JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Dec. 12, 2007 - VWS Envig, South Africa's leading water treatment solutions company, has been awarded two projects to design, supply and commission a sodium sulfate crystallizer and a nickel sulfate evaporator plant for Anglo Platinum. The projects were awarded in the first half of 2007 and follow an earlier award for the basic engineering of both plants.
The plants will be constructed at Anglo Platinum's Base Metal Refinery, situated in the Rustenburg area, and form part of the overall plant expansion.
The first plant will process sodium sulfate and utilize crystallization technology. The evaporation plant will be used to concentrate nickel sulphate. The technology employed by this plant will be supplied by VWS Envig's sister company, HPD. Based in North America, HPD is the world's leading crystallization and evaporation technology company. Both VWS Envig and HPD are subsidiaries of Veolia Water Solutions and Technologies (VWS).
According to Francois Gouws, Director of Design and Build Projects, specialists from HPD will be assisting in the design and commissioning of the plants while detailed engineering, manufacturing and installation will all be executed out locally through VWS Envig.
"We opted for the more robust forced circulation technology to ensure optimum performance and reliability." says Gouws.
The treatment plants will be operational by mid-2008 and work has already begun on the detailed engineering phase of the project as well as procurement of long lead items.