Document pGBnGqqdn3YqK5YqEmdaE35X

c, B EP 0 R T OH VI S I T To RH O -LLS li___ Al SflU_TH_ _i.O_UCi MADS BY 0. A- ALLAH & _A* H# HARR FffiffiJARY 2$U> 2957 MARCH l43H 1957 IN THE SUPREME COURT EXHIBIT QRA.M HAMPEL. J. 57 i.:i o ex KQjzSlAll - SOUTH AFRICAN VIST? Introduction Suasiary 1 1 RHODESIAN ASS53T03 LTD. .TZKERAlRE financial Mining Ooeratlons Killing - General Sorting, Crushing & Drying Mock tine and Fibre Aspiration Fibre Sections laboratory Notes on Machines Syoons Crushers Rotary Driers Hasesag Crushers Denovan Screens Aspirating Hoods Johns Kanvllle Type Flberlsers Bauer Separator Blending Mill Grading TronaeL Dust Collection Pilot Plant Bagging Machine Paddle Irons el Surface Installations Housing l 2 2 3 4 4 4 4 5 B 8 HiK MINE BEND___ MINE 9 10-11 V A N GUARD MIKE 12 -0 s s JLi-g-g 13 SOUm_ AFRICAN VISIT. CENTRAL ASBESTOS CD..KUHUMAN Ore Reserves Fibre Production 14 14 14 15 S__B--E D BY. HI S 2 A_S B E 3 -HTHE Mining Killing Machines Used Haaser Mills Grading Balt Dedusting Machine VffiITl_BQQC MINS RIBIES MINE Mining Milling Colts Discussions zm 15 15 15 15 - 16 - 16 16 17 17 17 17 - 18 . 25 . 2) KUIUMiy CtfEBLPE ASBESTOS CD. . 2D C&2 ASBESTOS 03.. POMFRET Personnel 0r Reserves Mining li iking Section Milling General 2 2 2 2 22 22 2*f l^T^VJEH with Mr.Cbrnlih-BovdA 2*t Asbestos Grading Equlpaant United. 25 Mr.Fulean, Director of Chamber of Mines* Johannesburg. 25 Mr.D.Harding, 8ties Director, African Associated Mines Ltd. 25 gMKffiSSTg mn as miu Rirles Hill -CleaningSection ASbes Kill Ponftat Mill tneralro - WhitaAsbestos fi&a. i 2 3 * 5 J-'y t c PHOTO CRPPS Head Fraase & Bins * leeeraire Hlne Boss Kina - Schatidthelny Croup Treatment Plant - ponfret PicJdnc Section - poofret Ian rlire Surface Installation ^ 1 2 3 4 5 M4-' INTRODUCTION Preliminary arrangemmts Co visit the operations of Rhodeslen Asbestos Limited at Tmeraire in the Kashaba district of Southern Rhodesia vere made through Hessrs./ohns Kanvuia Limited. Final details vere torked out with Hr.Robert Vinson the General Manager after arrival in Johannesburg. A flight to Bulavajo was arranged on the normal South African Airways Limited schedule and then a small plane was chartered from Air Carriers Limited at Kumalo airport, Bulawayo. The distance to Kashaba is appro Ornately 210 miles - about labours flying time. Accommodation was arranged in the Company* s giest house at Tmeraire. Mr.Vinson arranged visits to Peek mine owned and operated by R* Longhurst} Bmd mine in which Goliath Cement Co a? any have an interest? Vanguard and Boss mines owed end operated by the Sehaldtheiny group. All travelling to these mines was done by car* The Rhodesian visit was made from 26.2*57 until 3*3*57* S-JJ -H _M ARY All the mines visited vere producing white asbestos end ti main object was to get details of milling machinery which mold be applied to blue asbestos and to obstfve Aist collection systos* Tmseralre was the largest producer oongst the mines visited - this mine is at present producing 1100 tons per month. The others are comparatively ssall producers. 1 -- Generally, sthe pier*. -.-vs -"ili laid out and wall maintained* - Ko ..itmnpt was made in any of the mines except * Tmeraire to instal any major dust mil action systm. Cbnditic around ell plants vere generally sore dusty than at Wltteooom* | TaffiRAIRS _-_ RH0DESI1H. ASBESTOS LIMITED. R* S. Vinson *.* V* Archer .................. McKenna ... ** G. Banal 0. Mulholland.................. . * * General Manage ... Asst.General Manager Quality Control Supt* Kill Sup erintodent * Mine Formaan Kashaba is the eotoe of thW white asbestos mining in this area and is located about 210 miles from Bulava*> and 45 mllea from Shabani* There are seven mines producing asbestos of which Teoeralre is the largest* The settlement of Temeraire is about three miles from C Kashaba. It is laid out in tie sections - one section consisting of about 25 houses centred around the General Office and Mine Club and the other section about half a mile away consisting of 2D teases* She school end hospital are In this section* The settloent is hltfi oongst the hills* Vater Is obtained from bores and each bouse has its o septic systo* Fove fbr the ifcole area comes by line from Shabani* . '' .r/i SikSsg 'ii *5* -SS ^ There is a transformer station at Tereeraire - the power to the mine at 225 V. Power cost is less than jd. par unit. EJ N^IN C I_A L Rhodesian Asbestos have invested nearly 3,000,000 in Taseraire and to date results have not been too favourable. There have been three changes in General Managers since its Inception - the present aanager, B, . Vinson, was st out from Canada, He said that they are barely breaking evj at present. He hoped to be able to reduee their overdraft quite appreciably within a few months. However, it appears that toe value of their pinduction - only 1100 tons per aonth at resent - is a very poor return on the large capital outlay. The ore is very low grade and the anticipated fibre production has not been achieved. They have sent fibre tap arts out from Johns Manvllle to try and improve the grade up to Ho,1*, Vinson said that this was the only means he could see for Increasing the oathly inosae. MINING OPERATORS Mining is carried on at a depth of SO feet below the surface. The method of mining is blasthole stoping. The blastholes are 50 ft, in diameter and ring drilling is earned out at 6 ft. ccitres. The ore body is vertical and 150 ft. vide and crosscuts exe made every 200 ft. Grilling is done on one shift only and ore tramming and haulage on 3 shifts. Once the slushor drlf* and con* -- a -ciliated vertical teles are drilled and the UioVe block is fired dote into the asne and draw away by Joy Sullivan scrap era. These are 5 ft drum slae. The scraper bucket is hinged - it folds up on the backward pull and as soon as tha forward pull is applied It opens up and digs ln The vertical holes are drilled In three stages - 70 ft 65 ft. and 50 ft. Holman air leg machines are used throughout. Steel footage obtained is 900 ft, per steel. Development is two years ahead of production and at present only one men is working on deveiopmwt. < The ore is very low grade averaging from 1-3* fibre. All haulage underground is done by Goodman Electric locomotives which pull 7 x 6 ton Granby ears. The batteries are changed in the looos every eight hours. the Granby ears tip into an ore poeket lined with 1" plate. The ore pocket is concreted and the steel plate is bolted in to halts sat In concrete end the heads ere welded over. The olatea have bew in position tor three years and .K ' " *'X*?"Si'f&s**"-"c?V*3?-r* show very little signs of wear ore pocket. There is no grixsiy on tf. The ore is fed fTom the pocket on heavy duty asren feeder into a 60 x **8 Traylor Jew Crusher set to 10*. the crusher is driven by a 390 H.P., motor through 100 section ee ropes. The ore is discharged Into another ore pocket 110 ft. deep. The ore is then fed into 2v ton skips in the shaft. There are two doors on each chute ta) a guillotine type ar operated door and (b) a butterfly door which controls the discharge into the skip. The shaft is a three eo^artaant one - two for ore haulage and one fbr am and materials. About 90 skips per shift are pulled. The sine is very vet and water la lying everywhere. It is drained elong the sain drives Into a sludge pond. Sere the sludge settles and it is then pumped to the surface by a 4" sludge puap and pes to waste. The clean water overflows to another suop from whence it is ptuped to the surface by a 3* pun. A 6* and a 4" puap are k^t as standby units. Th -- are all Beilis and Horooa type puaps and are said to give vary little trouble. Firing 1$ done at the end of day shift but a lot of blasting is earned out dazing the shift. There does rot se to be any set rule about setting off "bombs* as they are call* Any spillage froa the loading chutes is cleaned up one a fortnight. It appears to fall into another pocket and special buckets art used for this job. Ore Is also brought to Trzsraire fToa Shea*! b* six miles away. This is a slightly ri-.