OVERVIEW Mining Second
OVERVIEW Mining Second smelter to be activated at Isithebe foundry. SECTOR INSIGHT Most of South Africa’s export coal passes through the Richards Bay Coal Terminal. Finnish company Metso will spend about R53-million on building a second furnace at its Isithebe foundry in the iLembe District Municipality. This is in response to increased demand for large crusher wear parts. The KwaZulu-Natal foundry is one of five foundries the company runs on four continents. The renovated foundry will be able to manufacture wear parts for the Nordberg® MP2500 cone crusher as well as for Metso and third-party primary gyratory wear parts. The first products from the new furnace are scheduled for May 2019. RBM mines the minerals sands of the northern KwaZulu-Natal coast and operates out of Richards Bay. The main products of the RBM mine are zircon, rutile, titania slag, titanium dioxide feedstock and high-purity iron. Tata Steel KZN's high-carbon ferrochrome plant at Richards Bay went into business rescue and then liquidation before being bought by Luxembourg-based Traxys Africa in the middle of 2016, after a court ruled in its favour. Traxys has chrome mines Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces. Tata Steel did not have its own mines. The KZN Sands mineral sands operation comprises a central processing complex in Empangeni and the Fairbreeze Mine. Expenditure over several years (which started in 2016) is expected to rise to R5-billion as it expands. Tronox, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, is the major shareholder in KZN Sands. The development of a new titanium dioxide pigment plant was announced in 2017 by Nyanza Light Metals and its technology partner, ONLINE RESOURCES Geological Sciences, University of KZN: www.geology.ukzn.ac.za Minerals Council South Africa: www.mineralscouncil.org.za National Department of Mineral Resources: www.dmr.gov.za Avertana of New Zealand. The use of stockpiled waste slag (from mines in Mpumalanga) sets this R4.5-billion project apart. Other products will include gypsum, aluminium sulphate and magnesium sulphate. Production was scheduled to begin in 2019. The Hillside aluminium smelter at Richards Bay run by South Africa Aluminium is now a 100% South32 asset. Most of the product (highquality primary aluminium ingot) is exported but some liquid metal form is sent to Isizinda Aluminium which supplies Hulamin, a company that has had a rolling mill in Pietermaritzburg since 1949. Hulamin is the only major aluminium rolling operator in the region and it makes rolled products and extrusions. Other processing facilities in the province include the steel plant owned by Arcelor Mittal in Newcastle and Safa Steel's metalcoating factory in Cato Manor. Some of the coalfields of the province have been revived. Petmin's Somkhele Anthracite Mine, north of Richards Bay, has one of the biggest reserves of open-pit anthracite in South Africa, with measured and indicated reserves of more than 51-million tons across its four areas. KWAZULU-NATAL BUSINESS 2019/20 42
Engineering OVERVIEW Construction is booming north of Durban. SECTOR INSIGHT Marine engineering is a provincial strength. Property company Tongaat Hulett Developments won Visionary Client of the Year at an engineering awards event in 2017, a recognition of how much construction is underway north of Durban on land that used to be covered in sugar cane. The South African construction sector is experiencing tough times, with more than one company going into business rescue in 2018, which could explain why the annual Cesa Aon Engineering Excellence Awards acknowledged the developer of eight large projects covering commercial, industrial, retail and residential. The other mega-project that has created a lot of work for engineers has been the multi-year Western Aqueduct project to bring fresh water to greater Durban. The Western Aqueduct Joint Venture comprising three companies, Knight Piésold Consulting, Naidu Consulting and Royal Haskoning DHV, acted as agents for eThekwini Water and Sanitation. Stefanutti Stocks Pipelines played a big role, and there were opportunities for excellence and innovations in areas such as break-pressure tanks which were designed by Royal Haskoning DHV and built by ICON Construction. Marine repair and engineering form a significant sector in the province, with established companies such as EBH South Africa offering comprehensive services at the ports of Durban and Richards Bay (pictured). Both ports are expanding (Durban is building a cruise liner terminal, for example) and will continue to attract engineers. ONLINE RESOURCES Consulting Engineers South Africa: www.cesa.co.za Engineering Council of South Africa: www.ecsa.co.za South African Forum of Civil Engineering Contractors: www.safcec.org.za Southern African Institute for Industrial Engineering: www.saiie.co.za Dormac, which is headquartered in the Bayhead area of the Port of Durban, is best known for its marine engineering but it offers specialised services to the sugar industry and provides machinery for industrial giants like Toyota and Defy. All of the province's biggest industries require sophisticated engineering skills: aluminium smelters in Richards Bay and steel works in Newcastle, Richards Bay and Cato Ridge. There are also chemicals and plastics production plants, and large automotive works. The Transnet Engineering (TE) plant in the Port of Durban houses six business units and has 3 555 employees. The Coach unit upgrades coaches and the Auxiliary business is the main supplier of rail wagon tarpaulins to Transnet Freight Rail. The Port Equipment Maintenance unit and units specialising in wheels and locomotive overhaul are other entities. There are a further six depots located around the province. The School of Engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal offers a variety of degree options, ranging from undergraduate qualifications to doctorates. The School offers eight areas of specialisation including Bioresources, Electronic and Computer Engineering, and Land Surveying. 43 KWAZULU-NATAL BUSINESS 2019/20
