Mr. Rangar spent the day of June 13 travelling in Harare,
Zimbabwe’s capital city, attending meetings and also had the opportunity to
visit Mazowe Gold Mine in the picturesque countryside of Zimbabwe. I had the
opportunity to document the day’s events, an exploration into this new Canadian
technology and the exciting, productive prospects of gold mining in Zimbabwe.
John Mapondera, Executive Chairman of Locan Holdings Pvt Ltd assisted hugely in
providing the connections for Mr. Rangar in the Zimbabwean mining industry, and
facilitated the day in Zimbabwe.
"I believe it is one of the best technologies that's out there or precious metal retrieval from mine ore and mine tailings" Mr. Rangar
NanoStruck’s cutting edge technology has achieved
great results in water filtration and cleansing and they are now venturing into
the world of mining, specifically gold recovery in tailing dumps. Their
technology harnesses the power of nature, using a programmable powder made from
crustacean shells to filter and absorb, enabling unwanted or wanted products
like gold to be extracted.
The first meeting was with Desmond
Matete, the Executive Director and acting CEO of the Infrastructure Development
Bank of Zimbabwe. The bank has international and local investors and its role
is to support the energy, transport, housing, water, agriculture and mining
sectors with financial support through capital and lines of credit. It is a
diversified bank with interest in new technology and innovation. This meeting
was an opportunity for Mr. Rangar and Mr. Matete to share their ideas and
knowledge in their respective fields; Mr. Rangar explained to Mr.
Matete the nanotechnology and its ability to extract high levels of gold from
tailings, using the Nirvana sample as an example.
"We share the revenue by supplying the technology...We give the know-how, we give the chemicals". Mr. Rangar
In a project sample named Nirvana,
NanoStruck achieved an 88% recovery of gold from tailings, with 96% recovery
after roasting as opposed to the much lower 10% of other companies’ attempts.
"People from the environmental management agency would be very happy with that". Mr. Matete
Mr. Rangar explained that in the near
future his company would like to have part ownership of a dump, using
pre-existing leaching plants to then apply their technology. The physical
processes of grinding, milling and separation are performed by lots of
companies, he explained, but NanoStruck also has a unique patented technology.
It does not use cyanide, chemicals are recycled and the powder is organic,
readily available and inexpensive. The water is also purified. Mr. Matete was
pleased about the environmentally friendly nature of the process and agreed
that 10 million tonnes of tailings across Zimbabwe would make a very strong
business case for investment, with as much as 9.1g of gold/ton to be recovered.
Further beneficial elements of NanoStruck’s presence in
Zimbabwe, would be the possible creation of a research centre, creating a
facility for companies and providing high end jobs for engineers and a means of
testing samples, not only for gold but other metals too.
"...Ensuring the mining industry operates in an environment that would lead to growth and development of the sector itself, as well as contributing to the socio-economic development of the country". Mr. Matyanga
Meeting at the Chamber of Mines Mr. Rangar and Mr. Mapondera
The second meeting of the day took
place at the Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe. Mr. Matyanga the Mineral Economist/ Technical
Advisor there explained about the organization and its role in society. The
Chamber of Mines represents the interest of the mining industry in Zimbabwe. It
works with the government and the stake holders, and acts like a union. It is
funded by membership subscriptions and has diverse investment from local and
foreign countries. Mr. Rangar then gave a breakdown of NanoStruck’s technology
in mining to Mr. Matyanga, the importance of this technology in safe and
effective gold extractions from tailings, and the great use it could be in the
mining industry of Zimbabwe in general. Mr. Matyanga pointed out that bio leaching
had been tried out in Zimbabwe with some success, as high as approximately 75%
recovery of gold. Mr. Rangar was impressed with this figure but emphasized
through his Nirvana sample analysis that the nanotechnology could give better
results, at 88% recovery before roasting, making NanoStruck the most commercially
viable investment. Another figure in favor of this new technology is that
initially 71% of gold can be extracted versus 2.1% of iron, which normally is
the other way around.
"We want to create a centre of excellence where we can bring our licensed technology. Collaborate, develop this further...do something locally". Mr. Rangar
Mr. Matyanga expressed his concerns of the environmental
impact of the process of this gold extraction, but Mr. Rangar emphasized that
his company started out as having a clean mandate and that all their processes
do not harm the environment as organic materials are used, recycling is carried
out and water purification takes place. Cyanide is not used by NanoStruck.