>r ore U>dy. The mining method is siallar to Teaeraire tat the ore is telsted t the surface and duaped into a bin. Then it is brought round to the Teaeraire Bill by Tractor &alltf s. They pull about 2D tons eaeh. The ore production Is 70*000 tons per month fToa Taneralre nine and 68,000 tons froa fihasala. * j Mining costs are 13/* per ton ore ained. - The European underground earn from 1S - starling per nonth. The native ainers earn 4 per week and can Bake up to 9 per week bonus dap aiding on production. In addition every native is gLvai free bousing, be is fed and clothed free and gets free aedicel and dental attrition. There is a fall* equipped native hospital near the native eettlroant. hiding The alii Is housed in a three storied building. Th< have a SI alas dust installation and while this operates reasonably efficiently there la still a lot of dust around tb< plant and if the wind is blowing froo the vest it is very difficult to see in the plant. The flow abaat la a vary complicated one -* the plant being divided info four sain sections - (1) dotting. Crushing and Drying Sections (2) Bockline and Wbre Aspiration Sectio: (3) A. & B. Fibre Sections and 14) Short Flbra Section. 30-amo. causHiitt -.avino. Practically all sorting is done by native warn The ore fro the tw sines Is fed into the plant on separate belts. They have about S-jD pickers on each belt. Symons Bar Vibrating grizzlies are used for separating coarse and fines. Crushing is done in H ft. Standard Symons and 4 ft. Shorthead crushers. They get long life fro their bowl liners end santles. The crushers have be* in operation fbr over three years and cone has been changed yet. Hasemag crusher are used on fine ore; The ore is dried .n two rotary driers both opal fired and directly driven tbtough a reduction gear by 90 H.P. actors* They revolve at about 10 r.p.a., and are Inclined at appzozlaat ly The dust is erfieusted from the driers to oydones. The fine dust is discharged to ataa^here. The heavy aaterli falls into an airlock and then on to a conveyor which discharges to tailings. BOCK LINE AKD FIBRE ISPTRlTTON. Screens are used In preference to trosaels. They are a rot ex type unit called a Dovan screen. The fibre is aspirated through suction hoods to cyclones. Bias Hs&aer Mills and Johns Manvllle type flberlsers are used for llbarislng. Bauer separators are used fbr cleaning the fibre. A large volume of air is used for separation 3500 c.f.n., on each scree*. FTBR5 SECTTPWS. - Mpre Bauer separators are used fbr cleaning graded fibre. A`cumbersome grading trommel is used fbr separating the fibre in lengths. A large aidng dll is used fbr blending fibres. The bagging machines art the screw type. ^ The bags used are of a fairly heavy hessian SB* xW' in six# and are all hand see*. Ko hand raa&lng of bags was seen. laboratory; f This is a very veil equipped section* They have machine fbr eivery koota test. The laboratory is under the control of the Quality Control officer and most of the work is done by natives. They are having a lot of trouble with their fibre their grado Are too iov. .A .lot of research Is being done with a view to lifting tt*e fibre to Grade *. The main production at present is 5 - 6 7. * * -5 The plant is Banned by tw> Europeans oer shift m... sixty five natives. p3 One White and thirty eight natives for Crushing and Sorting. * One White and tventy seven natives for milling. Tailings are taken away by a series of conveyors to a hi# dump. The tailings are distributed by boos stackers *hich are aoved at regular Intervals. all conveyors are covered. Fibre is carried avay by lorries to Shabanl railhead *5 aile-t avay by an Independent contractor. It is railed from Shabanl to Lourenap Marques in Portugese East Africa. Freight costs ITob aine to coast are 2.5.0., per ton. Th is a big hold up in shipping because of the single track line to the ooast. Storage facilities are said to ba vary tood on the coast. The contractor brings sll inward freight back to Kshaba. Milling costs are about 11 - 13 stg/per ton fibre. MOTES ON MifflIWES. STHOMS CHUSHEBS. These crushers were doing an excellent lob but there was practically no wear on tha bowl liners or Bantles. There was no vibrttion and tha springs hardly wrktd all. The feed and discharge chutes are coapletely boxed in. Oust is coll acted* by a 6" pipe with a fishtail suction on aae side of the feed bowl and a similar pipe on the discharge conveyor. Fbur crushers are Installed - two standard and two sfaorthead but only one of each type vas being used. ttiiflx aisMi These appeared to b*e locally made units. coal fad through automatic stokers. They vara They vare direct driven through a reduction gear to a gear end pinion. They vare reported to operate Boat satisfactorily and do not give any trouble. The shells were Bade from 5/8 plate and vert lined vlth manganese year plates. W# could not obtain the liner thickness. The vear on the liners is negligible. The drums are `tL-h* in diameter and og - long. The too driers operate in parallel. C The dust collection systca is only fafr around the *"" ""S"TM- W\' P* i,v Hi ere vere tvo of these sachiaes in the crushing section - both jp*f size. They appear to be a very tod crushing unit but the vear on the beaters and i^aet plates i hi# Ibr white asbestos. They change the beaters esee sr week. The beater change take 3-W hours. There beaters to aach Bachine and there are six bolts to aaca beater. It is said that a nev shoe has bed developed to 43? ffHH 6- 21t the be*ter and this makes beater changing much faster The impact plates can be adjusted but vear on these plates also is high. One advantageous point is the easyscess t* the inside of the machine. There are two qurcrrefease toor* tftich give immediate access to the beaters. The beater shaft' is 6" in diameter and is mounted on heavy bearings. This size machine is driven by a 75 H.P., motor. The operating staff like this unit but point out that they are not'uslng it as a flberiser but as a crasher in place of a sherthead syaons crusher. From observation it seems that while the Kass&ag crushes finer than a shortr.ead Symons could do, the amount of maintenance required on the Hasm&ag vjuld be such greeter. They are big units and oeeupy a considerable amount of space. aSKOYAH SCREWS. These are similar to the ones used by Johns Manvill* in Hill No.5 at asbestos in Canada. They appear to na veil mechanically bat there is a large tendmey for the feed to run to one side of the screen. In fact, only on* screen in the plant, and there are thirty of tha, was feeding centrally. Constant adjustment is necessary. This is done by small handwheels fitted on la diameter rods. r Rubber balls are used In eonpartoents under the mesh Their bouncing action keeps the mesh fairly dean. Oust hoods cover the entire screen and they are hinged about 1/3 of the vay down the length. This allovs a section of the hood to be swung back for maintenance and inspection. The entire back of the screen is totally enclosed. The feed sters on a plate at the rear and is distributed in a rotary motion. On the majority of the scress, there vas no aspiration fbr dust. The hood appeared to act as a settling device. The hoods are made of 1/16" plate and all are fitte with rubber Haps. The depression gained vasthat the screens are rather cumbersome and sost inconsistent m ASPIRATTNJ1H0PXS. These hoods are of a totally different deal pi from those in use at Wltteooom. They are 4 ft. long and spread up to 8" at the widest ths taper to 6" vide fbr a height of 2' 6". They then join into a 10" pipe. A butterfly reive is incorporated in the tod and this adjusts the air velocity. No means of raising or lowering the hood could be s*u A large volume of air is nsed fbr aspiration - 7500 c.f.sw fbr rode scress and 8500 c.f.m. fbr fibre sereeos This Is almost twlee asttucb as Is used at Nlttsoom. JOHNS MANVILLETOE FIBERISg^ This is a very rugged unit about 4 ft. high/. 