Africa (Norilsk Nickel Nkomati)
Nkomati is a 50/50 unincorporated joint venture of the Norilsk Nickel Group and African Rainbow Minerals. It is located 300 km east of Johannesburg, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa.
Nkomati is the only nickel concentrate producer in South Africa. Apart from nickel, the concentrate produced by Nkomati contains copper, cobalt, chromium and PGM.
Production facilities:
- open pit and underground mines;
- MMZ Concentrator with installed capacity of 375 ktpm (up to 410 ktpm).
- PCMZ Concentrator with installed capacity of 250 ktpm (up to 300 ktpm).
Production technology
Nkomati has a substantial resource base represented by disseminated copper-nickel sulphide ores with several major ore bodies. The Main Mineral Zone is comprised of a solid sulphide ore body with a relatively high nickel content. The field also contains a Peridotite Chromite Mineralization Zone with a lower metal content vs MMZ and a relatively high chromium content.
The feedstock produced by open-pit and underground mining operations is processed at Concentrators using the method of sulphide floatation. The produced concentrate is then further processed at Boliden and Kola MMC.
Mining
In 2016, total ore mined by Nkomati reached 2.8 mln t (attributable to the Group’s 50% shareholding) with an average nickel content of 0.37%. The Group accounted for 8.5 kt of nickel concentrate production, down as compared to 2015 due to lower mining volumes and decreased nickel content in processed ore.
| Metal | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickel | 0.36 | 0.34 | 0.37 |
| Copper | 0.13 | 0.14 | 0.13 |
Concentration
| Metal | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickel | 75.9 | 74.1 | 70.6 |
| Copper | 90.8 | 86.1 | 89.5 |
Smelting
| Metal | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickel, t | 11,359 | 11,350 | 8,486 |
| Copper, t | 4,958 | 5,301 | 4,007 |
| Palladium, koz | 48 | 53 | 40 |
| Platinum, koz | 19 | 20 | 15 |