Derailment Sees Transnet Shut Down Ore Line

Transnet announced Saturday that it was shutting down an ore rail one after the derailment of a train with ore onboard.

The line between the Sishen mine owned by Kumba Iron Ore and the Saldhana port would take the parastatal some time to clear. It is used by Kumba to export steel and ore to foreign markets.

Sandile Simelane of Transnet said : “we will need to conduct an enquiry to establish what happened. We will also need to clear the iron ore (from the rail track) before the line can be opened, but I can't tell when this is going to happen”.

Kumba was recently involved in an ugly dispute with ArcelorMittal over pricing for iron ore delivered by the mining group to them. The dispute ended this week after the intervention of government Minister Rob Davies.

Transnet transports about 44.7 million tons of ore annually.

Source newstime.co.za

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Derailment Sees Transnet Shut Down Ore Line

Transnet announced Saturday that it was shutting down an ore rail one after the derailment of a train with ore onboard.

The line between the Sishen mine owned by Kumba Iron Ore and the Saldhana port would take the parastatal some time to clear. It is used by Kumba to export steel and ore to foreign markets.

Sandile Simelane of Transnet said : “we will need to conduct an enquiry to establish what happened. We will also need to clear the iron ore (from the rail track) before the line can be opened, but I can't tell when this is going to happen”.

Kumba was recently involved in an ugly dispute with ArcelorMittal over pricing for iron ore delivered by the mining group to them. The dispute ended this week after the intervention of government Minister Rob Davies.

Transnet transports about 44.7 million tons of ore annually.

Source newstime.co.za

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Derailment Sees Transnet Shut Down Ore Line

Transnet announced Saturday that it was shutting down an ore rail one after the derailment of a train with ore onboard.

The line between the Sishen mine owned by Kumba Iron Ore and the Saldhana port would take the parastatal some time to clear. It is used by Kumba to export steel and ore to foreign markets.

Sandile Simelane of Transnet said : “we will need to conduct an enquiry to establish what happened. We will also need to clear the iron ore (from the rail track) before the line can be opened, but I can't tell when this is going to happen”.

Kumba was recently involved in an ugly dispute with ArcelorMittal over pricing for iron ore delivered by the mining group to them. The dispute ended this week after the intervention of government Minister Rob Davies.

Transnet transports about 44.7 million tons of ore annually.

Source newstime.co.za

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Expansion plans for Saldanha Bay port on the West Coast

A remarkable transport/engineering feat happened during last year’s Christmas season – on 27 December – at the Sishen railway station. It literally set the wheels in motion for far-reaching results, especially so for Saldanha’s iron ore export effort.

On that day the last of ten trains left the Northern Cape’s iron export station for Saldanha, almost 1 000 km to the south. Its successful departure would determine whether the iron ore team could claim victory by reaching the one million ton per week throughput mark. And so it did, to much jubilation amongst the teams involved.

There was purpose to this exercise – to push iron ore exports, through the Port of Saldanha, at a rate of 60 million tons a year on a continuous basis by the end of this year. SA Port Operations is under continual pressure from the Northern Cape mining operations, especially Kumba and Assmang, to increase export capacity.

During a visit to the bulk terminal in Saldanha, chief executive Karl Socikwa last month told CBN the third phase (1C) of the terminal expansion plan is now in full swing, with the aim to lift export capacity to 60 million tons per annum. This comes in at a cost of R630 million, all earmarked to improve the infrastructure at the port.

During the past financial year, ending March 2010, the port loaded a record of 44 million tons of iron ore, almost 70% of it for Far East markets, more notably China.

During 2004 Terminal Expansion Phase 1A was completed, at a cost of R950 million, lifting capacity from 28 mtpa to 36 million tons per annum. Last year Terminal Expansion Phase 1B was completed, expanding capacity to 47 mtpa.

The current ramp-up of the corridor to 60 mtpa is reliant on the channel achieving certain milestones within certain pre-defined time frames.

One of these critical milestones was for the channel to move from an average of 920 000 tons per week to around a million tons per week in the first quarter of 2010. Breaking through this psychological barrier early was necessary to set the tone for this year. Now it’s all about sustainability at these levels.