6 in. in diameter. Its action is similar to a It has fbur rows of hoxlsntal rims 4 heaters sRj addition there are 12 borlsntal sides. These are staggered so . / ... .yv v\ * r.u-tCv^ : -7- weir pistes are all corrugated. The feed enters at the too through two chutes on to a plate attached to the (tain shaft H It discharges at the bottom through tw slots 15" x6". it is driven by an 100 H.P., motor at 590 r.p.m. The wear on beaters did not appear to be excessive. BAUER This is a very efficient grit separating sachine. It is quite possible that it would operate satisfactorily on blue fibre. The machine is made in two sites - 42* and 72" diameters. The feed voters the hood at one side and falls on t a perforated plate. air Is draw up through the plate at 6500 e.f.m. to an 16" duct. The flora Is aspirated through this duct and the grit remains behind. The eccmtric aetloc of the perforated plate removes the grit to a discharge chute. The grit discharge was examined and found to oontaj many sticks of unopened fibre. It is thought that this may be a definite disadvantage on blue fibre which is heavier and more bulky than white. The sticks of unopwed fibre would not lift and would be discharged with the pit. However, 1. this pit discharged were returned for further treahBwt no loss of fibre should occur. > The machine is drivw by a 3 H.P., actor. A working drawing of this unit was obtained. BLENPTSO WILL. '* This is a massive unit - 12 ft. In diameter by 5 f long. It has a screw feed and screw discharge both opwatiag through the trunnions. These screws are both adjustable so that the length of time is the adll can be varl It is chain driv by a 30 H.P., motor. The trunnions are narrow being only 6" vide. this machine Is not in use regularly and Is used for special batches of fibre. GRACING TfiPKMH.. This appeared to be a vary efficient but cumbersome machine. Its shaft has a four st^ cam which runs on a roll* and has two golds pease rolls's. Thera is a constant bumping action and it certainly keeps the screw mashes dean, and produces wall peded fibre. The shaft is voodw and is 6" in diameter. The troaoal is 3D ft. long. 5 ft. in diameter and can be fitted with up to sirs different else meshes. The oonstruction is quite heavy. 4 variety of ehntes carry the products to screw conveyers. The trommel Is drlvmo by a 3 H.P., motor direct coupled to a S.D.3 reduction gear and then a chain and ^rod drive. This drive Is being changed to a vee belt unit. The bearing! are fairly light and despite the continual bumping tbare is very little vibration. Tbs oover is a box type with collate panel inspection doors. Dust is eAausted by 6* pipe* with aw tall connections to the square hoods. _ They do not carry any details of this machine hv mine but suggested that if fUrtbar working details tfe reqg they could be obtained from the Company4 s Head Office tumas .... -- -3- Mr. Carl Line ell aaiLgcTTQH. As mentioned above, this systes aopeared to be efficient. The plant was housed In a building lie x to' tve stories high. The dust was dravrfi into socks which ware automatically cut off at regular intervals allowing the heavy material to discharge into screw conveyors and out to tailings The air passing througi the socks was ejJiausted to atsosphere.* No visible discharge from the ertiausts was noticed. The fan* ej&austs were 6 ft. in diameter. Each of the three fans drawing dust from the slant was driven by a ZX> H.P.,motor. pilot plant * A f -.* small pilot plant capable of treating one ton of ore per hour is install edJLn a section of the mill. It consist of several conveyors, an API Kasemag crusher, a small fiberiaim unit, a trommel, a screen "and a rotary aspirator. This plant Is in constant uaa tasting all varieties of ora. E^GOISC MACHINE. These are a screw type machine and operate without any trouble. The white fibre packs quit# solidly and feeds in tfa bag easily. The natives step the machine while changing baga. A drawing of this machine was obtained. ' pupb.p. Tftnvwg, C This troasel vas used for cleaning and grading fibre. It vas a circular unit - b ft. In diameter and 8 ft. long. Thi paddles vert attached to a central shaft and rotated In the sa direction as the trosael but a slightly higher ^eed. It appeared to be quite an efficient unit ter separating long and short fibres. The drive vas by a reduction unit and then a vc belt drive. It vas totally enclosed, dust being draj off the simlcircular hood* A drawing of this unit vas obtained. SURFACE INSTALLATIONS. A large workshop and garage attend to all major repairs and maintenance. Vary little equipment is manufactured on the site - sc at of it is made in Johannesburg or Bulawayo. BDUSiaSi. The fiiropean hnuses are all very comfortable - they are of teifck construction and fitted with steal framed windows* Native servants can be obtained ter 2.15.0., par month. - Houses are supplied with water, wood and electricity free. The rental is 2.0.0., par week. ( r/ \ i. v : r ''yj&SX'-***$&** 9- g 2AK H I ?< 2. Mr. h. Longhurst - Owner-Manager Hr. C. Kilpatrick - General Forecan Hr, '/an Gar Weld* - accountant This was visited on 28,2,97. It is a small sine aporojdaately 150 miles from Kasha'oa situated on the edge of a large native reserve. It produces only 60 tons white asbestos per month an treats 1% ore. Ko inspection of the underground working was made but the labour ibrce in the mine was 1 European and IjO natives All trucking and loading was done by hand, Ibe ore was brought from the tunnel and tipped into a bln. The turnel is driven straight into the hill about 100 feet above the valley floor. KILLING. This was quite a stool# process. The ore was fed into a Kubit Mill running at high speed (actual speed not knotc c but from a rough calculation of pulley sizes, the mill was doing nearly 900 r.o.a.) The Kubit mill discharged on to * conveyor which delivered into a small Telsatth cone crusher. From the Tdsmlth the ore went to a Bias Bsmmer Kill which discharged on to screens. The fibre wes aspirated to i central cyclone. The oversize and undersize from* tbe screen; was xlberlsed again, screened and fibre aspirated. This process was then repeated twice more. The tailings looked to be quite clean. Cleaning and grading was done in round trovals with paddles inside revolving in the same direction as the tromaal but about three times the trommel speed. The paddle; were curved at the end and were made like forks - five prongs to eaeh paddle. The trommels worked quite efficiently. Four grades of fibre were made - V - 5 6 and 7 and it appeared to be very dean.- One Riropean and 90 natives run the mill. maintenance is done by native labour. ill Longhurst sells all his fibre to Shodeslan isbestos Limited at Tamaralra. ri.