Nafasi Water and IDC partner on R60m mine-water processing facility

Nafasi Water Technologies and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) have launched a waste sludge processing facility in Mpumalanga.

Located at the Highveld Industrial Park in eMalahleni, the facility converts waste generated from mine-impacted water treatment into inputs used in fertiliser production, reducing waste sent to landfills and creating products for industrial use, according to the companies.

Nafasi Water Technologies is a South African water infrastructure company that develops and operates water treatment projects for the mining sector.

The waste-to-fertiliser facility forms part of a R60m joint venture between Nafasi and the IDC. The development finance institution is participating as both a funder and equity partner and said it is taking a long-term view of the venture’s growth.

Mpumalanga is home to many of South Africa’s coal mines, where mine-impacted water is a longstanding environmental challenge. Treating and reusing this water, while reducing waste generated during the process, has become an increasing focus as the country seeks to strengthen water security.

“The Mpumalanga region needs investment in alternative industries that respond to the challenges of the long-term effects of coal mining on water resources,” said Nafasi Water Technologies CEO Suzie Nkambule.

Rian Coetzee, IDC divisional executive for industry planning and development, said the investment supports a locally developed technology platform with the potential to build new manufacturing capacity, strengthen water resilience and create new industrial activity in mining regions.

The new waste sludge processing facility is located close to Nafasi’s existing mine-water treatment operations in Mpumalanga, providing access to the waste sludge used as feedstock. The company said it plans to further develop technologies capable of recovering additional chemicals directly from mine-impacted water.

The company said the technology could be replicated in other mining regions where mine-water treatment, waste reduction and local chemical production are priorities.

The announcement of the new plant follows Nafasi’s announcement in April that it had secured investment from Norwegian development finance institution Norfund and existing shareholder E Squared Investments to expand its water infrastructure business across Southern Africa.

At the time, the company said the funding would support the expansion of mine-water treatment projects and the development of technologies to recover “valuable products” from water treatment waste.