Metallurgists share diamond mining expertise

Metallurgists from across various diamond mining operations within the De Beers Group of Companies converged in Oranjemund, for the De Beers Metallurgy Conference which was held from 24 to 27 November. The annual conference was hosted under the theme, “In Pursuit Of Process Brilliance” and was aimed at sharing knowledge as well as experiences whilst providing networking opportunities for those who attended. Metallurgy is the engineering discipline in mining that is applied to the properties of metals and their purification.

In the diamond industry the metallurgical process is applied to separate diamonds from concentrate. Metallurgists, who attended, shared their experiences and knowledge by presenting on various technical and non-technical topics within the diamond mining industry. Key topics included, the focus on innovation, overall equipment effectiveness and process improvement projects currently being spearheaded within the De Beers Group of Companies. The conference concluded on a high note with prizes awarded for outstanding presentations.  Emmarencia Shanglee, a Mineral Process Engineer and Lionel Coetzee, a Process Manager, were awarded prizes for having the best presentations at the conference. Their winnings include sponsored trips to any De Beers Group and Anglo American mines anywhere in the world during 2015. Emmarencia presented on the X-Ray Transmission (XRT) pilot study which is currently being conducted at Namdeb as a cost effective alternative to separate diamonds from waste whilst Lionel presented on the application of dry screening at Namdeb’s Daberas and Sendelingsdrif mines to minimise water and power consumption. “What stood out during the conference was the requirement to have value driven leadership, being clear about where the business is going whilst being flexible about how we get there,” said Emmarencia. De Beers Consolidated Mines – Kimberly, will host the 2015 conference in South Africa.