-fmu * ****f.KrL 10 2- E D HT'I? The 'Joliith Cajent O5., have an interest in this mine, a. alrch - Manager This sine Is situated about 100 stiles fron hashaba la wild country. It is in the throes of a changeover period. The alne looks to be a very primitive operation. Tt tunnel Is driven Into the hillside about 70 feet etove the velle floor. it is only 5 ft. x 4 ft, ride. Mr.Slreh said that the alne vas In poor shape. No develoooent has been done at all and tha all! output is pvarned by the aaount of ore brought from the alne. The ore is said-to ba about The production of flore is 100 tons par ccnth. The mine is also very vet. HTLI.TSB The mill Is a very aodern and coapact unit. It has not been operating vary long. It vas designed and instructed by the fiarbeton Iron * Steel "Company and they have used all their ovirtypes of machines. The atll produces 100 tons of fibre per aonth In four grades. The alii is a CoUt stage mitt each stage aaklng Its particular grade. There vare several machines there vhleh vert of Intcres (1) The BIAS Hammer Mill. This is very mcb like e Kublt Mill ruly on e such smaller scale. The beaters velgh* only 16 lb. They appear to do a very satisfactory job on vhite asbestos. Beaters oould be changed quickly and very easy aeee vas obtained to the Interior of the unit. The riole top half of the machine vas hlaged and with the undoing of tvo ving nuts It could be swung back. It vas driven at 1000-1200 rp.a., by a 15-33 H.P., aotor. Their cost Is about 2Mo stg. (2) Trommela. These were e very eoapaet unit. The vhole unit consisted of tw trommels in parallel completely encased la e hopper and cover. They discharged on to e shaking feeder vhien fed the ore In a steady streaa over a rotary aspirator. The fines from the trommel hoppers vas taken avay by a shaker feeder on to a belov ground level oonvayor. (3) Christy & Hama unis. Quite a number of these units were seen around the outside of the mill building. They have been discarded In favour of the Bias mill. The Christy & Norris type have not been successful here. c The fibre produced ves of excellent ouallty end the exeeLlit quality vas also commented upon by ue Jonas Hanvllle people. One feature of the milling vas that the ore vas vette before treatment. They do not like to mill the ore unless it contains at least 10? moisture. If the run of mine ore does not contain a sufficient aaount of moisture sprays -are turned o: The reason given fbr this Is that the fibre Is Inclined to be brittle and it requires vetting so that crushing and haensr allllng vlll not injure the fibre or reduce the *"* is the Sbabani method of milling and many i-lling plants la 11 hhodesla follow this exannle. The Ien.eraire oerjole o". the othe hand insist that the ore must te dried and they ive tr.e optimum percentage ot' col stare at 4 The mill was operate; solely by natives under boss toys and .`ir.jirch. c * y.. A Q f rt fi j This cine is owr.od .,r.; onntr.Jlei t:y tr.e ji'^iatheir.v group wr. /rans fritzsi grist was in control j: o erit'.or.s. This cine is situated about bO "iles from .-:s<iaba and about 2 miles from oelingwe. Its present capacity is `*00 tons car asnth but they al to increase to ilOO tons per aonth as soon as possible. The sine was Inspected on 26.2.57 late in the afteraoo It was too late to go underground and no iniOrcaUon was obtained on the mining ooerations. Zt is a very well leld out mine end the settlement is attractively placed among the hills. Houses are all of bride construction and vary oomlbrtably furnished. A food club take: care of all entertainment. KTrT.T*fl The rill was vary veil leid out end contained cs< vex rrouern machinery. Kennedy Van *un Jew end gyratory crushers vert used i the crushing sections. - The ore vs dried lr. e toggles Sole type drier at e temperature of 600. The drier section was wholly automatic - it was coal fired and caoable of treating **0 ton?^.er tour. Th< drier seal was most effective. It was fitted with tension springs throughout the circumference end an alrtlgit seal vas maintained at all times. The ritg gear on the drier vas fitted with expansion bands which *voide-J any distortion due to excess heat. This unit v-a oy Furnace Construction Company of Johannesburg. Hasssag crushers were used early in the milling droll size P3. They vere regarded very veil and considered to be er efficient unit. ---- Bias Hammer Mills vere used in the flbarlslng sec*. They used duplex trommels and rotary aspirators for fibre seoeretion. One noticeable feature of the milling vas the number of trommels in msa. Dr.Fritzsigrlst said that the number worked out at one trommel per ton of feed per hour. This again is the Shabani milling prlndple but strangely enough Vanguard people do not agree with the vetting idea. They agree that 2% is the optimum peremtege. The fibre vas of pod quality but appeared to Ve very much opened. Thlses apparent in the-three grades produced. C -13- B_0_S i MT 3 E ?hls Is another mine owned ar.c controlled sy the Schmidth^ny group* Hr. L. HcXeen is the Jereral Manager but he Is under the control of iJr. Fritssigrist. Boss Mine is about 1C ail as l'rom Kashaba in hilly country. MTHISC Ho visit was aade underground but It is understood that mining is carried on by scoping. the ore is hand trammed out to bins. mum The aill was under aalntenanee which gave an excellent opportunity to Inspect the interiors of aany of the machines. The aill Is exactly the same as Vanguard plant exeept that different units are used in the crushing sections. It ntains a Krupp Jaw Crusher - a massive unit vblch lave Incessant trouble with pitman bearings. Mention was aade of the Vlttenoe* practice of using a small percentage of copper in the white aetal. This has proved very successful in ebmlnatlng cracking in the bearings. A Tel smith eone crusher and a 1' 8* Traylor T crusher aplete the crushing section. Has mag crushers, bias Hammer Mills and duptex trommels are used throughout the treatment sertior.. They used Kutdt Mills at orte time but discarded them as Bpst_unsultable units. They use the principle of one troaael pe: toTV^f'ieea per nourr Their production Is 1(0 tons per month but as at Vanguar the fibre sopears to be very opened. Johns Manville people sal this is a regular practice ^.th the schmldthdny people. The touslng settlement was mall but well laid out. There appeared to be a large native population here. The sill was under the control of one white man as foreman. Power to all alnes mmtioned was supplied by the Sbabanl poverbous -14- 71 ftrelirinary arrangements for a visit to Central asbestos Ltd., were made with !.r. n. i. Stewart in Lonnon. Final UAils were * xoaleted with his. and Xr.2-`lllm*n in Johannesburg, pemission to visit the Cane *soestos Company's nine at Koegas was granted by Sr.Cornish sowden in Johannesburg but at the last ainute this was cancelled, Insteau a visit to the Company's operations at Ponfret was arranged. IMa coincided with an inspection visit to this property oy the Coaany' s Consulting Engineer, Jr.Keep. Hr.Cornish uowden inferred that a very good picture of his* Company' mining and milling operations tould be gained by a visit to Porr.-ret He said that their methods were standard at all blue asbestos mines and added to this, Jr.Keep would gladly give any information awed for. K. KJIUN This town was visited on 4th and 5th harch,1957. a plane vas chartered by Central Asbestos Limited from Commercial Air Services Limited. The 350 mile trip'from Johannesburg oeeuoied 2 >urs 2> minutes. " Kuruaan Is one of the oldest tows in mouth Africa. It vas :oundec by Moffat, one of the early pioneers and Dr.timingstoae use auruman as a base 2br some of his ^editions. It Is a vail established town but is 45 miles free the nearest railhead. 