Mr. Matyanga was impressed with this
and was happy to share all this new information and statistics to the Chamber’s
members, for further analysis. The members can then contact Mr. Rangar
personally and new relationships could be forged.
In the afternoon, we were driven to
the Mazowe Gold Mine, formally known as Jumbo Mine-established in 1890 and also
formally a Lonrho mine. This mine is located within the beautiful scenery of
the Mazowe area, about 40km NNW of Harare. Allen Mushayavanhu, Senior Geologist
of the mine was happy to hear about the technology used by NanoStruck in gold
retrieval from tailings and supplied some statistics of the mine, together with
the information supplied by the Metallurgist, Charity Nyaruwata. The mine gold,
Mr. Mushayavanhu said, was not refractory and was easy to liberate, but they
were not processing the tailings as they did not have the appropriate
installations. Mr. Chifamba who was in South Africa and in charge of the mine
was working on bringing in new plants, using floatation. This Mazowe Mine was
very old and here are the interesting facts and figures supplied:
- Approximately 4 million tons of tailings
- An average of 0.8g/ton of gold as well as silver
- The current head ore was approximately 4g/ton of gold
- Recovery approximately 87-90%
- Residual gold in tailings was 0.4-0.5g/ton
- Historic tailings richer, so average concentrate of gold was 0.8g/t
- Nearby mines also had historic tailings
Mrs. Nyaruwata was interested in Mr.
Rangar’s presentation and technology but she encouraged that he and partners
should contact Mr. Chifamba, for a better understanding of the Mazowe Mine and
a means of relaying of information between the two groups. She explained that
the mine’s processes were old and simple and the plant was unfortunately down
at the moment. Her interest in NanoStruck was apparent however. She gladly took
the group on a tour of the tailings dump, allowing Mr. Rangar and associates to
witness a Zimbabwe gold mine and its workings, particularly the 1953 tailings
dump using cyanide. The cyanide goes back to the factory and according to her,
would not impact the environment. A hands-on experience of this gold mine I
believe was very valuable to Mr. Rangar’s understanding of the gold mining
industry in the country; a taste of what is possible in such a mineral rich,
African country, and the need for new technology.
Mazowe Mine Building Rock Formation in Mazowe Area
Later that day, we returned to Harare and to the
prestigious Royal Harare Golf Club, where a meeting had been set up with
Toindepi Muganyi, Executive Director of the Freda Rebecca Gold Mine. This was
an opportunity to share information on gold tailings stats and an introduction
for Mr. Muganyi into NanoStruck’s technology and findings in lab tests on
Nirvana gold samples.
Mr. Muganyi explained that his gold
mine used simple processes but very effectively produced good results such as
an average of 0.6g/t of tailings, having 20 million tons of historic tailings.
His mines produced two tons to three tons of gold per year, supplying 15%-20%
of Zimbabwe’s gold and contributing 1% of Zimbabwe’s gross domestic product
(GDP). His confidence in the workings of the Freda Rebecca Mine made him come
across as a bit wary of NanoStruck’s technology, as he thought the costing
would be too high. He was happy to provide connections to Mr. Rangar and
encouraged that to go forward more sampling should be done and the right
protocol should be followed, working with the right people. Mr. Mapondera and Mr.
Rangar understood Mr. Muganyi’s valuable words and ideas and his position in
the mining industry in Zimbabwe. It was a valuable meeting for both parties.
The day concluded with a dinner
meeting with a Zimbabwean stock broker, Ritesh Anand whose company is called
Invictus. He works with Zimbabwean equities and asset management, and was a
valuable source of local knowledge and a good connection for NanoStruck and its
progression in Zimbabwe. Mr. Anand is passionate about his country and wants to
empower people, which is something Mr. Rangar and NanoStruck
also wants to do.
This golden day exploring Harare and
Mazowe was a day of sharing information and a great way to create a groundwork
for further developments in Zimbabwe and beyond. I learnt a huge amount about
my country’s gold mining industry and the potential of NanoStruck technology to
be used in collaboration with the existing framework, providing the best
environmentally friendly processes for gold extraction in the future. New technologies
open up a whole new world of possibilities and encourages countries to broaden
their horizons in an exciting golden age.
By
Lucy Tingay
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