The bulk terminal at the Port of Saldanha, which is the last link in the iron ore corridor supply chain is where all the action happens in terms of offloading, stacking and stockpiling, reclaiming and loading the ore onto bulk carrier ships.

It is estimated that well in excess of R5 billion has so far been spent to increase iron ore exports from the deep-water port to meet the growing demand for South Africa’s high-quality iron ore. Although volumes have been down of recent months, all seems set to sustain the one million ton target to create capacity ahead of demand.

Currently the infrastructure at the port comprises two rotary tipplers, four stacker reclaimers, two shiploaders and 25 conveying systems, providing the terminal with a capacity to off-load 10 000 tons per hour onto a ship.

But much money will still be spent on to expand infrastructure as the port is gearing up to increase capacity to more than 80 million tons per annum in the not too distant future.

Environmental impact studies are needed for the establishment of new infrastructure on some 141 hectares of land. This part of the proposed project could have the biggest impact on the sensitive environment of the bay and lagoon.

The plan is to reclaim an additional 50 hectares of land within Saldanha Bay. This will be done by dredger. The shipping channel will be deepened and the material recovered will be used for the construction of new shipping berths.

Another footprint area which could be impacted, is 35 hectares of land in the undisturbed dune area on the coast between the iron ore quay and the Saldanha Mittal Steel Plant. The intention is also to fill in the so called ‘Oyster Dam’ to create more space for stockpiling iron ore within the confines of Saldanha Bay.

The size of trains and the number of ships calling at Saldanha’s port will also increase when the facilities are enlarged to handle more iron ore. Ships calling at the port of Saldanha will also increase in size and number. Two ships a week, being about a hundred a year, called at Saldanha in 2007 to load iron ore. Even though bigger ships will be loading, it’s anticipated that shipping volume will now increase to more than 200 vessels a year.

Source cbn.co.za

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Strike at Saldanha port, Kumba has iron ore for 7 days.

Thousands of South African transport workers went on strike on Monday at logistics group Transnet, threatening to cripple rail, fuel pipelines and port operations in Africa's biggest economy.

The strike - the latest in a series of public protests ahead of next month's soccer World Cup - could affect coal and iron-ore exports, fuel distribution, and shipping.

Power utility Eskom said the strike, which began after failed wage talks, would have no impact on the transport of coal used to power its plants, as only small amounts of coal were carried by rail, with the rest supplied by conveyor belts directly from mines.

Transnet does not run passenger train services,

The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) said it expected all of its 20 000 members to strike. Another union, the United Transport and Allied Trade Union (Utatu) has urged its members to consider Transnet's latest pay offer and to report for duty on Monday.

If Utatu's members reject the offer, the union said it would join the strike by Wednesday. The two unions represent 85% of Transnet's workforce of about 54 000 people.

Both unions want a 15% pay increase. Transnet has now offered 11%.

"We can keep this strike going as long as the employer has not met our demands," saidJoseph Dube, Satawu's secretary for the KwaZulu Natal province.

Fifteen people were hurt when police fired rubber bullets at them in the port city of Durban after they failed to follow a police order to disperse, the SAPA news agency said.

Transnet and coal, iron-ore, ferrochrome and fuel producers, said they were confident they could supply customers for days due to built up stocks at the ports.

"The strike will not have a material immediate impact on our exports," said Pranill Ramchander, an Anglo American spokesman.

The group's thermal coal unit is the country's biggest coal exporter. South Africa exports most of its coal to power stations in Europe, but increasingly to Asia as well.

For now, operations at Richards Bay Coal Terminal, the world's largest coal export terminal, have been running as normal, Chief Executive Raymond Chirwa said.

"Depending on ship arrivals, our stocks could last us for three to four weeks," he said.

Kumba Iron Ore, also an Anglo unit, said the company had sufficient stocks at Saldanha port to keep loading vessels for at least seven days.

If the strike is prolonged, it could have a serious impact on the country's ferrochrome industry, the world's largest. Hernic Ferrochrome, a unit of Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation, relies on Transnet for 75% of its transports.

Freshgold SA Exports, which ships fresh produce out of the country said its operations were being hit.

