SMM4, March 28: recently, OM holding Company released its 2019 annual report, the company said that, OM Materials (Sarawak) 's factory is composed of eight major workshops, a total of 16 25.5 MVA furnaces, of which 10 furnaces are used to produce ferrosilicon and 6 smelting manganese alloys. The plant is designed to have an annual production capacity of 200000 to 210000 tons of ferrosilicon and 250000 to 300000 tons of manganese alloy. So far this year, the production of ferrosilicon, ferrosilicon and high carbon iron and manganese has exceeded their respective furnace design capacity.

In 2020, OM Sarawak will focus on optimizing sinter production and producing higher value-added products. With the completion of the II-A phase expansion project, the next phase of the expansion project will focus on improving the smelting capacity of manganese and the production of silicon metal (a high value-added product with higher industrial application value).

In 2019, manganese alloy production was 248163 tons, an increase of 5822 tons or 2.4% over 2018 242341 tons, and sales were 240280 tons, down 886 tons or 0.37% from 2018 241166 tons.

2019 was a challenging year for steel production, with major economies reducing the operating rate of steel production, thereby affecting global demand for ferroalloys. China's steel production growth slowed from 10 per cent in 2018 to 7 per cent in 2019. World steel production, excluding China, has shrunk by 2 per cent since 2018.

Due to weak steel prices and declining steel productivity in developed countries, the Group continues to take advantage of its proximity to the growing steel market in Southeast Asia. In the long run, infrastructure is expected to grow with the rapid growth of urbanization in the region.

During the year, the ore price in the manganese ore market showed a downward trend. Despite strong demand for high-grade manganese ore in China, the emergence and upsurge of manganese ore has led to an increase in inventories at Chinese ports, driving down global ore prices. The temporary disruption of ore supply at the Bootu Creek mine led to a decline in ore trading volume in 2019. With the resumption of mining activities in late December 2019, this is expected to return to normal by 2020.

Bootu Creek manganese mine

OM (Manganese) Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of the company and one of the core business of the group. Its main business is to explore and mine manganese ore in Bootu Creek mine. The Bootu Creek mine is located 110km north of Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory of Australia. The exploration and follow-up development of the Bootu Creek project began in September 2001. Mining operations began in November 2005 and the first batch of ores were disposed of in April 2006. The main minerals are located in the Bootu Creek area and are the basis of mining and processing operations, and currently defined mineral resources and ore reserves have been identified.

In 2019, a total of 570090 tons of manganese ore was produced in, Bootu Creek mine, with an average manganese grade of 33.71% of Mn.

Mine output

The metallurgical test of Bootu Creek manganese ore ultra-fine powder processing facility has been completed in laboratory scale and field pilot plant, which shows that the waste from Bootu tailings and heavy medium separation plant can be retreated. This can be achieved through an independent ultra-fine powder production line to produce 37% manganese products that can be sold. In the first quarter of 2020, the lire plant with an annual capacity of 250000 tons was put into operation.

Bootu Creek mineral resources and ore reserves as at 31 December 2019

Tshipi Borwa mine

Through a 26 per cent strategic partnership with Ntsimbintle Holdings Proprietary Limited, OMH has a valid 13 per cent interest in Tshipi., Ntsimbintle Holdings Proprietary Limited is the majority owner of Tshipi and holds the stake. The remaining 49.9 per cent is owned by Jupiter Mines Limited.

Tshipi owns manganese ore in a world-class Kalahari manganese field in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa. The Kalahari manganese ore field is 35 kilometers long and 15 kilometers wide, which contains a large part of the economically exploitable high-grade manganese ore resources in the world.

The Tshipi Borwa mine is an open-pit manganese mine that began production in October 2012. In 2019, a total of 3432058 tons of manganese ore were exported.

"Click to view the original text of the official 2019 report

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