'Jeter is pientlful. There is a natural soring ealled the Kurusan 2ye" VUch fLovs at the rate of 3,000,000 gallons per day. This is irrigated through the town and serves as vatar Cor gardmis. The town is the base fbr the operations of The Griqualand Emjloration e finance Co., which Is the subsidiary company of Cante Asbestos Limited. This company operates fisiiui&gi vnich \re 60 mi'es apart The General H&nager 'and Senior Staff all live in Kuruman and-operations at the four vines ar* 'ct.tzsiid from there. The staff is as fbllowsi- A. 0. Tbdd E. Ouomitt G. Marvilla ft. Gibson 0. Wilson G. Pasooe F. iteall General Manager Underground Manager Underground Manager Ashe: Chief Engineer Acoountant Geologist Pc-sonnal Manager QBE RRSEBVES The ore does not occur in seams as the ore at Vlttcnoom does, but lAjLkfi&s which are generally vary rich. Continual prospecting is being done and any likely areas are being drilled. The drilling is done by ";uaer drill" and water and if fibre is found it appears as a sludge. The method is said to indicate on the occurrence of fibre but gives no indication of the value of th ore penetrated. -This type of drilling is said to be very ozone "salting" as a few pod samples of fibre put into a hole could falsify the whole drilling result. The estimated ore reserves at each mine were given as fiollowst- firedby Asbes White Bode Btries 425.000 tons 400.000 50,000 _ Sufficient fbr 22 yeari at a production rate of 800 tons fibre p.maz -i5* The above figures are known reserves. These litres are borne out by Sinclair in an article in "asbestos" naiaaine. reports that iouth afriea reserves -u crocioolite are su::icir.t only ibr 2) years, i-I- Rg gfODU-CTTOH The total production from the fo r mines is 1300 tons per month. Todd says that this figure is not likely to ae exceeded. B_R S D B Y --K I X S This mine is about *t0 miles south of Jturuman. It produces 290 tons per month. This property vas not visited. mz-ii uas This orooerty is about 17 miles from Kuruman. It is only 9 small pocket of ore and produces 290 tons of libra par month, * There are only six Europeans on this site but qiiite a large native population, KTWTHG There are tw shafts at this mine both down 2D0 ft. Only single compartment shafts. all holstlni of men and ore is done 1 buckets. * Hoists are driven by natives. The mine is very vet and dirty. The mining practice is cut gnd fill and they advance 3- * 300 ft. face. The seam is said to be 2) ft. vLCz and averages 6% libra but In soma sections is as high as Z> as mined. They disregard all fractions under 3" when estimating assays. The cuts are taken out at 6 ft. heights. The ground is poor and there is a great deal of timber used. The ore as brok is sorted by natives and the vests is used es HU. Working trees ere cramped and in most faces inspected thee vas only about h ft. between the fact and the fill. The method is most wasteful because a pod proportion of the fibre goes back into the fill area. The sorted ore Is bmrroved to chutes which delivers it to one ton ears. Ventilation la Quite good - they have two fans operating, Holman airlegs are used for drilling. c The ore is hoisted to the surface and dumped for drying. Centrally one shaft is used for hauling ore and the other Is used to hoist water'. Ko ettmpt is made to pump the water out. KILLING the ore from the mine is dumped and sundried. 4 large ten of na~tlves sort the big ore from the pile. ' This is put on os* side and la crushed separately on afternoon shift. any very lorn fibre is hand cobbed and bagged. The finer material is fed on to a picking belt end waste Is sorted out by a*ut 3D vomu The fibre bearing ora goes to a o: r*.. . 4 -25- This 1 s nixed with th bloc* ore crus-.e-i or :tern.-on shift. The Mil flow sheet is attached. The How Is very sinr-le. The ore is crushed in Telseith gyratory crushers in three stages* iach crusher discnarges directly into a Hamer Hill anu then to a trommel. The ovn t from the trommel oasses to the next crusher, the undersize gses to tailings. There are three crushing and trommelllng stages. The oversize and ur.dersi2e from the third trommel pes to waste. - The fibre is asolrated from Inside the tronnels. The aspirating hood is fitted through the mouth of the trommel end the fibre is drawn into a cyclone which discharges through an airlock on to the floor. The fibre is than arrowed to the cleaning section. Th* tailings from t^e-olent are high and from observation would appear to se more than 7>>111 recovery is between 50 - 65*. The cleaning section consists of a<b'ora Mill/tfiich ooans the fibre, This discharges direct to a cyclone. -- The cyclone discharges through an airlock a trommel. Some grit is ramoved throw# the trommel and this goes to vaste. The fibre passes from the trommel to a cleaning belt. This belt ellalnetes more grit, but the fibre and any other material which are not esolrated r> bee to the Co ora >411 for further flberlsing. The fibre is aspirated froe the cleaning oelt to a cyclone end discharged through an alrlo to a dedusting machine. This machine eliminates a pod percentage of dust* Fibre is thm delivered to a bagging tab),#. Fibre i bagged by hand ramming but screw type bagging machines are ready fb installation* -- The fivre Is beautlXUlly clean and contains less than 2f rock grit dust. - There Is no attempt made to collect or eliminate dust. In and around the plant the dust was so bad that it was most difficult to see. . -CTTN -o USED -- j ! | I H,LyvR KILLSi Three types ere used - the Bias Mill, Christy i Norris tyse (modified) and the Cobra Hill. They are not too has: about the first two types and aae replacing them with the Cobra Hii The Cobra Hill aooears to be a most effective machine. 3 looks very such like e Richardson 3 BO fen* The feed is introduced through one side et the centre* The rotor in the aechl Is e six bleded unit with wedge shaoed beaters on the end* It moves et H*00 * 1700 r.p.m. The feed is discharged upwards at a angle from **5 - vertical Into a cyclone. The machine stands about 3 ft; high end is 8* - 10* wide. The sides end ends are lln< with manganese steel. The rotor is made of specially heat treated steel end is carried on e shaft and very heavy duty bearings. The only cast secti-n of the machine is the base. The remainder is fabricated. It will take up to 15 t.p.h., end requires B.r to drive it. It can be used either as a crusher or_a fiberlser and is said to be capable of crushing - 2* material. On the ore1 being tregted, the beaters lasted up to 24 faou One of the main advantages appeared to be the fact that t material tas allevated direct from the machine without the use of t other unit. rr.vanTKC belt* This is a machine developed by Todd at Kuruaan. It consists of a fast moving endless belt atout 12 *****,?_ centres and vlng at about 2D0 ft. per minute. It is totally --. --fiXrs;0t - . 1. :V. -y.... . . - -r* -17- ^nci-jsri. .-:<j ;l:.r** is i>i t-> c* .^..cu'r.* py .* fe-.'i-r nniaiain-* ..bout six feet th u<)i t is snre.iufn-- u\r<c* * this : s y srj;:'t vi V* Ift-.jt'.s z' i<r.e *:h%in or. it. if.1 *ls*crivi tv -n i-drive it -...lears tr. s-r*as t'.* .i -,r* across the b'lt. Ie.*j?*.tsty s*'*5ftj *r.is is v*. estiratir.c nooj wnich reroves part of tne More. It then . si<s over the heal pulley vhv* there ts arr.t'npr esnirator. The grit v.d an Uteri 3*1 sticks fail on ts a evnveynr which rtims then to the Cn-ra Mil. this device certainly ao;ears to drop the grit out. It would be an easy machine to construct If only approJdrate neasure.vj.