WET HEAVY MINERAL PILOT PLANT DESIGN 125

IntroductionThe aim of the bulk sample processing campaign was toproduce 500 tons of representative heavy mineralconcentrate (HMC) from the Ranobe deposit at reasonablegrade and recovery within one year to satisfy furtherprocessing needs.

• Representative HMC—the average total heavy mineral(THM) grade of the deposit is around 6.5% with slimes(<45 micron material) content around 5%. A highergrade area (>9% THM) with no overburden except for300 mm of topsoil was selected as feed material to thebulk sample processing campaign. This feed materialwas regarded as representative based on sampleanalysis from nearby drill locations as well as drillsample composites. Limited variation in terms of drilldepth ensured that the feed material that was extractedfrom a depth of down to 5 metres from the surface wasstill representative. More than 5 000 tons of feedmaterial was to be processed to produce the requiredHMC.The Ranobe deposit is 45 km north of the town ofToliara (pronounced Tulear) in south-west Madagascar,15 km inland from the western coast. Refer to Figure 1.

• Reasonable grade and recovery—the concentrateproduced from the bulk sample processing campaignneeded to be representative in terms of valuable heavymineral recovery of above 90% and concentrate gradeabove 90% THM.

• Time frame—the pilot plant was prepared within 2months, transportation took one month, site-establishment, assembly and commissioning wereachieved in one month, operation to produce therequired tons was seven months and closure was donein one month.

• Further processing needs—the HMC was to be furtherprocessed into ilmenite, higher grade ilmenite, zirconand rutile. The ilmenite would be smelted to ensure thata marketable high titanium slag can be produced as oneof the main aims of the bankable feasibility study of theToliara Sands Project.

To accomplish this aim at a reasonable cost the pilot plantdesign had to fulfil certain key requirements.

Pilot plant design

Modularity and mobilityThe pilot plant was constructed on two standard 6 x 2.4metre container floors for ease of transportation. Threesump pump units are bolted on each floor. Each sump pumphas its spiral module that bolts on top. Three floors atdifferent heights connect these two triple sets with eachother, as shown in Figure 2. A single cat ladder connectsthe three floors vertically. The spiral distributors bolt on topof the spiral modules. This design allows for easy

GROBLER, J.D. and FOUCHÉ, P.A.P. Wet heavy mineral pilot plant design, assembly, commissioning and operation for a remote location. The 6thInternational Heavy Minerals Conference ‘Back to Basics’, The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 2007.

Wet heavy mineral pilot plant design, assembly,commissioning and operation for a remote location

J.D. GROBLER and P.A.P. FOUCHÉExxaro Resources R&D, Pretoria, South Africa

Processing confidence for a bankable feasibility study on a greenfield heavy mineral deposit is inmost cases achieved only through bulk sample processing. Bulk sample is classified as a largeenough concentrate sample that is processed into final products to satisfy market sample demandas well as further processing demands such as smelting. In this case study the demand was toproduce 500 tons of heavy mineral concentrate from more than 5 000 tons run-of-mine on aremote location with limited to no infrastructure. The various challenges faced and lessons learnedare documented as an outcome of the success of this mission.

Figure 1. Ranobe deposit is situated 45km north of Toliara townin South-West Madagascar

Taolagnaro(Fort Dauphin)

Toamasina(Tamatave)

Antananarivo

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Toliara(Tuléar)

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Cape Town

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replacement of spirals or even other units such as anupcurrent classifier, if necessary. All the pumps and motorsare controlled from a central control panel. Safety rails,lights, hoist, fire extinguishers, and additional walkways areadded to ease and safeguard operation, as shown in Figure 3.

Ten containers (6 x 2.4 m) supplied the necessarystructure and equipment to sustain operations for thecampaign period. Refer to Table I for a brief description ofthe main items.

FlexibilityAll pumps were equipped with variable speed drives foroptimum control to balance the slurry flow through theplant. Pressured water from thickener overflow togetherwith flow meters provided fresh water feed control to thevarious sumps. The rotary vain feeder could also beadjusted to control dry feed rate to the pilot plant.

SamplingThe pilot plant was equipped with pneumatic samplers onall spiral feeds, as well as tails cyclone underflow andconcentrate cyclone underflow. The spiral product pipes atthe bottom of the spirals were placed in dedicated positionsabove the sump levels for total circuit sampling.

Quick assemblyDue to its modular design the main structure assembled inless than two days. A crane was required for this phase.

