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MODERN MINING
February 2016
PLATINUM
LHD working on the
Merensky project (photo:
Arthur Tassell).
Queen Fana, a Shift
Supervisor with Murray
& Roberts Cementation.
Women constitute 20 % of
the workforce on the mine
(photo: Arthur Tassell).
double. “We’re currently undertaking a pre-
feasibility study on exploiting the Booysendal
South orebody,” he explains. “If we do develop
the South orebody, the project will incorporate
the infrastructure of the former Everest mine
which we acquired recently from Aquarius
Platinum for R450 million. The Everest assets
include a 250 000 tonne/month concentrator,
which is capable of handling all the require-
ments of the Booysendal South project.
“With both Booysendal North and South in
operation, PGMproduction from the Booysendal
property could potentially reach half a million
ounces a year – with the resource being suffi-
cient to maintain this level of production for
a significant number of years assuming favour-
able market conditions. Obviously any decision
to proceed with the South mine will be subject
to positive feasibility. We envisage roughly a
five-year development and build up phase for
the project.”
Turning back to the current mining opera-
tion at the UG2 North mine, Theron says a
mechanised approach was adopted for a num-
ber of reasons. “The method is well proven and
is used at several platinum and chrome mines
on the Eastern Limb,” he says. “The UG2 reef
lends itself to mechanised mining given its
average width of 180 cm compared to 80 cm for
the Merensky package. Moreover, mechanisa-
tion is inherently much safer than conventional
methods and this is reflected in the fact that the
operation has been fatality-free since incep-
tion. The mine recently achieved 2 million
fatality-free shifts. In addition, our LTIIR to the
end of October last year was 0,43 per 200 000
hours worked, which is a very creditable
achievement.”
Theron – who spent his earlier career with
Anglo American Platinum prior to joining
Northam in 2010 – is a recognised expert on
mechanised mining. He says Booysendal has
taken the method to a new level. “There are sev-
eral mines that are described as ‘mechanised’
but perhaps the more appropriate term would
be ‘semi-mechanised’ as some operations are
still carried out using conventional methods,”
he maintains. “By contrast, Booysendal is fully
mechanised through the entire mining cycle,
with drill rigs on the face, LHDs deployed for
cleaning and loading and fully mechanised roof
bolters installing support. Most other mines