Saldanha port to treble size

massive plans - to the value of r5 billion - are in the pipeline to drastically increase iron ore exports from saldanha bay’s deep-water port to meet the growing international demand for south africa’s high-quality iron ore.

the project involves major engineering contracts.

it plans to treble the export capacity of saldanha within the next six years.

the project is well advanced on the drawing board and transnet has recently given notice of an environmental impact study.

certain aspects of the project could have a serious impact on the sensitive environment in the bay and lagoon at saldanha and langebaan. the consultants, srk, based in cape town, have been appointed to handle the environmental impact process.

the new plans for saldanha follow the imminent completion of the first phase of extensions to the iron ore bulk handling facilities. this was a r930 million project, which was designed to increase export capacity of iron ore from 18 million tons to about 30 million tons.

phase one is due for completion in october, and was the largest capital project undertaken by south african port operations, as well as one of the existing top ten capital expenditure projects in the country.

it involved improvements to the bulk handling capacity on the quayside and in the stacking areas at saldanha .

a second tippler was built, three stacker reclaimers were commissioned, two new ship loaders were taken in use, and a second conveyor belt was installed. engineering manager at south african port operations in saldanha, nic strydom, says the world demand for iron ore remains very buoyant and the export market ‘can take all we can deliver’. sa port operations is under continual pressure from the northern cape mining operations to increase export capacity.

the iron ore price last year increased by 70%, but has flattened off somewhat and projections are that it will increase by a more modest 12% this year.

demand is mainly from the far east, with china the biggest buyer.

south african iron ore is sought after because of its high mineral content and quality.

both kumba resources and assmang are opening up new mines in the northern cape, following the discovery of new ore reserves. the northern cape mines are gearing up for increased exports, and the rail and harbour network need to match these projections. strydom says sa port operations and spoornet are planning to stay ahead of the projected de-mand for the next five to ten years.

massive new infrastructure is being planned at saldanha as part of phases two and three of the bulk handling capacity that will be pushed up to 93 million tons per annum once completed. on the ship-side this involves one or two new berths to tie up bulk ore carriers between the existing berths and the coastline. in the stockpile area it’s planned to increase the number of stacker reclaimers from three, which are now in operation, to seven. a fourth stacker reclaimer will in any event be taken into use by june of 2008.

in the offloading area, the existing two tipplers for discharging trains will be increased by an additional one or two.

the conveyor belt system, which has recently been doubled up, will be increased by another nine kilometres, according to strydom.

environmental impact approval is being sought for the establishment of new infrastructure on some 141 hectares of land. this part of the proposed project could have the biggest impact on the sensitive environment of the bay and lagoon.

the plan is to reclaim an additional 50 hectares of land within saldanha bay. this will be done by dredger. the shipping channel will be deepened and the material recovered will be used for the construction of new shipping berths.

another footprint area which could be impacted, is 35 hectares of land in the undisturbed dune area on the coast between the iron ore quay and the saldanha mittal steel plant. the intention is also to fill in the so called ‘oyster dam’ to create more space for stockpiling iron ore within the confines of saldanha bay.

yet another part of the project involves the upgrading of the salkor railway yard, five kilometres to the north.

the size of trains and the number of ships calling at saldanha’s port will also increase when the facilities are enlarged to handle more iron ore.

railway engineers have already tested one iron ore train on the sishen- saldanha line, which has 342 trucks instead of the normal 216. these tests are to be repeated later in the winter.

ships calling at the port of saldanha will also increase in size and number. two ships a week, being about a hundred a year, call at saldanha to load iron ore at present.

even though bigger ships will be loading, it’s anticipated that shipping volume will increase to about 170 vessels a year.