Process support functionsThe pilot plant was equipped with a dry lab (Carpco,sample splitters, scales, drying oven, screen shaker) and wetlab (shaking table and attritioner) to provide the requiredprocess support.

Suitable flowsheetTo ensure that the four spiral circuit, as shown in Figure 5,that was suggested by the prefeasibility study team, wouldbe sufficient for primary concentration of the Ranobedeposit, it was decided to assemble the entire pilot plantwhile still at Exxaro R&D’s facility and process severaldrill sample composites from the Ranobe deposit.Reasonable THM grades and recoveries where achievedduring this stage, which gave the necessary confidence inthe design to proceed. The good visual separation isdepicted in Figure 4.

Reasonable and consistent throughputA rotary vain feeder and conveyor provided a constantmoist material (2% moisture average) feed rate of 8 to 10ton per hour to the feed box where it was slurried. A

Container 1 Diesel generators x2 Container 6 Feed hopper and plant structureContainer 2 2 spiral modules and plant structure Container 7 Thickener and 2 feed conveyorsContainer 3 4 spiral modules and plant structure Container 8 Sample processing labContainer 4 Plant floor 1 with 3 pump sumps Container 9 Office containerContainer 5 Plant floor 2 with 3 pump sumps Container 10 Spares container

Figure 2. The main structure modules

Figure 3. The total structure

Table IBrief description of container contents

Figure 4. Gravity separation on proposed spiral circuit wasvisually satisfactory

WET HEAVY MINERAL PILOT PLANT DESIGN 127

trommel screen was used to remove roots and 4 mmoversize in the slurried feed. A desliming cyclone on thefeed slurry produced a slimes cut that was flocculated andthickened for slime drying evaluation. The tails andconcentrate streams were dewatered with cyclones.

Once the design requirements were met and preliminaryevaluation proven successful, it was time to set the bulksample processing campaign procedure in motion.

Procedure

Pre-assembly and hot commissioning

This is mentioned in the previous section as part of thedesign confirmation.

Disassembly and transportation

The pilot plant was disassembled, loaded into the 10containers and transported from Exxaro R&D in Pretoria tothe predetermined location at the Ranobe deposit. Thecontainer transportation was done with standard double linktrucks from Pretoria to Durban. From Durban it wasshipped to the Port of Toliara. Due to the poor roadconditions 6 x 6 trucks were required to move containersone at a time to the pilot plant site from the Port of Toliara.

Site establishment

Prior to the arrival of the containers civil work at theplanned processing site was required. The pilot plant issupported by three concrete plinths (1) that were to becured before assembly of the pilot plant could proceed.Refer to Figure 6a and 6b with matching referencenumbers. Smaller plinths were required for all the othercontainers to ensure that they were level. A ring road (2) forHMC loading was prepared. A water tower (3) and ablutionblock (4) (showers, basins, toilets, French drain and septictank) were built. A drink water network was laid from thewater tower. The water tower was in turn fed from aborehole (5) –95 m deep. A separate bathroom (6) was builtfor the operational supervisor and other expatriate visitors.Certain high utilization containers were covered with alocal thatch (7). Staff and worker temporary housing in theform of tents (8) (large army and smaller dome) andtemporary prefabricated thatch houses (9) were assembled.The operational supervisor was accommodated in acontainer and expatriate visitors slept under the open skyunder mosquito nets. A wood-pole fence (10) from locallyavailable material was constructed all around the site. A

local contractor was appointed for the civil work of theabove-mentioned items.

Pilot plant assembly

The assembly of the pilot plant included not only thecombination of previously mentioned modules andsurrounding steel structure (11), but it also included cablingfrom generator container (12) to all the different points,earth cabling for lightning protection on the pilot plant,assemblage of the thickener tank (13) with flocculant make-up tank, piping inside and outside the plant for slurry andslimes, make-up water dam (14) fed from borehole withpiping, conveyor (15) for filling the feedhopper, a conveyor(16) for feeding the feed box of the trommel screen, diggingof a spillage water dam (17) to optimize water recovery,and digging of several slimes drying ponds (18). A team of seven expatriates and 10 locals were responsible for this stage.

CommissioningAfter the pilot plant was totally assembled it wascommissioned in stages, starting with the electricalconnections right through to the slurry flow to the final tails

Figure 5. Spiral circuit used in the bulk sample processing campaign

Tails cyclone

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Figure 6b. Pilot plant assembly with text reference numbers

Figure 6a. Site establishment with text reference numbers

HEAVY MINERALS 2007128

cyclone. The material was first circulated in a closed loopby combining the tails and concentrate cyclone underflowsinto the feed sump to perform the necessary system checks.One ton of HMC was produced before the assembly teamreturned to South Africa. Figure 7 shows the assembly teamand first ton of HMC.

