THE PROJECT
Subsidiary of the French metallurgical group ERAMET, our customer COMILOG, “Compagnie Minière de l’Ogooué”, is the leading producer of high-grade manganese ore. This Gabonese company specializes in the extraction and processing of manganese ore. The manganese mine has been in operation for almost 60 years. In 2021, the company has asked us to increase manganese ore production to meet growing worldwide demand. The project consists of 3 new industrial units (laundries) processing manganese ore and increasing the manganese content from 30% to over 45%. This was a large-scale project for our NEYRTEC MINERAL teams in terms of engineering, implementation and supervision, and is in line with the ERAMET group’s vision of sustainable and responsible metals processing, fostering dynamism and local economic development in Moanda (on the Bangombé and Oukouma areas).
NEYRTEC MINERAL SOLUTION
This is a turnkey project, managed from A to Z by the NEYRTEC MINERAL teams for our customer.
Initially, pilot tests and sample analyses were carried out to define equipment sizing. This was followed by preliminary engineering with the first implementations: PFD (Process Flow Diagram), PID (Piping Instrumentation Diagram).
After discussions with the customer, NEYRTEC MINERAL carried out the detailed engineering, i.e. the final layout, definition of the steel structures and structural calculations, definition of the junction ducts, isometric drawings of the piping and cable routing. To this must be added manufacturing control, shipment control and management, on-site supervision and assembly, commissioning, performance testing and training of operators and management teams.
PERFORMANCES
To reach a production of 7.5 tons by 2025, the expected performance of each of these 3 lines is of the order of 260 t/h of processed manganese, with well-defined particle sizes and moisture content of the commercial products (sludge thickening towards the lagoons occurs above 30% moisture content). It was a real challenge for all the teams involved in this project, including NEYRTEC MINERAL: the order was validated in June 2021 and the first steel structures delivered in December 2021. Assembly began in April 2022, and commissioning of the first line in April 2023, with our teams on site to ensure and supervise all these stages. This site also meets the requirements of the program towards sustainable and responsible metal processing, with the implementation of a water recovery and reuse circuit (recycling of wastewater).
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT MANGANESE ORE
Manganese ore is a rock containing manganese, a metallic chemical element that is often associated with other elements such as iron, silicon and aluminum. Manganese ore is extracted from underground or open-pit mines, then processed to extract manganese and other associated metals. Manganese ore is the 4th most widely used metal in the world, and is used in many industrial sectors, particularly in steel production, where it is used to improve the mechanical properties of steel. Manganese is also used in the production of batteries, metal alloys, chemicals, pigments, glass, ceramics and plastics.
Did you know that it takes 7 kilos of manganese to produce one tonne of steel – and COMILOG produces over 7 million tonnes a year! The Moanda site currently contains more than 20 years of the world’s manganese reserves, i.e. 25% of the total. The ERAMET Group therefore comprises 4 sites across Gabon with 4,300 employees, 98% of whom are Gabonese.
1 year after commissioning, performance has been achieved and COMILOG is very satisfied with the plant’s operation. COMILOG teams can increase plant capacity while maintaining performance.
Christophe HELLEGOUARCH – Managing Director, Neyrtec Mineral
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