Ironveld completes smelter refurbishment

Starts producing high-purity iron ahead of schedule.

Ironveld has confirmed its subsidiary, Ironveld Smelting, has completed refurbishment of the first of the three furnaces at the Rustenburg smelter complex. It has also successfully produced metal from the furnace, marking a transformational step in the company’s development.

The first furnace is already smelting magnetite ore into marketable products of titanium slag and HPI, marking a transformational step in the company’s development.

Martin Eales, CEO of Ironveld, commented: “Our aim is to create a sustainable, socially, and environmentally responsible operation that will prove to be rewarding for all stakeholders. This news that Ironveld Smelting has successfully smelted ore into marketable metal products in the first operating furnace is a fantastic achievement for the whole Ironveld team.

“I would like to thank all our staff for making this happen in just over four months since we set foot on the ground in Rustenburg to start work at the smelter. We anticipate first revenues from initial production comfortably in line with our original expectation of Q2,2023. We will be issuing further updates as the phased recommissioning process at Rustenburg continues.”

First production at Rustenburg smelter
As announced in the company’s most recent Progress Update on 9 December 2022, the refurbishment work at the Rustenburg smelter complex is proceeding well against the planned six-to-nine-month schedule envisaged at the commencement of works.

During December 2022 ‘Cold Commissioning’ of mechanical equipment at the smelter was successfully completed, which has been followed over the holiday period by ‘Hot Commissioning’ of the first of three planned operating furnaces.

The furnace has now successfully smelted test quantities of magnetite ore to produce HPI and titanium slag of marketable standard for the first time. Initial analysis of the HPI confirms that it meets planned quality and content specifications.

Next steps
In the coming weeks operations from the first furnace will be tested and optimised and be extended to include production of vanadium slag, which requires a further processing step. First production sales are still in line to be achieved by Q2,2023 as planned.

The second and third furnaces at the smelter continue to be refurbished and are both anticipated to be in production by April 2023. Once the three furnaces are fully operational, the complex will be capable of processing approximately 40 000 tons of Ironveld’s magnetite ore per annum which, in turn, will provide the following approximate quantities of finished products per annum: 20 000 tons of high purity iron; 190 tons of vanadium in slag and 3 800 tons of titanium in slag.