OperationThe top soil (300 mm) was first removed for rehabilitationpurposes. The feed material was dug by 30 alternatinglabourers with shovels. A feed pit was dug to a maximumof five metres deep in 1 x 1 metre steps into the pit. Thefeed material was manually loaded and hauled by truck tothe feed conveyor where it was manually stockpiled. Thestockpiled feed was loaded with shovels onto the feedconveyor that filled the feedhopper, which in turn fed therotary vain feeder that supplied the constant feed to thepilot plant spiral circuit. The sand tails were dewatered witha cyclone and backfilled the previously dug pits. Slimeswere flocculated in a partitioned thickener tank and pumpedto paddocks for drying characteristics evaluation. The dryslimes were stockpiled for rehabilitation. The concentratewas dewatered with a cyclone and spread out on five metrediameter PVC sheets for sun drying before loading intobulk bags. The HMC bulk bags were uploaded by a 6 x 6 truck with hoist and transported to the Port of Toliara,6 tons of HMC at a time. These bags were loaded intocontainers and shipped back to South Africa, finaldestination Exxaro R&D, Pretoria.

The bulk sample processing campaign procedure was,however, not easy sailing and was associated with variousunique challenges.

Challenges faced during this procedure

Environmental approvalA full environmental impact assessment had to becompleted and submitted three months in advance of thesite establishment and approved before the full operationcommenced. A document describing the intended processand preventative actions on all possible environmental riskswas submitted in November 2005. Due to the largetechnical barrier (Madagascar has no established miningculture) and language barrier (French speaking with limitedEnglish capabilities) the approval of this documentjeopardized the progress of the mission. Approval of formaloperational status was achieved only in April 2006. Theresult was that during the commissioning period moreHMC was produced than planned.

Exportation from South Africa and importation intoMadagascarAn arrangement was made with the Madagascar importauthorities to treat the 10 containers as a temporary import,which required upfront additional administration. As astandard during equipment exportation to another countrythere should be a detailed list of all the components in theassignment. In this case a clear distinction was to be madeto the purpose of each component and whether it was aconsumable or a temporary import for taxation purposes. Itcame, however, as a surprise that each separate componentfrom the bolt to the pilot plant safety rail should have itsown barcode which should be listed (over 2 000 separateparts). Barcode labels had to be generated at short notice,and all the components had to be unpacked and labelled. Afurther requirement enforced by the goods inspector (SGS

in this case) was that all the goods were to be packed intothe containers while a representative was present. Theclassification of certain goods as hazardous (fireextinguishers) also came as a surprise. This placedadditional pressure on an already tight schedule.

Civil preparation contractThe standard contracting process of Exxaro was followedfor the required civil work as preparation for the assemblyof the pilot plant. Several possible service providers wereidentified during a visit in October 2005. They were allkeen to supply a quote for the civil works under discussion.At the close of the formal tender process at the end ofNovember 2005 there were no replies from any of thepossible suppliers. After further investigation it wasrealized that all understood the scope of work but noneunderstood the contractual terms, especially where BEE(black economic empowerment) requirements werementioned. This caused them to refrain from supplying aformal reply. After renegotiation there was only onesupplier still interested. They had to commence with workin early January to be completed in February when thecontainers arrive on site. Due to communication break-down with the supplier’s subcontractors and bad weather(cyclones), there was no civil work done until the assemblyteam arrived on site in February 2006. No borehole was inplace for water provision as agreed. The assembly teamstarted with the site layout and giving required direction tothe civil work contractor and his team, as well as installingthe borehole pump and generator. This caused more than atwo-week delay in the planned schedule.

Poor road conditionsDuring the preparation visit in October 2005 variousdiscussions were held with the contractor responsible forthe transportation of the 10 containers from the port to thesite. The contractor was aware that the general roadconditions were poor, with deep ditches in the main roadand thick sand on the secondary roads. After some cyclonicweather activity at the end of January 2006 in Toliara,associated with some heavy rains (Figure 8), the initiallyarranged trucks were unable to make one trip. Two 6 x 6trucks were brought from the capital of Antananarivo (1 200 km) to provide the required transportation service(Figure 9). The transportation of the 10 containers took twoweeks longer than planned.

