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MODERN MINING
February 2016
TECHNOLOGY
T
he BSBS was introduced at the
Mining Indaba by Louis Germi-
shuys, COO – Shaft Development
at Master Drilling, who said the
system offered numerous advan-
tages over conventional sinking methods in-
cluding vastly enhanced safety and an advance
rate of up to 7 m per day – roughly twice what
is normally achieved with traditional meth-
ods – with a total crew of just 40 workers. He
added that the BSBS, which can be deployed
on both greenfield and brownfield projects, ob-
viated the need for pre-sinking operations and
also eliminated the need for blasting.
The system can be used to create shafts of
between 10 and 14 m in diameter in hard rock
(of up to 300 MPa compressive strength) to
depths of up to 2 000 m and is a combination of
proven best practice in slurry drilling, rock cut-
ting (TBM) technology and hoisting systems. It
offers minimum exposure to the unlined shaft
sidewall with the shaft lining operation (using
precast concrete segments) following close
behind the boring of the shaft. While it uses
established technologies, it is revolutionary
in the sense that – unlike current mechanised
raise boring services used to bore shafts – it
requires no bottom access underground.
Elaborating on the timeline to bring the
BSBS to market, Germishuys said the concep-
tual stage of the project was now complete and
the initial design in place. Master Drilling was
now in the process of producing the first unit,
he said, and had pre-qualified manufacturers
and issued enquiry documents. The award of a
contract was expected in Q2 2016, he said. The
manufacturing phase would extend through
from Q3 2016 to Q4 2017, with the machine –
which will weigh several hundred tons – being
ready for service by the first quarter of 2018.
Although the BSBS has been developed in-
house by Master Drilling, there has been some
input from WorleyParsons, the EPCM contract-
ing and mining consultancy group, which has
‘double checked’ the initial design and assessed
the time and cost savings the system can deliver
over conventional blind shaft sinking. The IP
around the system is owned by Master Drilling.
The first rig is being produced ‘at risk’ by
Master Drilling and will involve the company
in a substantial investment. The company
believes that the money will be well spent, as it
will give it a competitive advantage in the mar-
ket. Shaft sinking times will be cut by up to half,
resulting in a dramatic impact on project NPVs
and IRRs – and also enabling previously mar-
ginal projects to be profitably developed. The
New shaft boring system
could
be a
‘game changer’
for mining
Pictured at the Mining
Indaba with a model of the
BSBS are (from left) Danie
Pretorius, founder and CEO
of Master Drilling; Louis
Germishuys, COO – Shaft
Development, Master
Drilling; Murray Macnab,
Global Director Mining
and Mine Development,
and Steve Gouws, National
Discipline Manager Mining
Engineering, both of
WorleyParsons; and Koos
Jordaan, Technical Director,
Master Drilling (photo:
Arthur Tassell).
Master Drilling, a JSE-listed drilling solutions provider
which ranks as the world’s largest raise boring contractor,
used this year’s Mining Indaba as the platform to unveil its
new Blind Shaft Boring System (BSBS), an innovative com-
bination of established technologies with the potential to
revolutionise the field of shaft sinking.