"The strike has physically halted our container loadings from this morning ... if it's a week the impact will be quite severe," said Freshgold MD Pieter von Maltitz.

news source http://www.engineeringnews.co.za

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JOHANNESBURG & ERIE, Pa., Dec 18, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- GE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating-- GE South African Technologies (GESAT), GE Transportation's entity in South Africa, announced today that it has signed a landmark contract with Transnet Limited to supply Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) with 100 locomotives. TFR is South Africa's state-owned rail freight logistics utility; Transnet Limited is its parent company. Ten of the locomotives will be manufactured in Erie and Grove City, USA and 90 will be manufactured locally at Transnet Rail Engineering's site in South Africa with kits provided by GE Transportation.

"We are pleased that GE is helping drive South Africa towards a lead manufacturing economy by localizing the production of locomotives in South Africa. We look forward to sharing some of our global success with Transnet and thus jointly expanding our regional footprint," said Lorenzo Simonelli, President and CEO of GE Transportation. "GE's extensive knowledge in localizing locomotive assembly can be witnessed in some of the world's leading developing economies such as China, Brazil and Kazakhstan. Each of our global manufacturing sites has been specifically customized in line with customer and country requirements and capabilities. We worked closely with Transnet Rail Engineering to develop a comprehensive localization plan that complements local strengths and transfers world-class skills and technology where applicable."

In December 2008, GE Transportation signed an agreement with one of South Africa's foremost Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) companies, Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC), to establish the subsidiary GE South Africa Technologies (Pty) Limited (GESAT), allowing the company to more actively participate in South Africa's social and economic transformation in the rail industry. Commenting on the announcement of this contract, Tshidi Madima, Executive Director of the MIC stated, "We are delighted that GESAT has been successful in winning this Transnet Freight Rail contract as this is an excellent example of the type of participation in the South African economy that was anticipated in the creation of GESAT 12 months ago."

GE's model C30ACi, the first AC diesel electric locomotive to be introduced to sub-Saharan Africa, will have an engine that delivers 3,300 Gross HorsePower (GHP) using an electronic fuel-injection system that automatically supplies the exact amount of fuel needed for optimal engine efficiency. The locomotives will also feature GE's unique AC propulsion technology and dynamic braking. The addition of these new locomotives, which will be used to haul freight and coal, will decrease life-cycle costs, improve fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. The first locomotives and kits are scheduled to be delivered in early 2011; locomotive assembly in country, with kits from Erie and engines from Grove City, should begin at the end of 2010.

GE Transportation in South Africa

A trusted partner and supplier to the rail and mining industries in South Africa, GE Transportation has an installed base of some 1,200 GE locomotives in Africa including approximately 900 in South Africa. In 2008, GE Transportation took South Africa's Western Cape Orex line to the next level with the longest productiontrain in the world, made possible through the LOCOTROL technology solution. This distributed power system - a first in South Africa - allows longer, safer trains on the critical Western Cape Saldanha Bay iron ore export line. Orex is the only heavy-haul iron-ore railway line in South Africa and the second-longest iron-ore railway line in the world at some 861 kilometers. It feeds the port of Saldanha Bay, for export to a global market hungry for South African iron ore. Until now, the carrying capacity of the line itself has been a major barrier to increasing economy-boosting iron ore exports.

GE Transportation has a long and successful history of operations and activities throughout Africa. As a global technology leader in transportation, GE Transportation is committed to help delivering world-class transportation, infrastructure development, and technology solutions -- a key prerequisite for sustainable economic growth. GE Transportation has a presence on the African continent with recent locomotive sales in Nigeria and Egypt.

About GE Transportation

Established more than 100 years ago, GE Transportation, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), is a global technology leader and supplier to the railroad, marine, drilling, mining and wind industries. GE provides freight and passenger locomotives, railway signaling and communications systems, information technology solutions, marine engines, motorized drive systems for mining trucks and drills, high-quality replacement parts and value added services. GE Transportation is headquartered in Erie, Pennsylvania, USA, and employs approximately 10,000 employees worldwide. For more information visit www.getransportation.com.