Figure 7. Commissioning of pilot plant—the assembly team at thefirst ton of HMC

WET HEAVY MINERAL PILOT PLANT DESIGN 129

Remoteness of the siteAlthough the site was just 60 km away from the town ofToliara, it took well over two hours drive due to the poorroad conditions and human activities on the sides of theroad. Cellphone reception was available only one hour’sdrive away from site. Satellite communication was used asthe only communication alternative (not 100% reliable)since two-way radios were incapable of communicatingfurther than 2 km. This had a serious impact on the riskassessment in case of a serious injury on site. Being at aremote place implied that the operation had to be self-sustaining in all the major services. Power was generatedwith two diesel generators, a 150 kVA during pilot plantproduction hours and 40 kVA during non-production hours,depicted in Figure 10. The diesel was trucked to site anddelivery was 9 000 litre at a time. Drinkable water wasextracted from a 95 m deep borehole at a maximum of 30 m3/h.

Availability of sparesNot only the remoteness but also the availability of qualityspares in the best hardware shops of Toliara was achallenge. No piping or pumps were available, anyavailable steel profile was seven times more expensive thanin South Africa, and electrical components were 20 timesthe price compared to South Africa. Safety equipment wasnon-existent. Only a few spare parts could be bought in thecapital of Antananarivo and sent by taxi to Toliara, whichtook two weeks. Spare parts air freighted from South-Africato Toliara took anything between two to three months. Withthis in mind, the team had to be innovative in problemsolving, example depicted in Figure 11.

Feed hopper designAlthough it was beneficial in many regards to pre-commission the pilot plant circuit and confirm processefficiency prior to transportation, it was done with dry sand.The slightly damp sand that was being shovelled and fed tothe pilot plant on site had totally different flowcharacteristics, and constant material flow could not beachieved through the rotary vain feeder. The LIMS wasregarded as redundant (due to the magnetite being below0.5% of THM) and the motor and gearbox were scavenged

Figure 8. A vehicle fighting its way through on the RN9 (nationalhighway) after heavy rains

Figure 9. The 6 x 6 trucks overheating in the thick sand andgetting trapped on the secondary road; branches are placed on

the tracks to keep the truck from sinking into the sand

Figure 11. A drum was converted into a sump to return cycloneoverflow water to the pilot plant

Figure 10. Generator container and inside view with twogenerator sizes

HEAVY MINERALS 2007130

and modified to act as material agitator above the rotaryvain feeder. This was not the most robust design but was aworking solution, depicted in Figure 12.

Manual mining, people, food, language barriersAll the digging, loading, and stockpiling was done by 35 labourers on a ten hour day shift, five days a week(Figure 13). There were five labourers to supply therequired feed rates to the pilot plant which usually ranslightly longer than 10 hours a day to make up for plantshuts. Another five labourers supported the other parts ofthe pilot operation, that is, sand tails backfilling, HMCdrying, HMC bagging and slimes management. Fifteenpeople from the capital of Antananarivo, some with formaltertiary education, acted as supervisors of the abovementioned 45 labourers, some as translators, plantoperators, sample analysis assistants or cooks and others asvehicle drivers. With only two translators, with limitedEnglish, communication was challenging initially sincemost communication had to be translated into French andthen into Malagasy (Toliara dialect). The other challenge inthis case was to supply these men with food on a dailybasis—each labourer consumed close to a kilogram of riceat a single meal.

Lack of safety cultureMost of the local labourers haven’t seen a pump in theirlives and the belief was (prior to level 1 training) that thepilot plant transformed brown sand into black sand. Thegreatest challenge was not to inform and train the peoplebut rather to create the necessary safety culture associatedwith the process. They wore their hard-point safety boots,hard hats, radiation monitor, dust mask and safety gogglesas work status symbols. After training and retraining,almost every worker was able to explain why he is wearingwhat gear by means of a basic HIRA (hazard identificationrisk assessment process). When they are in the camp afterwork they would work with the axe and the shovel as ifthey never had any training.

Another aspect that needed some consideration was thehealth and environment. There were quite a lot ofcentipedes, scorpions and spiders running around thatcaused several non-lost time injuries. HIRAs had to bealtered to cater for the different environment. Another riskwas malaria: there were eight incidents of positive malaria.Those labourers who received the medication, were readywithin half a day to return to work. The operationalsupervisor (expatriate), however, contracted malaria whilethe test indicators showed that he was negative; this put himout of action for a week.

