South Africa's Valterra Saves 203 Million Rand Annually with Jameson Flotation Cells

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 23, Valterra Platinum disclosed that after deploying the Jameson Cell flotation system at the North Concentrator of its Mogalakwena platinum group metals mine in South Africa, annualized cost savings have reached 203 million rand, while reducing concentrate transport volume equivalent to approximately 3,000 truckloads. The project replaced approximately 44 conventional flotation cells with 4 Jameson Cells, reducing the pull rate of concentrate mass and thereby decreasing the entry of valueless gangue into downstream transport and smelting processes.

The Jameson Cells at the Mogalakwena North Concentrator were commissioned with 4 units in the first quarter of 2025. Valterra previously disclosed that the project's core objective was to increase concentrate grade and reduce total concentrate volume without lowering platinum group metals recovery, thereby reducing concentrate transport and smelting loads. By mid-2025, the company had recorded a 9% decrease in mass pull rate, a 9% reduction in the number of vehicles on the road compared with December 2024, and a 5% decrease in energy use.

As the system continued to be optimized, the reduction effects further expanded. Valterra's 2025 sustainability report shows that the mass pull rate at the Mogalakwena North Concentrator decreased by 21% compared with fiscal year 2024, while concentrate grade increased by 16%. Since the project was launched in March 2025, smelting electricity consumption has been cumulatively reduced by 37,141 MWh, corresponding to savings of approximately 108.8 million rand in electricity costs; concentrate transport volume has been cumulatively reduced by 47,924 tonnes, corresponding to savings of approximately 14.5 million rand in transport costs, while also reducing approximately 38,627 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions.

The comprehensive effects in the company's latest September disclosure further expanded to annualized cost savings of 203 million rand, accompanied by a reduction in transport volume equivalent to approximately 3,000 trucks, with energy consumption and carbon emissions in the smelting stage continuing to decline. Valterra stated that the higher bubble-particle contact efficiency of the Jameson Cell allows the system to use more depressants to suppress clay and other materials not desired in the concentrate, while maintaining platinum group metals recovery. The ore at Mogalakwena has a high content of clay and gangue, and reducing the entry of these materials into the concentrate directly reduces the ineffective mass processed at the Polokwane smelter.

Following the retrofit of the Mogalakwena North Concentrator, the company has advanced research into applying Jameson Cells at the South Concentrator. Valterra previously planned to evaluate Jameson Cell applications for primary flotation and cleaner flotation in the South Concentrator's flotation cell replacement project, with the goal of implementation in 2027; the company also plans to study extending similar mass pull optimization solutions to other concentrators during the period from 2026 to 2028.

Valterra currently operates 7 concentrators, of which Mogalakwena has two, the South and North Concentrators. Concentrate produced at Mogalakwena is mainly processed at the Polokwane smelter, which is equipped with a 68 MW electric furnace. By removing more gangue at the beneficiation stage in advance, the amount of concentrate entering the smelting stage decreases while platinum group metals grade increases, directly reducing the processing load of subsequent transport and energy-intensive smelting stages.