A global leader in mineral and metallurgical innovation

Issue No. 159 April 2015

Upington Community to Benefit from Gemstone Project The Upington semi- precious Gemstones training project launched by Mintek in partnership with national government, the ZF Mcgawu District municipality, //Khara Hais Local municipality on 19 March, will contribute towards the creation ofemployment and economic growth in Upington.

The project, funded by the Department of National Treasury, aims to create opportunities for local inhabitants of the Northern Cape Province and will allow communities to learn new skills which will develop the province’s mineral potential by locally creating valuable beneficiated products. It will also contribute towards an increase in employment in the region.

Established at the “Die ou Mill Huis”, the training centre will serve to train local women, youth and people with disabilities in programmes including semi-precious gemstone cutting and polishing, jewellery design and manufacturing, glass bead manufacturing, ceramic and pottery design and manufacturing.

The Honourable Minister of Science and Technology, Mrs. Naledi Pandor extended the invitation to encourage collaboration in science and technology between the two countries. Areas of collaborative interest include nanotechnology and minerals processing.

In terms of a mutual agreement, both countries agree to develop and deepen their scientific and technological relations in equal partnership for the mutual benefit of their respective scientific, technological and innova-tion systems. The objectives include promoting information and knowl-edge sharing about policies relating to research, technology develop-ment and innovation; promoting the development of joint scientific and technological solutions in support of the parties' developmental agendas; and promoting the emergence of scientific and technological research involving the two countries' industrial communities in support of creating knowledge economies.

"I am extremely pleased that Dr Attia has come to our country, both to continue our deliberations and to expedite the implementation of the agreement signed in Khartoum," said Minister Pandor.

Dr Attiya said that she was very pleased to be in South Africa to activate the agreement and there are several areas of research that would be of mutual benefit to both countries

Speaking at the launch, premier of Northern Cape Province, Ms Sylvia Lucas said that, "The establishment of incubator initiatives such as this one is very crucial for the Province. Manufacturing and mineral beneficia-tion have been identified as very key catalytic sectors that will assist in the realisation of our targets for provincial economic growth and creation of employment”.

The Northern Cape Province has a wealth of mineral deposits but semi-precious gemstones remain relatively underdeveloped due to the low extraction rates and limited local beneficiation. Similar projects were established in Prieska in the Northern Cape.

Sudanese Ministerial Delegation visit MintekThe Sudanese Ministerial delegation, led by Her Excellency, Dr Tahini Abdalla Attia, Minister of Science and Communication visited Mintek on 18 March as part of a week-long visit to South Africa.

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The advanced national cleanroom facility comprised of the pharmaceutical grade (i.e. ISO 5), Biosafety level 3 (or BSL 3) and the electronic (i.e. ISO 3) cleanrooms. The ISO 3 is the highest classification of the cleanroom and the first of its kind in South Africa. The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) in the ISO standard 14644 defines a cleanroom as “a room in which the concentration of airborne particles is controlled, and which is constructed and used in a manner to minimise the introduction, generation, and retention of particles inside the room and in which other relevant parameters, e.g. temperature, humidity, and pressure, are controlled as necessary”

The Mintek ISO 5 and BSL 3 cleanroom facility is designed to develop and manufacture high quality, point-of-care rapid diagnostic devices (such as the lateral flow and biosensor devices) for the detection of human and animal diseases as well as the containment of biological reagents. We have a fully automated lateral flow manufacturing equipment, with a capacity of producing 20 million tests per annum. The Mintek ISO 3 cleanroom is a cleanest environment of the cleanroom and is designed to combine “top down” and “bottom up” approaches to construct novel electronic and microfluidic devices with micro and nanoscale sizes and to understand their behaviour including quantum phenomena. This world-class infrastructure is expected to significantly increase the capacity to discover, test and develop new methods of material and device fabrication.

Benefits for SA:

The new National Cleanroom facility situated in Mintek’s Nanotechnology Innovation Centre was officially opened by Hon. Minister Naledi Pandor on 08th April 2015.

Unveiling of theNationalDST/Mintek NICCleanroom facility

• Infrastructure for innova-tion and manufacturing capabilities for bio-pharma-ceutical products, sterile pharmaceuticals, electronic components, medical devices and implants where the use of nanotech-nology and nano-enabled products is increasing exponentially. An opportu-nity for both researchers and industrialists

• Through our R&D and local manufacturing activities, we will contrib-ute to human capital development through training of Scientists and Engineers and Industrial-ists in line with the Bio-economy strategy of South Africa and address issues of national importance

• Socio-economic benefits by improving the quality of life of every South African through the development and manufacturing of low-cost rapid diagnostic devices for health applica-tion and contribute towards job creation and economic development.

• Global competitiveness by developing and manufac-turing advanced innovative products and systems meeting the stringent ISO requirements which could attract local and foreign investors, facilitate the establishment of strategic global partnerships.

• Address environmental issues through responsible and sustainable develop-ment of nanotechnology in which the facility will limit the personnel from exposure to nanomaterials and biomole-cules that are being generat-ed and aid in preventing contaminations to products produced or fabricated and eliminate the possibility of c r o s s - c o n t a m i n a t i o n between working areas.

The products manufactured in the cleanroom make use of various minerals including precious metals such gold as the main component for the devices developed, thus addressing the downstream beneficiation of our minerals in line with the mineral beneficiation strategy of SA.

