Comprehensive Road Transport Plan Ngwenya Iron Ore Mine
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1 Annexure 6 COMPREHENSIVE ROAD TRANSPORT PLAN NGWENYA IRON ORE MINE PREPARED BY PO BOX: D189, GABLES, EZULWENI, ESWATINI ON BEHALF OF THE LIQUIDATOR, FOR SG IRON ORE MINING PTY LTD IN VIEW OR RESCUSITATING THE NGWENYA IRON ORE MINE BY VUKA LILANGA MINERALS PTY LTD PO BOX: N5519, MBABANE, ESWATINI Email: [email protected] URL: www.vukalilanga.com COMPREHENSIVE ROAD TRANSPORT PLAN | Ngwenya Iron Ore Mine 2 Table of Contents Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................... 2 List of Figures .......................................................................................................................................... 2 List of Tables ........................................................................................................................................... 2 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 3 TRANSPORATION PLAN ........................................................................................................................... 3 Transport Chain ................................................................................................................................... 3 Road Transportation ....................................................................................................................... 3 Rail Transportation.......................................................................................................................... 3 OPERATIONS ........................................................................................................................................... 4 Distance............................................................................................................................................... 4 No of trucks for the proposed operations .......................................................................................... 4 Working hours & other operational issues ......................................................................................... 5 Road Safety ......................................................................................................................................... 5 TRANSPORT IMPACT ASSESSMENT & MITIGATION MEASURES ............................................................. 6 DEMERIT POINT SYSTEM ......................................................................................................................... 8 ................................................................................................................................................................ 9 List of Figures Figure 1: Transportation Chain ............................................................................................................... 3 Figure 2: Consultation Letter given to Min of Public Works & Transportation ...................................... 9 List of Tables Table 1: Requirement of Trucks Calculation ........................................................................................... 4 Table 2: Impacts due to transportation and mitigation measures ......................................................... 6 Table 3: Demerit Points for Bad Driving ................................................................................................. 8 COMPREHENSIVE ROAD TRANSPORT PLAN | Ngwenya Iron Ore Mine 3 INTRODUCTION The Road Transportation and Mitigation plan is developed as a document in consultation with Ministry of Public Works and Transport (Fig 2) and The Royal Eswatini Police (Traffic) (Annex 7) that the proponent will effectively implement and adhere to for the transportation of its product from the mine to Sidvokodvo Rail by trucks and from then by rail to the port. The document outlines the appropriate mitigation measures and serves as a tool for implementation and monitoring purposes. TRANSPORATION PLAN Transport Chain Mine Rail Port Buyer Head Siding Head Figure 1: Transportation Chain Road Transportation Meanwhile the revival of the railway line is proposed to run within 36 months from the start of mining operations as expressed by the Swaziland Railway department, the proponent opts to carry on with the logistics operations from mine to Sidvokodvo Rail by trucks. The product would be transported from mine to Sidvokodvo rail siding by trucks using the MR3 and MR9 highway roads. The distance that will be travelled by the trucks ferrying the product from the mine to Sidvokodvo Rail Siding is 76 km. Rail Transportation The iron ore shall be ferried from Sidvokodvo by rail to Matola port in Mozambique. In this context Vuka Lilanga has approached Eswatini Railways for entering into commercial agreements where the agreements reached to a stage for signing. Eswatini Rail will provide the necessary wagons in COMPREHENSIVE ROAD TRANSPORT PLAN | Ngwenya Iron Ore Mine 4 coordination with CFM (Mozambique Rail and Ports) and the Matola terminal will be used as discharging point. The proponent has consulted with Swaziland Railway for exploring possibilities to rehabilitate the rail line from Kadake to Matsapha as proposed in the Malagwane Commission report. Swaziland Railway line has shown a positive expression of interest provided the mining operations are confirmed with a life span more than 20 years. OPERATIONS Distance Distance from mine to railway siding is 76kms making the total distance to be covered by each truck per trip to and fro to be 152 kms. No of trucks for the proposed operations The proposed operations are planned with a production capacity of 100,000 metric tons per month considering the road carrying capacity anticipated. It is estimated to use 20 trucks in operation and 5 trucks as spare totalling to 25 trucks. The detailed calculations are tabulated as under: Table 1: Requirement of Trucks Calculation # Description Units No of Units INPUTS 1 Tonnage to be handled per annum @ 100,000 tons/month Tons 1,200,000 2 Tonnage to be handled per day in 360 days Tons 3,334 3 Tonnage permissible per truck Tons 34 4 Maximum speed allowed for a truck (Avg speed is 60 kmph) Km/h 70 5 In 24 hr operation maximum number of trips a truck could No 9.6 make. (152 km / 60 kmph = 2.5 hrs) OPERATION PLAN 1 No of trips required to ferry 3,334 tons per day @ 34 t/truck No 98 2 Maximum trips per truck per day allowed as a policy No 5 3 No of trucks required per day (98/5) No 20 COMPREHENSIVE ROAD TRANSPORT PLAN | Ngwenya Iron Ore Mine 5 Working hours & other operational issues As a standard operational procedure and giving top priority to the safety and fatigue of the employee two drivers per truck is mandatory. The drivers can work on long shifts each comprises of 12 hrs of duty. The shift changing hours are during the peak hours of traffic which is 6 am to 8 am and 5 pm to 7 pm. This will ensure the minimum number of trucks on road during the peak hours as during the shift changing time the trucks are mandatorily go for preventive maintenance checks and refuelling. Road Safety To ensure road safety the following procedures and precautionary measures are envisaged: • Periodical Maintenance - all the trucks at the mine head will go under regular preventive maintenance during the shift changing hours. • The proponent will be supplying diesel to the truck operators which will ensure the quality of fuel and oils used for the truck. In light of above Engen has already provided letter of support to supply fuel to the company. (See Annexure for Letter of Intent from Engen). • The first shift truck drivers will take the truck to the maintenance bay at the end of each shift and the second driver will be collecting the truck from the maintenance bay at the start of his shift. • To minimize the impact on the road traffic, the project proponent proposed a sealed down production of 1.2 million tons in comparison with full scale operations of 2 million tons per annum which is anticipated after rehabilitating the railway line from Kadake to Matsapha (See Annexure for LOI from Eswatini Railway). However, the first-year target of 1.2 million tons could not be achieved due to the refurbishment and recommissioning of the plants. • To ensure road safety by taking precautionary measures to eliminate and minimize risks of accident, the project proponent proposes the following measures in line with recommendations made by the “Report of the Commission of Enquiry to Investigate the Road Accident of the 29Th April 2014 along the MR3 Freeway at Malagwane Hill pursuant to Legal Notice No 66 of 2014 : o Shall engage the trucks that are equipped with Advanced Breaking Systems. o Proponent expressed their willingness to support Roads Department for the maintenance of the roads if required to the best possible extent as they are Gazetted Public Roads for which proponent is in consultations with the department. o In co-ordination with Traffic department of Eswatini will develop and implement safe operating procedures for the truck operators ferrying its product. o Will ensure the use of GPS Tracking for its fleet monitoring, coupled with RFID technology for time stamping on the waybills with fixed travel time. o To reduce the traffic congestion during the peak hours of traffic (morning & evening) ensure the rescheduling at source points itself. o Ensure the carrying load of each truck as per the statutory permitted axle load. o Ensure the operators are working as per the statutory hours by imposing