Pilot plant operatorThe pilot plant operator had to be electrically competent toadhere to Exxaro’s life insurance policy in case of anaccident since electrical shock was identified as the highestrisk of the pilot plant operation. A millwright wasappointed as the operational supervisor. He was brieflytrained in the metallurgical aspects of the circuit and thetargets of 90% THM grade and 90% THM recovery wasset. However, after some shaking table evaluation it showedthat THM recoveries were in the low 80s, indicating thatthe plant’s metallurgical performance was below industrystandard. After careful mineralogical analysis (done atExxaro R&D) of the different process streams it was foundthat the feed THM consisted of more than 15% goethite.

This unwanted mineral had low recoveries on the spirals,causing the low THM recoveries. After calculation ofzircon, rutile and ilmenite recoveries it was confirmed thatthe pilot plant recoveries were well above industrystandard.

EncroachmentThe pilot plant provided the only diesel generator soundduring the day and electrical lighting during the night for a15 km radius. This attracted a lot of attention from the local

Figure 13. One of the pits that was dug to supply feed material tothe pilot plant

Figure 12. The feed agitator that was required to stop ‘rat-holing’of moist sand

WET HEAVY MINERAL PILOT PLANT DESIGN 131

population who saw it as a possible source of gain. Thegreat amounts of water in a fairly arid region got the mostattention. Some of the civil work contractors were caughtexchanging the water for food at the fence. The safety riskshad to be considered.

Each challenge resulted in valuable lessons that waslearned, which will be discussed in the next section.

Valuable lessons learnedEnvironmental impact assessment

• When dealing with Madagascar authorities don’tassume normal approval periods (three months) andstart well in advance with discussions anddocumentation

• Great effort needs to go into establishment of clearunderstanding of associated technical issues, whichinvolves several face-to-face discussions. A goodtechnical translator will aid the process greatly.

Proper precommissioning• After the precommissioning and circuit confirmation in

South Africa all the pipes were marked, which greatlyaided the assembly in Madagascar where there werehundreds of pipes lying around after the containers wereunpacked.

• The correct flocculant could be identified beforehand byisolation of the slimes during precommissioning

• 80% of the pilot plant’s temporary shuts in Madagascarwere caused by some problem relating to the constantfeed to the pilot plant. If the flow problems associatedwith damp to wet sand could be identified during theprecommissioning phase, a much more robust designcould have been implemented that would have savedmany non-production hours.

Exportation from South Africa and importation intoMadagascar

• Make a thorough study of the specifics of the wholetemporary importation procedure before attempting tobegin the actual importation process.

• Arrange formal discussions with each member in theentire chain, even those in Madagascar (translatorrequired).

• Do not assume that the contracted freight forwarder willhandle everything.

• During the actual process manage it intensively withover communication.

• Make sure that all parties involved have similardangerous goods classifications.

• Understand the tax implications if the temporary importperiod is exceeded

• Make an effort to ensure accurate technical translation(example: CB/circuit breaker was translated as CBradios. The assignment was held back while waiting fornecessary approval documentation).

• When bringing containers in, make sure that they arewell marked with the correct external markings andeasily distinguishable so as not to get lost at the port.See Figure 14.

• Arrange with the Port Authority and the transportservice provider to move the containers in a specificsequence. The first container that arrives on site musthave the necessary start-up equipment and tools.

• Spare parts air freighted to Toliara took 2–3 months toget to site. Ensure that critical spare parts are availableon all major production equipment. In all cases it wasmore effective to take spare parts (below 100 kg)through with hand luggage and pay the cost ofoverweight, or transport parts as unaccompaniedluggage.

The contracting process in Madagascar

• The standard contractual terms had to be adjusted andsimplified to make them applicable to the averageservice provider in Madagascar.

• Personal contact and communication are far morevalued than any formal document.

• To ensure that the work is done on time, it needs to startlong in advance and has to be regularly checked and thenecessary direction has to be provided. This has to bedone in person since telephonic and e-mailcommunication’s effectiveness is low.

• Understand the interaction between the various servicesuppliers and be sensitive to creating a bad businessrelationship due to non-performance from the servicesupplier. The business community of Toliara is a smallsociety and news travels fast.

• If a bad business relationship is created it will affectother potential business relationships in the future.

Poor roads and remoteness

• To drive in the thick sands on the secondary road takesa fair amount of skill and full concentration. Dedicateddrivers are to be used who are not intensively involvedin the operation of the pilot plant. They would also beresponsible for carrying out the necessary vehicleinspections prior to a trip.

