New ruling will address Saldanha's red dust issue

As part of ongoing efforts to clamp down on red dust, Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) is set to implement new procedures that will prevent iron ore that has not been chemically treated or washed from entering the Port of Saldanha. Whilst still in its infancy the new programme should be implemented by no later than the end of next year. “We recently embarked on a classification process through which we determined which customers were already treating or washing the ore before sending it to port,” said Robert van Rooyen, TPT terminal manager at Saldanha Port. “Class A customers are currently already washing the iron ore and treating it chemically at the mine, while Class B customers are just washing the iron ore. Some of our clients are also in what we have termed Class C where they are only putting a biodegradable chemical on the iron ore to contain the dust on the product,” he explained to FTW. “But we also have a large number of Class D customers who are not washing or treating the iron ore before sending it to port. We now have commitment from all these customers that they will upgrade their own systems to ensure that the ore is either washed or treated – or both – prior to its arrival at the port.” But, said Van Rooyen, it was not a process that would happen overnight and so port authorities had agreed to a time line to allow the mines to set up the necessary washing and treatment plants. “By the end of next year all the iron ore reaching the port will have been treated or washed. It will have a major impact on the iron ore dust that continues to be a nuisance factor. We are already compliant in terms of legislation related to red dust, but we are committed to introducing more measures to address the issue to ensure we keep it to an absolute minimum.” He said iron ore treated with chemicals had to be exported within 21 days, as that is the lifespan of the product. “At present not all the mines have the necessary facilities in place and so through this programme we can gradually ensure compliance with our new regulation,” said Van Rooyen.