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ISO 5 Level 4 Cleanroom Media Brief

Mintek will be unveiling an ISO 5 and Biosafety level 3 cleanroom which is an environmentally controlled facility, with limited amount of dust and dirt, thus offering the highest cleanliness level and contain-ment. The facility will be used for the manufacturing of high quality, point of care rapid diagnostic test for the detection of human and animal diseases. We have fully automated manufacturing equipment, with a capacity of producing 20 million tests per annum. As a national facility, our facility will be available for use to the South African compa-nies as Mintek will also offer contract manufacturing services for rapid diagnostic tests.

Through our R&D and local manufacturing activities, we will contribute to human capital development and job creation for the country. We offer proudly South African products, eliminating the need to import similar products from other countries thereby contributing to the economy and GDP growth rate of the country. The products manufactured in the cleanroom make use of gold as the main component, thus adding value to gold. As Mintek, we are committed to add value to the country’s mineral resources. In future, we are planning to use other minerals such as silver for downstream beneficiation.

ISO 3 Level 10 Cleanroom Media Brief

Along with ISO 5 and Biosafety level 3 Cleanroom Mintek is to also unveil ISO 3 Cleanroom facility. This tight architectural research envelope also known as Cleanroom (CR) facility is a functional entity that requires strict control of temperature, humidity, cleanliness and pressure cascade. The facility aims to combine “top down” and “bottom up” approaches to construct novel electronic and microfluidic devices with micro and nanoscale sizes and understand their behaviour including quantum phenomena. This world-class infrastruc-ture is expected to significantly increase the capacity to discover, test and develop new methods of material and device fabrication.

Through a close integration of research and development, training, and public outreach programmes, the facility encourages and promotes the training of diverse group of people to be involved in this new interdisciplinary field. As such the facility will be accessible to national and international collaborators as well as industrialists, and will be used to train postgraduate students and post-doctoral researchers in the field of nanofabrication of devices.

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AEMFC supplied samples from their key coal mineral seams of the Vlakfontein coal mine to Mintek for the development testwork, which will be completed by mid- April.

The site visit included an ore sorting orientation session, high-level negotiations around the significance of the project, as well as a demonstration of the sorting process on coal samples from Vlakfontein mine.

According to Isabel King, Principal Engineer at Mintek, there is a critical need to increase Eskom’s coal supply in order to address the coal- and resulting energy crisis in South Africa. The quantity- and quality of coal required by Eskom are driving factors to meet the country’s electricity demand. Mintek is therefore in the process of evaluating X-Ray Transmission (XRT) ore sorting technology to specifically upgrade coal to a range of high quality products. XRT technology is presently successfully used in the South African coal industry for waste rejection purposes, but there is currently no cost

effective, energy efficient method for producing high quality coal prior to crushing and processing. If Mintek can demonstrate the technology to be successful, application of this technology will assist in: • Increased energy efficient processing of coal• Increased coal supply to Eskom• Purer quality coal• Lower cut-off grades due to the flexibility of blending high grade coal products with lower grade stockpiles and• Water conservation Successful application of the technology could benefit South Africa at a broader level in alignment with government’s strategic objectives, including uplifting of skills, overall job creation and accelerated economic growth in the coal industry.

The ultimate aim of the MTEF coal-sorting program is to demonstrate successful application of the technology at Vlakfontein on site and possibly other coal mines in South Africa. The second phase of the project is planned to start in financial year 2015-2016.

Participants commended the collaborative initiative and had the follow-ing to say: “The programme provided invaluable knowledge on both the South African and global mining sectors, through a series of presenta-tions on global mineral economics and on-the-job experience which covers technology aspects. Mintek also provided a platform though interaction on how the organisation was established and the role it plays in technology development.” said Siyanda Mbatyoti, Scientist at the Council for Geosciences.

“The programme has been very beneficial and has changed the way I perceive Minerals Processing and Beneficiation. It will go a long way in helping me when teaching my students on the current processing and beneficiation technologies”, said Charles Ebenezer Abbey, Lecturer at University of Mines and Technology in Ghana.

During the launch, Honourable Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor highlighted the importance of science and technology development in Africa’s beneficiation and localisation plan in the development of its minerals. “We as the DST hope that the training fellowship leads to identifying synergies that lead to countries being able to play a role in the new beneficiation drive to the benefit of their econom-ic growth, industrialization, skills development, technology transfer and innovation,” she said.

Pandor further highlighted that African development is a priority to the government of South Africa. “We believe African development must make good use of science and technology as innovation is crucial to the continent’s development. We have to exploit our comparative knowledge and location advantages in order to create jobs and livelihoods of as many people as possible.”

XRF Coal Sortingtechnology at Mintek African Exploration Mining and Finance Corporation (AEMFC) visited Mintek on 13 March to observe the MTEF coal sorting test work currently in progress in the Minerals Processing Division (MPD).

DST/ Mintek NAM Collaboration The DST/ Mintek NAM programme was launched in January 2015 by Honourable Minister of Science and Technology, Mrs. Naledi Pandor, to address the skills gap in the minerals beneficiation value chain in NAM member countries.The three-month training programme by Mintek in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Centre for Science and Technology of the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries (NAM S&T) has seen the successful training of 13 participants.

The programme which ended on 31 March, provided training in minerals processing and beneficiation. Participants were mainly postgraduates with qualifications in various science disciplines including biotechnology, pharmaceutics, chemistry, geosciences and engineer-ing. As part of the training, participants were placed in Mintek divisions for on-the-job training, where they were exposed to Mintek projects and had the opportunity to gain expertise and create networks in specific areas of interest.

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