• Ensure that the satellite communication system isworking properly and that the operation of the phone isfully understood by several key personnel.

• An emergency response plan should be in place andunderstood by every person on site. The stipulated

Figure 14. All of the containers were clearly marked and numbered

WET HEAVY MINERAL PILOT PLANT DESIGN 132

emergency procedure has to be closely followed tovalidate an insurance claim should there be any medicalemergency, which always has cost implications.

• There are different emergency response plans for thelocal people and the expatriates and these should be wellunderstood by key personnel.

• There is no direct air link between Toliara andJohannesburg and special permission has to be grantedfor pickup in case of an emergency.

Manual mining, people, food, language barriers

• It was noticed that there was also a certain classdistinction between different ethnic groups inMadagascar itself. This caused some conflict initiallyduring the ‘storming’ phase of the project. A maturelocal respected person who knows both ‘worlds’ wellwill aid greatly in dealing with these situations; this wasunknown to the expatriates involved.

• The option to do manual shovelling compared tomechanical shovelling was beneficial in terms of theflexibility of the operation. For example, during a plantmaintenance shutdown, labourers could be used to carryout other functions such as rehabilitation of already‘mined’ areas or building a thatch roof over a container.

• Getting to know certain key phrases in the locallanguage cut out the translator; this saved time and alsocreated respect.

• The utilization of local labour rather than mechanicalshovelling and the income it generated for the village’sfamilies involved had a positive influence. Village menwere in competition for the job, which created thenecessary environment of performance.

• In general the Malagasy people who were involved inthe project were hardworking, honest, eager and learnedfast. This was a great contributor to the progress madeduring the 7-month operational period.

• The Malagasy people generally believe in thesupernatural. In certain cases they make use of a stronglocally brewed alcoholic drink in their rituals and dailyactivities, which jeopardized the safety of the workers.This had, to be dealt with in a very assertive yetrespectful manner and was tactfully handled by arespected local project team member. This aspectbecomes especially complex if the work and non-workareas are on the same site. The temporaryaccommodation for workers should ideally be off siteand everyone should be tested at random for alcohol inthe morning prior work.

• Buying food from the local communities (sheep, cattle,maize, chicken, beans) was more economical comparedto purchasing food in Toliara. It was much fresher and itcould be stored in a fridge with reliable power supply(own generators). Rice and some vegetables still had tobe purchased in Toliara though.

• In terms of the selection of expatriates—be verythorough and selective, since it is a demandingenvironment, with a high degree of discomfort, longworking hours, high concentration work, a possibility ofmalaria, group friction, miscommunication with locals,etc.

Safety

• It will take a few years and some effort for the people todevelop the necessary safety culture.

• High safety standards need to be maintained to

compensate for ignorance. The use of a critical taskinstruction that was developed for each worker, who isevaluated bi-monthly on these tasks, was one of theways in which the lack was addressed.

• Keep people away from high risk areas by cleardemarcation and enforcing demarcation, for example theconstruction area during the assembling of the pilotplant by an overhead crane.

• Appoint a dedicated person (preferably a qualified local)to ensure that the medical supplies are sufficient andwho is able to treat minor injuries such as insect bites,scratches and bruises.

• Make sure that the malaria indicators test for all types ofmalaria that are present in the area and make sure toapply the necessary preventative measures, even duringextended periods.

• Another safety aspect to consider is that ofencroachment of the local population into the mining areaonce development activity starts. People with no trainingor protective clothing could be exposed to high riskenvironments. This will have to be carefully managed.

Impact of pilot plant image on local society• The pilot plant was regularly visited by mayors of the

local communities, leaders of the Toliara province, theminister of environment, WWF representatives, etc. Thevisual impact of the plant can either build or break acompany’s reputation. This was one of the reasons whyhigh SHE (safety health and environment) standardswere pursued.

• The pilot plant was assembled more on a longer-terminstallation standard (one year) rather than a short-terminstallation standard (one month). The standardfollowed greatly influenced the visual quality anddurability of the site establishment, example indicated inFigure 15.

ConclusionThe aim of the bulk sample processing campaign wasachieved through team effort. Although many challengeswere faced during this campaign, each one was overcomeand valuable lessons were learned. These lessons could actas guidelines to be considered for any future pilot plantoperations at remote sites in other countries.

Figure 15. The entrance to the project’s processing site—a site tobe proud of (TSP = Toliara Sands Project)