• Exacerbated by recent retrenchments of senior, experienced staff in industry
Students graduating 2010 Graduates entering industry
Source: Cilliers et al, Mineral Industry, Education and Training 2012
Thank You www.mintek.co.za