JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The Department of Energy’s Central Energy Fund (CEF) has invited capable service providers to submit proposals for a prefeasibility study (PFS) to determine the capital and operating costs for the design, construction and delivery of a process plant at its torbanite project (T-project), currently being developed north-west of Kinross, Mpumalanga.

The T-project would entail the establishment of a torbanite and coal beneficiation plant that would be integrated into a No 5 Seam mine. The plant would process three-million tons a year of the No 5 Seam coal deposit.

Provisions of the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act and its regulations would be used as criteria for the selection of bidders, who would also be required to submit their broad-based black economic-empowerment ratings where possible.

The winning bidder would receive access to the results of previous studies carried out by the CEF on the characteristics of the coal, to which it can refer as a basis for formulating the process design routes.

The appointed contractor would also be required to scrutinise and review the existing mining plan to verify the quantities and qualities of No 5 Seam run-of-mine (RoM) product that would be available to the project.

These RoM quantities and qualities would form the platform for the PFS and the subsequent definitive feasibility study work and would be recorded in a statement document to be signed by all parties.

The winning party would also have to include, in the PFS, a comprehensive report regarding an analytical work programme that would be agreed with the CEF, the contractor and the appointed analytical service provider.

CEF indicated that the starting date of the PFS would be subject to negotiations between it and the successful service provider.

Total project mineable tons of No 5 Seam at the project had been reported to be about 82.5-million tons, while total project mineable tons of No 4 Seam had come in at about 137-million tons. There was also a limited No 2 Seam coal resource in the project area.

Planned mining operations would consist of mechanised narrow seam bord and pillar mining for the No 5 Seam, which occurred at a depth of between 30 m and 130 m below surface, and mechanised full-seam bord and pillar mining for the No 4 Seam mining operations.

The torbanite associated with the No 5 Seam is found in the No 5 Seam Upper band that had a mean thickness of 53 cm and the No 5 Seam Lower band that had a mean thickness of 23 cm.

Although the No 5 Seam coal contained a lower volatile content than the torbanite, CEF pointed out that this could be upgraded in a washing plant to a low ash and high calorific value coal that could be sold into the local and export coal markets.

Interested bidders have until September 19 to submit their proposals.

The CEF expected to take delivery of the PFS report by April 12, 2014.