2 August 2022
Pensana Plc
("Pensana" or the
"Company")
Saltend and
Longonjo Project Delivery Team
Following the recent ground-breaking ceremony at the Saltend
rare earths processing hub, the Company is pleased to announce
details of the highly experienced Project Delivery Team which will
be responsible for the delivery of the Saltend and Longonjo
projects.
The eight person Project Delivery Team is leading a team of 134
specialist engineers from various disciplines, many of them experts
in their field, dedicated to the execution and commissioning of
both projects.
Key appointments to the Project Delivery Team include:
- Hamish Westwater as Project
Director for Saltend. Hamish has over 30 years’ experience
delivering complex projects in the chemical engineering sector for
both contractor and client. He specialises in fast-track delivery
and leading all project phases from FEED studies through to final
commissioning and start-up.
- Kevin Botha as Project Director
for Longonjo. Kevin is a qualified Electrical Engineer and Project
Management Professional with over 45 years’ experience in the
global mining industry. He has worked for blue-chip international
companies and as a Director and Owner of companies providing
engineering and project management services to the sector. Kevin’s
global experience includes multibillion-dollar projects and related
portfolios in Africa including
Angola, Namibia, Botswana and South
Africa.
- Jeremy Clarke as Project Sponsor
for Longonjo. Having worked at executive technical level with
Anglo American, Jeremy has over 35
years of experience in gold, uranium, copper, and diamonds. He was
previously Consulting Metallurgist for De Beers where he was
responsible for metallurgical excellence at their plants
globally.
Full details of the Project Delivery Team are available on the
Company’s website www.pensana.co.uk
Preparatory work is underway at both
projects with the main construction scheduled to commence later in
the year.
To date, engineering for over 70% of the equipment and services
packages has been completed, with 100% of the critical path Tier 1
and 2 packages externally priced. To minimise onsite construction
activity and streamline commissioning, certain unit processes have
been modularised whilst all other process equipment has been
selected as standard, off-the-shelf items to ensure robust and
simple operability of the plant.
For Saltend, this includes:
- PX Global over-the-fence services
- Site infrastructure and services early works, commencing with
the Yorkshire Water pipeline routing
- Solvent extraction mixer settler rig fabrication
arrangements
For Longonjo, this includes:
- All infrastructure including power supply, water reticulation
and construction camp facilities
- ROM handling and Comminution sections
- Floatation circuit columns
- Calciner (Kiln)
- Sulphuric Acid plant and gas cleaning circuits
- Thickening and tailings disposal
- Mining contractor selection
Under the direction of Chief Operating Officer Rocky Smith, Pensana’s main engineering
functions have relocated from the Wood Group offices in
Perth, Australia to the UK and
South Africa, due to proximity to
the respective projects.
- Wood Group Reading – detailed design and construction for
Saltend operations, overseen by Paul Squirrel (Wood) and
Hamish Westwater (Pensana)
- Wood Group Johannesburg – detailed design and construction for
Longonjo operations, overseen by Henry
Jonkers (Wood) and Kevin
Botha (Pensana)
- Pensana Perth – metallurgical optimisation and piloting
continues to be based in Perth
overseen by Metallurgical Manager Roy
Gordon (Pensana)
Pensana Chairman Paul Atherley commented:
“Breaking ground at Saltend was a
major milestone for the Company marking the transition from design
to construction for both projects. We are enormously grateful to
the expert teams who have done such a great job in bringing the
Saltend and Longonjo projects to FEED status in record time.
It’s now very exciting to announce
details of our world class Project Delivery Team, which has the
right combination of experience to execute and commission both
projects, supported by a team of highly skilled and dedicated
engineers.”
-ENDS-
For further information, please
contact:
Shareholder/analyst enquiries:
Pensana
Plc
- Paul Atherley,
Chairman
IR@pensana.co.uk
- Tim George, Chief Executive
Officer
- Rob Kaplan, Chief Financial
Officer
- Virginia Skroski, Head of
Investor Relations & Communications
Media enquiries:
FGS Global:
Gordon Simpson / Richard
Crowley
Pensana-LON@fgsglobal.com
About Pensana Plc
The electrification of motive power is by far the most important
part of the energy transition and one of the biggest energy
transitions in history. Magnet metal rare earths are central to the
transition away from internal combustion engines and critical to
electric vehicles and offshore wind turbines.
Pensana plans to establish Saltend as an independent and
sustainable processing hub supplying the key magnet metal oxides to
a market which is currently dominated by China. The US$195
million Saltend facility is being designed to produce 12,500
tonnes per annum of rare earth oxides, of which 4,500–5,000 tonnes
will be neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr), representing over 5% of
the world market in 2025.
Pensana’s plug-and-play facility is located within the world
class Saltend Chemicals Park, a cluster of leading chemicals and
renewable energy businesses in the Humber Freeport and will create
over 500 jobs during construction and over 125 direct jobs once in
production.
It will be the first major separation facility to be established
in over a decade and will become one of only three major producers
located outside China.
Pensana is aiming to establish Saltend as an attractive
alternative for mining companies who may otherwise be limited to
selling their products to China,
having designed the facility to be easily adapted to cater for a
range of rare earth feedstocks.
www.pensana.co.uk
MARKET INTELLIGENCE |
SALTEND TECHNICAL |
LONGONJO TECHNCIAL |
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Adamas Intelligence
Market forecasts |
Wood Group
Technical engineering and design |
Wood Group – technical engineering
and design |
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Roskill
Market forecasts |
Px Group
Saltend owner operator |
Paradigm Project Management –
Longonjo site infrastructure and bulk services technical
engineering, design and cost estimates |
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Oakdene Hollins
Circular economy |
Auralia Metallurgy – specialist
metallurgical and processing laboratory |
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On Line Design
Planning application |
Nagrom – geochemistry testing and
analysis |
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SLR consulting
Air quality assessments |
ALS / Eriez – pilot plant test
work |
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EEG
Geotechnical design |
HCV Africa – ESIA, EMP, RAP and
hydrology |
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Ivy House
Environmental design |
ANSTO – Australia nuclear science
and technology association |
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Grupo Simples – Longonjo ESIA |
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Snowden – Mine plan schedule and pit
optimisation |
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SRK – Mineral resource estimates
& geotechnical |