Nokeng, SepFluor’s R1.7 billion fluorspar operation situated...

Nokeng, SepFluor’s R1.7 billion fluorspar operation situated north-east or Pretoria in South Africa’s Gauteng province, was commissioned in 2019 and comprises an open pit mine and state-of-the-art plant and concentrator has expected throughput for FY2024 of between 160 000 and 170 000 tons of acidspar and between 18 000 and 22 000 tons of metspar.

If Speewah targets this size - even at high grade it is a +10 year deposit.
170kt at US$430 is a decent chunk of cash flow - US$73M AUD$113M

metspar higher value add.

Looking at all the applications for Fluorite the process options are innumerable.

Interesting case study is Nokeng - seems relevant to TIVAN
“We were trying to combine a relatively simple mining project with a more complex fluorspar beneficiation process with a large capital ticket of between US$400 and US$500 million. As such, SepFluor struggled for about four years to develop investors’ appetite for the project.”

However, when Wagner took over the reins in 2015, the company changed tact and decided to focus on building the mine first and look at a chemical beneficiation plant at a later stage.

“From then on to mid-2017, all our activities focused around getting the mine started,” adds Wagner.What’s more, in 2017, the fluorspar market started to turn around, culminating in favourable conditions to secure finance for Nokeng.

“It was very difficult and it took two-and-a half-years to raise US$130 million for the mine, a lot of which hinged on technical aspects and offtake agreements,” states Wagner.

Remarkably, the mine was developed within budget and SepFluor effectively financed Nokeng when the market was at a low point.