-.ts were obtained out there ere not any intricate narts. jTi.:i j>c-\T'? This aehine works on the orlnciole of a flour sifter. It is an *U* shased screen vnieh has a revolving paddle in it. It is level uut tne saddle seens to move the Mure along the screen. there is no screen on the top of the "UM screen - only e cast oover. It drops the dust out of the fibre and gives a good nroduct. It Is also a sisole machine. It nas a quick release -.echanisa nn the screen meshes for ease in changing them. Ihe meshes appeared to oe held in oo sition with leather oelts and suckles. a machine like this could easily be built on the site. natives. Three white men zun the plant together with 60-70 V H I ,' h-Q C-K M 1 M 2 this is a coroarstively small pocket of ore estimated to contain only 50,000 tons. There is no mill on this site. The ore Is hoisted up a shaft, dumped Into ears and tipped into a concrete area for 'sundrying. it is then shovelled into o ton trucics ana carted to the Mines area for milling. It is fairly rich ore and there is same sorting done by natives on the dump. *I * *I a This area is about 25 miles from Kuruaan end is the aal: mining end milling area. It produces 600*900 tons of More par month. There Is a white settlement at Bines containing 22 four and five roomed houses. They appeared to be quite comlbrtab There is a single mens quarters. There is also a native settleaea with accommodation for 1500 natives and a section with eeoosnodatlon for *00 coloureds lhalf castes etc.). Water is obtained from bores but it is not very plentiful. untwg. The mine is a 45 incline shaft which pes dot to 250 feet. There are two levels - one 70 ft. below the other. Ther ere two haulage tracks and hoisting is done by a winch which takes up three one ton cars at a time. The mine is rich and is reasonably dry. The system of mining is cut and 1111 - similar to Asbes nine but the ground l very bad. It it twisted dj'.J :.n- ' Vi7 t.JcJsed. Very heavy tlmberi** 1* necessary to keep the becks up. The seea they ere olnlnt is * 32 feet thick end very rich. The fibre ranges In length from i* *^-3?*. Sorting is done underground end the waste used lor mi This Is oost wasteful as all the filled areas Inspected stewed a * large percentage of fibre. The cuts are six feet high and in several places they are up to the Vth cut and Intend to sake six cuts In all. The ore Is wheeled in barrows to chutes and tipped down to the sain loading pockets. Ventilation Is pod. The ore appeared to be very such similar to the ore hear the cliff face at Colonial Gorge. llthough Todd stressed the point that mining repletions were very strict, they did not eppear to be so. ill writ is tent in shorts end no helmets were available lor the visit underground. The ground is sinking rapidly from the surface and several areas were pointed out where the ground had subsided 5-6 feet. Ibdd said that the excessive use of timber In the sine gave him trouble with silling. There was far too such wood In the fibre. He introduced a special teod rooting section to counteract this. MTLLTWG . The ore Is jua&rled and tho dumped ioto concrete bins. There are four of these and they hold 50 tens each. Sosa sorting of fine materiel Is carried out by omen and children on the mine The mill flowsheet Is vary simple end fellows the general couth ifrican practice of removing the fibre as son as It is fr#'* from the ore. Everyone stressed this point of rooting the early. They avoid using any machine which produces pst or b - dust into the fibre. * The flowsheet is shoo In Flpre I The ore is fed to s Pegaon Jaw crusher which crushes down to 2*. This passes on te a Botex 3 deck screen containing 1* and l/l6m mesh decks* The 1/16" material is discarded te waste. The -a fraction pel te a separate trattest section. Tfc I 1* material g>es te a Tel smith gyratory crusher set te * The ore break? In *arge flakes and In tee gyratory crusher the fibre la easily freed from the rock. The errstory crusher discharges on te another Bo tax three deck seres - tee -1/16* end 4* fractions again being spcrated out tee -l/l6a te waste and tee -* te the te*dal section. The overalxe material drops on te a sorting belt vfcere natives reopve as such fibre as possible. This overalxe is In closed circuit with the crusher. The fibre recovered by the native Is dropptd on te the floor and harrowed diredt to tee cleaning section. The -1* traction Is discharged on te a belt tfelch delivers ths ore te an elevator. it tee point of delivery to the elevator there is an airlift which moves loose fibre. The elevator discharges the ore Into another I el smith crusher sat as Hi as possible. This crusher discharges on to another Bo tax screen b end the -" and -1/16" fractions are asperated out end treated *x I] fermerly. The overslse from tee screen is dallmed te Gobrail Mill running at 1700 r.p.au The Cobra Kill throws the fibre fi into a cyclone which discharges through an airlock late a trommel. The trommel Is fitted with 1/16a mesh. The uoderslie pes to west* The overslse delivers te a shaking screes where suction is applied te rereve the fibre. The material passing tee socker pes back % the elevator and Into the erushar. The fibre lifted from the bd' Is also asplrstsd Into the cyclone and tee fibre &on here Is discharged on te tee floor and harrowed te the treatamt section. * The -a fractions are delivered te a bln. Hare the ore is fjd through a tronmal with ia mate. The undrslst pu to a hsa u :-:vS?jr -19- which blows the fibre and rock into a cyclone. This eydone discharges through an airlock Into a trommel fitted with 1/16 osh* The undersize pes to tailings and the oversize es to *. PU fA*air separator. The dean fibre froa this separator is discharged on'to the floor and sent to the cleaning section. The roek and dust e to waste. The oversize from the first trosael pes to a Cobra Mill then to a cyclone and then to a trommel. This trommel-Has two meshes fitted. The underaise from this fine mesh pes to tailings, the undersize fro a the coarse mesh pesback to the Cobra Mill fbt further fib arising and the discharge from the trommel which is mainly fibre pes on to the floor and is harrowed to the cleaning section. The tailing are very high and tould probably assay up to 6. ' - The cleaning and grading section is quite compact and 1 divided into three lines each treating from 1-2 tons fibre per hour. They are set up to treat various grades bat at the time of the inspection they were all treating one grade. The flbre fed Into the cleaning section is very gritty and Is hand fed to a screw feeder. This goes to a Cobra Mill running In rewa^se. nils blows the fibre to a cyclone which torn discharges enough a airlock to a trommel. The -1/16* aesh lines are discarded. Xh trocoel discharges to a grit sarator - the grit returning to th Cobra Mill. The fibre is aspirated to a cyclone and then to a \ daAiatine machine. The fines from this machine are discarded. The fibre then goes to a double screw bagging machine. The machine discharge is an oval shape end the 2o* z Mf* bag fits comfortably over the spout which is about 16* long. The operator holdz the bag with a twisted beLt and allows It to slip off as it is filled. The bag holds 100 lbs. comfortably bit the fibre appears to be Joalind. a lot of &AA& 1* generated by the machine. There iz e generous cfeearance between the zerev and the oval cover - at least 1". The bagz ere head setc end ztacked. l/9d. etch. The bags cost Milling iz under toe control of a fiorsan. The mill operatez on tw 10 hour shifts. Four hours each day from noon to 4 p.m. iz taken up with malntmiance. Xher are at least 60 natives on each shift. Mapxets are zet up in toe cleenlng section to rove ax teal or iron. The beaters in the Hmsmer Mills last from 15 - 2** hours There does cot appear to be very mch wear in toe cyclones. Saeh cyclone has longtitudinal ribs do each eone about 2* - 3* wide. The ribs are lined with heavy wear plates (old beaters). Thiz stops excessive wear on toe cones. The Oast Collecting system is mch toe same es toe one being Installed at Vltteaoom. All toe dnsty areas are nclos* with galvanised iron zooms and are sealed. There are inseetl* toors fitted. The dust is exhausted by a large fan and this passes into a V.V. ,type Bo to dona. The rotodone has not ben : operation yet because of e shortage of water. They beve run rotodone without water - the dust from toe eahmst appears as a ary fine haze. Todd stressed that ell doors snst be kmt dosed fbr _^od operation. The general atsphere around toe plant was quite g>od. The ore le rich end would be atout 3D% fibre cntlng toe plent. -& The recovery is poor and is In the order ,.f fio 65%. mars Mining costs ere etout 15 per ton* Milling costs vary from 10 - 11 per ton. . -- freight is about 6 per ton* * the fibre Is carted to the railhead *o miles ever by the road bus which takes out etout 10 tons each trip in a trail- points rspM PISgJSSTOHS with Mr.Stevart and Mr.todd. Central are rather worsted about their rising costs. When told of the trend at VLtteaoom they remarked that In a sho tine they would be hiehar than this flmre. They could rot see any possibility of reducing their costs. Mechanisation 1 not possible in any of their nines and nlll recovery een only be improved by the addition of plant. they are both rather keen on dispd&lng with the varioi grades of fibre. it present they sake A, S and.