Laboratory takes science to Namibian mines

Namibia is replete with skilled, English-speaking professionals required by the chemicals and mining industries and, as such, is proving to be an invaluable African investment for many companies worldwide, says mining laboratory services provider Tramecon.
“We are excited to see the inevitable growth of our company and believe that Namibia will elevate us to the next level,” MD Hannelie de Beer tells Mining Weekly, highlighting that Tramecon, through its subsidiary company Qotho, is primarily focused on marketing its proficiency-testing (PT) schemes in the Namibian market. She adds that the Southern African country is going to be an ideal market for Tramecon to serve.

While the company is currently expanding into various parts of Africa, its focus now incorporates Namibia since Tramecon is already familiar with the base metals market, which means that breaking into the Namibian market will be a smooth transition.

De Beer believes the move into Namibia will be easier than a move into other African countries, since the country does not pose a language or cultural barrier when it comes to working with South African companies.

She further highlights that Tramecon focuses on creating fit-for-purpose facilities for clients, adding that the company has already spent time researching Namibia and the types of mines and resources it offers.

“It took only a few weeks to research the Namibian environment because we are in the industry and know where to look and what to look for,” says De Beer. She adds that South America and Asia are also showing expansion potential for Tramecon.

“Europe and Canada have approached us regarding their participation in the PT schemes as well,” she says.

Specialised Services
De Beer tells Mining Weekly that Tramecon is promoting its recently established subsidiary Qotho Laboratory Services, which offers ISO 17025 implementation assistance, laboratory audits, as well as change and quality management support.

In addition, Qotho provides specialist support services to mineral laboratories, including PT schemes, known as interlaboratory schemes. These schemes require Qotho to provide in-depth statistics based on results received from mining laboratories across Africa.

Qotho analyses results and produces a report, which shows how a particular laboratory’s results compare with other laboratories in the industry. The results, which are coded, are blind, meaning that a laboratory with a poor result will not be criticised, since it cannot be identified. “This not only shows a particular laboratory what other laboratory standards are, but also encourages all laboratories to improve their operations,” says De Beer.

If the laboratories improve and their results are accurate, it translates into better-operating mines, which will, in turn, improve recoveries. “The better the trust and the accuracy of the findings, the better the confidence and profit-ability of a mine,” says De Beer.

She further highlights that the more participants a study has, the more statistics and comparisons can be made, which means that the information available becomes more robust. De Beer adds that Qotho produces totally independent results, which are therefore free from bias.

“The primary aim of PT schemes is to enable mining production and certification laboratories to monitor their performance against other industrial laboratories, thereby ensuring the continuous improvement of the quality of their analytical data,” explains De Beer.

PT Schemes in Progress

De Beer highlights Namibia’s copper resources – including concentrate and the raw material – as well as the country’s high- and low-grade gold resources, as particularly beneficial to Namibia-based mining laboratories.

Participants in the current operating PT schemes include operational laboratories of several high-profile mining companies, including manganese miner Assmang, multinational mining giant GlencoreXstrata, manganese producer Samancor, and diversified mining major African Rainbow Minerals.

Other Qotho clients include analytical, testing and verification laboratories, such as Set Point, SGS, ALS Global, Intertek Genalysis and AH Knight.

Qotho technical director Nhlanhla Mamba points out that, as all mining operations aim to recover as much of their respective commodities as possible, “they rely on mining laboratories for accurate results throughout all phases of mining and mineral processing”.

From these results, mining companies can make critical, informed decisions regarding the viability and adequacy of current processes and whether specific control adjustments need to be made.

Mamba further stresses that this benchmark, which the testing scheme provides, will enhance client confidence in mining industry laboratories and in mining companies’ in-house laboratories.

De Beer and Mamba further point out that the more in-house mining laboratories’ analysis and testing methods improve, the better the mines and their processes will perform, which will improve their profitability.

Meanwhile, De Beer tells Mining Weekly that spending money on training staff is important to the company. “We are currently training one of our members in warehouse management and logistics through Damelin College,” she concludes.