SOURCE: GE Transportation

GE Transportation  Tom Scott, +33 6-35-24-92-33 (cell)  thomasxavier.scott@ge.com  or  Stephan Koller, +1 814-431-3150 (cell)  stephan.koller@ge.com

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Kumba Assesses Participation in the Sishen-Saldanha Iron Ore Railway Line

South Africa’s largest iron ore exporter Kumba Iron Ore would like to get directly involved in the operation of the Sishen-Saldanha railway line, according to its CEO Chris Griffith. Mr Griffith acknowledged the issue was a sensitive one. This is because although Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) maintains it is running Sishen-Saldanha to international best practice, Mr Griffith believes it could be better operated with private sector involvement. Two of Kumba’s competitors – Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton maintain they have a competitive advantage in the iron ore export business because they own and operate their own railway lines and port handling infrastructure in Western Australia. Mr Griffith agreed with that assessment. Transnet acting CEO Chris Wells has strongly defended TFR’s running of the Sishen-Saldanha line. He said he was aware of the criticism, but said: “On any measure you care to apply, we are running the Sishen-Saldanha line as a world class operation.” The eventual outcome of this debate could have major implications for the proposed increase of export capacity on the line beyond the current planned expansion to 60 million tonnes (mt) per year. Mr Griffith said : “Transnet has not done a bad job, but we believe the line can be run better. If there was an opportunity to run those assets in collaboration with government, we would jump at it. But there are some things you can change and others you can’t. You have to just get on and make the best of the environment in which you find yourself.” Transnet has just completed the Phase 1A expansion of capacity on the line to 41mt/year, and is about to start the Phase 1B expansion to 47mt/year. The para-statal said in its 2009 financial results that approval “in principle” had been obtained to go ahead with the R4.3bn Phase 1C expansion to 60mt/year. The country’s two major iron ore exporters, Kumba and Assmang, previously indicated their desire to push exports well above the 60mt/year level and had been talking about going to 95mt/year. The first indication this may not happen was given on October 29, when Mr Wells said : “There has been a rethink on the economics of further expansion to the 95mt/year capacity. After assessing the capital cost of getting to 95mt/year, it’s clear that a prohibitive tariff would have to be charged. The result is that iron ore exporters are still keen to expand their capacity above 60mt/year, but not to 95mt/year.” That’s not quite the way the iron ore exporters see the situation. A source said: “On the Transnet figures, there is not going to be any expansion of the Sishen-Saldanha line above 60mt/year. The cost and the tariff are just too high. “We have to take a radically different approach to find a solution. We need to get in new people with fresh views to assess the situation. Maybe we need to get the work done by Chinese contractors if that will drastically reduce the estimated cost.” A major change already being looked at for any growth beyond 60mt/year is to diversify the line to handle about 12mt/year of manganese exports as well as iron ore. South Africa’s manganese deposits are located in the same region of the Northern Cape as the iron ore deposits. Mr Wells said Transnet was looking at a proposal to push capacity on the line to just under 90mt/year, of which 75mt would be allocated to the iron ore exporters and 12mt to the manganese mines. The balance of about 2mt/year is being kept in reserve for small black economic empowerment (BEE) iron ore producers, of which there are as yet none. Mr Griffith welcomed the decision to include the manganese exporters on the line, with one proviso which concerned the design of the expanded port facilities to handle the two commodities. He said: “We believe the mining industry has a role to play in the expansion above 60mt/year. Our key concern as iron ore exporters is to ensure that there is no contamination of the iron ore stockpiles at Saldanha Bay from the manganese stockpiles. “That is a huge issue for us, and the expanded port has to be designed to make sure that this does not happen.“ Mr Griffith added Transnet and the iron ore exporters had a window of about three years to carry out the necessary studies assessing the future of the Sishen-Saldanha line above 60mt/year. miningmx

Story copied from http://www.kathugazette.com

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Sishen to Saldanha draft scope for Transnet

I was recently looking for more information about the growth potential of the West Coast and came across this scoping draft report it makes very interesting reading, it was too big to post on the site so I added a link below.

DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL SCOPING REPORT
(DEAT APPLICATION NO. 12/12/20/806)
for the proposed
PHASE 2 EXPANSION OF THE TRANSNET IRON ORE HANDLING
FACILITY, SALDANHA BAY, WESTERN CAPE

here is the full draft with forcasts into 2020

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