-SS and B.0.M* grade (run of sine grade). This last naaed Is tha grade produced at Wittenooa. Both mm thought that this slngL* grads would be acceptable to customers everywhere* They assessed the annual production of blue fibre at betveen 6000 - 70,000 tons par annum* this vas allowing Wltteooom S.000 tons* thay do not antl^ate that thay will inareast their production at all* Thay intimated that presen ora resarves ware sufficient tor 2D years at tha production rat of 1300 tons per month* They firmly bellava that a price Increase will operate in to years. Btpg ASB-ESTOS CO. area* this is the other blue asbsstos mine la the Xurumaa Ho visit was made to this mine but from conversations Xurumaa and in Johannesburg the tollowiag information was gaiaec the mine is financed by the Sehmidhelny group who put up the major part of the capital* Zt Is managed by two Armstrong brothers. Their ore ^ reserves ere not large and efist in pockets similar to the area: already described* The maximum Anticipated output is reported to be 10,000 tons per asms. This figiretos not yet been attained but almst the total production is absorbed by tba Schmidtheiny combine. According to fir.Xeep, Cbnsultlng feglaaer tor Cepe At Asbestos Limited, his Company Is not very happy about the Xuruman Cape Blue Company* They allege that confusion has arisen because of the similarity of nan end that the Xurumaa people are feeding on his flospany'a name end reputation* this vas tha general opinion In Xurumaa also* these latter reports were {Leaned from conversations and no facts were obtained to substaatlete them* -a- p M y* *T This atm vas visited on 6th and 7th March. The visit vas aade In the coop any of Or .Keep. Consul tine Engineer to Cape asbestos Company. the journey vas made la their Comoany* s Beaver aircraft and the 370 mile trip occupied 2 hours *0 minutes. Poofret is only a snail settlesent almost on the Bechuanaland border. It is connected by road to Vryburg - the nearest railhead. They have telephone coaainication with all the rest of the Onion. Water Is a problem. They drav their vatar from bores most of which have a very small output. PE&30WH. General Manager - Kill Superlntendant Chief frglaear - Major A. A. Ackerman. L. Jacobsen. V. Jack ell. Thera vas co Under ground Manager - the mine vas In charge of a foreman C. de Longm. OBS flBSERTCS They are mining a small area at present - a'quick calculation from the sine plans shoved the teenage te be in the vicinity of *+50.000 tons. This is practically a nev area Arriba.* only been opened up tor eight months. ' There is no more ore knot but prospecting is being don# in the country adjacot. This nev area is about 2s miles from the old Fomfret mine. KTWTffG This is done by pillar and stop# method. There Is an inclined shaft *+5 vhich pes down te a depth of 180 feet. The country is quite good. Mining Is done on the fibre seam and this Is iolloved along the oontours with the result that the drir undulate frequently and tha haulage problem is quite difficult. The stopes are 22 ft. high and pillars are at 15 ft. Intervals . the pillars being 8* x 8'. She grade of ore is ate 19$ fibre. Tha face is fired In three sections. After each firing the ora is cleared by band shovelling and barrovs. Zn parts of the mine the grade is dote as low as 8$. All boisting is done by small electric hoists. It is rstber a oonpliceted touting ays tan because there is a email toil at tha tope of each dip in tha drive and there Is inch unhooking and booking up of trucks. Or.Keep vas questioned on the economy of such methods and his reply was that tha sine vas not big enough to mine under the fibre and make leva! drives. They prefred the presoat Idea arm ttougb it appeared rather ludicrous and wasteful. Or.Keep took over the position as Consulting toginaer ato six months aga and She devised and controls all mining methods. The sine Is vary claan and fairly dry. Xt is neatly laid oat and is very tidy. Thara is avary appearance of pod order. The ore Is draia to the surface by a large hoist - tour trucks at a time, averaging about 1 ton each. The ore is demo. The ore is damped into a bln tdto a bar frizzly on too top. * Sacing is 8*. Thera are about 2) natives vorldAg on too ma*. *y sort out tho largo ploeaa of ora vhich will not pass throng tha grizzly and hand feed to to a S" x 8a Jaw Crutoer. -22- pioaHfi ^scnotf Thi ore froa the Mine Bin Is fed by an apron feedar to a vibrating screen having a im mesh on It. The fines are discharged on to a belt end this takes the fines avay to a *'r where they are sundrled. They are feeding a small tonnage of fines back to the aaln plant as they beooae sufficiently dry. It is their Intention to instal a drier as soon as possible. The oversize ^es to a long inclined oonveyor where primary picking is carried out. There are natives picking waste. . The waste rock is thrown Into bins which discharges to a belt directly below the picking belt. This runs parallel with the picking belt and discharges into a waste rock bln alongside the ore bin. The waste rock is taken eway by small trucks which discharge over a dump. The ore is dumped iron the bin to 6 ton lorries and is transported 2g nlles to the hill KTMTVa This is a very si^le process. The sill Is a fairly large building but the majority of this is taken up by the picking sections. They run only two shifts per day - one 10 hour shift and one 9 hour shift - 5 hours are taken up by maintenrance. Crushing is done on 2 shifts. Their production ala Is 600 tons per month and they hope to aalntaln this figure. The sill flow sheet is shown. 1 description is as follows** xne ore is fed on to a picking belt where waste is pick* This Is thrown into piles by the side of the belt and whealed away In barrows. The picked ore passes into a Tel sad th Jaw Crushar set 2 - 2s" and then pes to a 2 deck Kennedy Screen with 1" and f* Bashes. The " fraction goes to the final scram be&fce the Mill Surge Bin. ..The tl* fraction goes to a piddng belt about 60 feet long. Froa the first seotlon of the belt waste Is picked and thrown Into bins. Froa tbe second section long fibre Is picked and Is thrown into chutes to barrows. This long fibre is taken away to a sorting dung) to be sorted into various lengths by about 190 aen, woaaa and children. These are spec grades. The picked ore passes Into a 2 ft. Symons Crusher. She *$* -1" fraction g to t picking belt where sons waste rode is resoved. The belt discharges to a chute and t ore Joins the discharge from the Symons crueher. The Symons is set to i". She three products^ fines from the first scream, picked ore -1*. and the discharge from the Symons ell are fed on to another Kennedy vibrating screen. Shis is fitted *th a V32" mesh. The oversize goes to the KU1 Bln and the under site g>es to waste. I C ..............