Mining and related engineering disciplines
Services on offer
- Mining
- Mining Infrastructure
- Value Engineering – Mine Finance
- Explosives
- Forensics
- Environmental
- Geology Short
- High Temperature Modular Reactor (HTMR)
- Bespoke Water Purification Plants
Mineral exploration
- Mineral geological reconnaissance and exploration for new deposits including coal bed methane (CBM), helium and natural gas.
- Engineering, structural and economic geology.
- Mineral resource modelling for a variety of minerals, coal, CBM, helium and natural gas.
- Hydrological, hydrogeological, ecological and other exploration related services.
- Geophysical surveys.
Mine design and development
- Mineral reserve development and optimization for open pit and open cast operations.
- Gasification and gas extraction.
- Mine and operation valuations according to recognized mine valuation standards such as SAMREC, SAMVAL and JORC.
- Mine and engineering costing and cost modelling.
Plant design and development
- Design and development of ore preparation, beneficiation and extractive systems for a wide variety of minerals and commodities.
- Lump Sum TurnKey (LSTK) and Turnkey solutions for every type of project.
- A rigorous an full EPCM process for more complex projects.
Infrastructure design and development
- Utility and infrastructure civil engineering services required for the establishment of a feasible operation.
- Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) design and development for all types of plant waste
- Heap leach and similar facility design and development.
- Water related services including water use licenses.
Mineral resource and reserve reporting for Stock exchange purposes
- Assessing and evaluating the geological, mining and production models and schedules.
- Compiling specialist reports of technically complex resources and reserves.
- Competent Person’s Reports for a variety of minerals and commodities.
Engineering and scientific training online and in collaboration with specialist training partners
- Engineer focussed training for Continuous Professional Development online, remotely and in person.
- Exploration and geological experiential training.
- Civil engineering courses including structural and municipal engineering.
- Mine manger training online and in person for the full spectrum of subjects required by the Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA).
High Temperature Modular Reactor (HTMR)
OPI is proud to announce that it has entered into an agreement with Stratek Global, manufacturers of Modular nuclear reactors for heat and/or electricity generation. This unique helium gas cooled HTMR and is graphite moderated. It is capable of producing high quality steam and when coupled to a steam turbine system, produces a continuous base load of 35 MW.
The HTMR is completely Green and operates with an internal pressure that is higher than the external pressure such that the cooing “stack” can be effectively monitored for radiation. Nothing comes out of the nuclear reactor directly and the system has passive safety, which means that the system will naturally move towards a safe situation without human intervention other force to drive safety systems.
The HTMR is an ideal solution for mines that are located far from the electrical grid or have access to an unreliable electrical grid. It is ideal for use in providing power to operate large crushing and screening plant, a variety of mills, mine infrastructure and domestic settings and can be operated completely independently of the national or local grid or as a source of supplementary power.
Upside of the HTMR
Furthermore the HTMR is fully modular and additional units can be connected to the existing system, without effort.
The HTMR is fuelled using a patented material called TRISO, which is also a type of Pebble Fuel, developed and produced in Pretoria, South Africa. This fuel consists of grains of Uranium, each coated with a number of different coatings to accommodate all mechanical and chemical effects. These tiny particles are then all embedded in a graphic matrix about the size of a cricket ball. The fuel is completely safe to handle and easy to procure and insert into the HTMR. There is no need to shut down the system for refuelling and for this reason a continuous supply of power is guaranteed.
Bespoke Water Purification Plants
Our bespoke modular water treatment plants are easy to install and can be ready for use in next to no time. It can remove biological and organic matter and iron from the source water, making the output imminently suited for producing potable water for domestic use. Industrial plants can be customised to produce process water for purely mining and industrial use as well as potable water for the local domestic community.
The water treatment and purification offerings can be customised to your exact needs in terms of capital expenditure and operating cost, and we pride ourselves in having the most optimal ratio between capital and operating cost, A generic treatment plant will typically consist of several sub-modules, which may include pre-preparation for highly polluted water, initial 10 micron nominal filtration, pH correction, brine softening, chemical sterilisation, iron and manganese removal, 5 micron filtration, limited demineralization and ultraviolet sterilisation. The process can be setup for both manual and automated control, depending on the customer requirements and can be controlled from a ergonomically located control interface. The setup and control system is plug and play, with machine learning capability. Normally the system is assembled and connected at-site.
With our modular frame-mounted water purification system each unit is assembled and tested at the factory which renders the plant ready for use on delivery. Due to the modular design approach, it is a simple process to expand capacity by adding extra modules with the minimum of fuss and the potential for increased production is unlimited.
Depending on client needs, our bespoke systems can be supplied to purify anything from 100 litre per hour to large mining size plant and can be customised to handle extremely polluted raw water. The system can accept highly polluted river, rain, ground, grey and municipal water and can treat water borne raw sewerage, when a pre-conditioning plant is installed ahead of the purification plant. Typically, the latter would be done in conjunction with a composting plant.
It is a well know property of water purified through a reverse osmosis plant is extremely aggressive and has the tendency to corrode metallic components in the water supply and distribution system. Since we design plants to serve the domestic and industrial environment, we prefer to tried and tested filtration and precipitation technologies rather than reverse osmosis. In cases where reverse osmosis is the only option, our systems can accommodate that need and provide for re-mineralisation of the output water, if the client requires remineralisation. This would typically be the case with domestic use solutions.
Due to the modular design approach the customer can begin with a small plant and expand as necessary. The cost advantage lies in the low capital and installation, setup, operating and low maintenance costs.
Completed projects
- Exxaro
- Vendenta Resources
- Sasol
- Wilmar
- Arcellor Mittal
- Jagersfontein