*5. -23- The or# in the .Surge Bln appeared to be quite dea: - wetter th*n Wittenooa feed* The ore vas fed to the Hill in tto lines each takiae atout 10 t.p.h. * The ore passel into Christy 4 Norris Hammer Kill hl' discharged into an elevator. This elevated the ore to a troma* The trommel was fitted with 1/16" aesh. The undersize vit to waste. The oversize was discharged to a Canadian type screen fitted with t%o decks yi6" aesh and V32" aesh. The -V32* fraction went to vests. Fibre was aspirated fro* the top deck only to a central cyclone. The TXnHersi'ze and oversize froa the two lines then joined together and fed into another Christy 4 Norris Rammer Mill which discharged Into a trooael fitted with 1/16" aesh. The undersize vent to vasts. The oversize was fed on to a Canadian single deck screen fitted vlth yi6* aesh. There vas aspiration of both undersize and oversize. The undersize and oversize passed to a vibrating screen after aspiration. This screen vas fltte3'uTt& V32* aesh. Here there vas again aspiration of the undersize and oversize, after which all the ore vent to waste. The tailings were rich and would appear to assay 4 - 5 The fibre vas all aspirated to one central cyclone hl discharged through a rotary valve to a single ecre^ bagging eachl No attemot was Bade to clean the fibre and it vas very dirty. Jacobsen said the fibre assayed 6.8 stone and dust but a surreotltlous look at some analysts r^orts gave figures as high as 15% and each report oontalned the note "Fibre too dusty". The -2)0 aesh figure averaged 35. There vas not ouch attnpt Bade to control or slldinate dust. 'A'iarge dust fan, fitted with a to H.P., so asperated dust froa several points Into a sock about 12" in dieseife an* ' o- long. The discharge fros this sock vas arrowed outside. r Vhlle the Bill vas running It vas oost difficult to S< anyvhce in the plant. They are not very satisfied with the Christy it Norn* Hamer Kills and they are changing over to Cobra Kills - one vas practically installed. The beaters with the Chnsty 4 Horns type last only 55 minutes, but they ehange the beaters In 7 minutes. The Canadian screen Is very such similar to the Deaovan screen at Temeraire but it Is very cumbersoae and unwield They do Mt like this unit. All tronaelz are circular. They get pod wear fros the cyclones - the cones are fitted with nbs. The bags of fibre are handset and stacked by hand. The fibre is transported &ob the Bine by railway buses. The alii is run by 2 fiiropeans and 12 natives per shl There are to - 60 natives per shift in thpicid.ng section and -about 150 juttwJP toaJ.9QA J3.bre sorting area. The Bill feeder units are fitted *.th "Servis" clock: which issue a 24 tour chart of all Bill running tours and stoppages. Kill recovery vas only 6o% ss 9 I-.*-.*. ... 1" -* W I- I -24- + * wiua appear tni operations at witteroom mining ana milling are veil ahead of those at PoafTet. a?wasr. There are ahout 2? houses in the settlnent and there a. # only 100 Europeans In the area. There are over 450 netlvt There is. a Mine Club vhlch is licensed and the community life centres around this. The club has a tannls court, bowling green and swimming pool* The vater from the pool is used to water the iowding gram. Host of the equipment in the Club has been supplied by the Company on an incentive schwe dep asdic on the production rate* They are at present trying to obtain a billiard table - the target fir vhlch is $90 tons of fibre p< month for six conseative oaths. ill vegetables are grown in * club grounds by hydrophonies and this method appears to be mjst successful. Each Saturday the produce is divided among the Zi families - the amount for each family depending on the number o; adults end children. They have a football ground end their tennis* bowling end football teams cospete as far away as Kefelding - 170 miles. ill houses have septic systnos* The Ouest Bouse is next to the Manager's house and can accommodate five people* The surrounding country la mostly low ranges and Is rather barn On returning to Johannesburg an interview was obtain* with Mr.Cornish Bovder. the Managing Director of the Cape asbest Co op any. Be advised that they were building a nev treeteant &lant at paesk* but this would not be ready for 12 months. hen questioned about their fibre quality he said that he sav nc reason to clean 1* -- '.tzz at present but admitted that several co.-rlaiftt# nad been received. He also said that cleaning equipment would be installed at Pruaka. Re favoured the one grade of fibre rather than several different onee. Ke was interested in the vet proeesa at tattanoon and said that they were using water at Pange to aeparata long amoslt# from the sock. Penge appeared to be their main worry. They cannot meet thedr tonaltoents this year and James Bardie are one firm vhleh has been drastically reduced. They are spending 750.000 at Penge within the next two years. This is under Dr.Keep's control. They ere experimenting with Baseaag crushers end 1t*c themst suceeesfUl on amoslte. Ee would not give any eplnioi on their performance on b&ue fibre but said they would prefer ac to use th; in angury was made regarding the four 3 ft. Symons crushers iv in crates at Penge but he said be would contact Kr.Broadhurst later on this matter. It appeared that they vert undesided whether these units would be used In the future layout at Penge end pfleaka. Be said that relations betveA his (fcapany and Central Asbestos were much more cordisl than previoualy. Be Intimated that he end Dr.Keep would be vlaltLng Australia late this year end would like to visit t&ttcoom. , ....... -25ISTffiViaf vlth Hr.Poume vid Hr-S-Chrma ef Equip a ant Limited. Cradinr This firm have ennufactured most of tha equipment used in tha blue asbestos Industry in South Africa. They are only a soall Urn but they aooear to have aporoaehed each pro hi an in the oorreet manner and have tried to adapt their machines to suit each type of ore. They manufacture the Cobra KLli, alpha Cleaning Unit. Rotary Valves, Cyclones and D.U.F. A.,Alr Classifiers. An outline of the process at Vittanoom vas given and they suggested various points at which thair machines could be used. The unit which appealed most vas the Cobra KLli. Having seen these machlos in action at Kuruman It seems likely that they tould par form quite satisfactorily. Tha wear on the beaters la a problem and it appears that they would lest appxosdmately 1? shifts. They vere asked to submit all the incarnation they had oc the various machines to Wlttenoom giving prices and possible delivery. Zt vas also suggested that tney sail the plans of the machines so that they could be manufactured locally. ysgySSTOK vi.th-Mr.fUlcan -Director of the Chamber of Hines. A discussion vas held vlth Mr.Fulcan Just prior to leaving Johannesburg fbr Australia. He had visited Australia lx 1953 lor he fifth aspire Mining Gangress. His estimate of Sroductlon of blue fibre In South Africa vas **5,0*00 - 50,000 tons. e also confirmed that ore reserves appeared to b) sufficient ibr only Z) years at present rate of roduftH-r, He gave aome very interesting details of tha uranium and diamond production for tha currant year. The value of these three minerals ves anticipated to be more than 350,000,000 stg. Be offered to provide any information on the mineral industries in South Africa should it be desired at any future det. IMTSBVlBf with._Mr. P. Bardin* - Sales Director of African Associated Min*a. aaiawwi. This Cbqpany bed refused permission fbr a visit to their asbestos mines at Shabanl but a courtesy call vas made to their offices in Bulavayo. Kr.Dugsore the Managing Director vae abseo on leave in Captfmvn and Mr.Harding vas In charge. The intarviev vas mast unsatisfactory and KrSardlng appeared to be reluctent to discuss any of thair activities and vas pleased then the interview vas over. He said that at some future date it ma be convenient fbr someone from Australie to visit their mine. v . .*** *