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January 2016
MODERN MINING
47
DIAMONDS
Top projects
A Sandvik DD421 twin
boom jumbo working in the
decline.
Pictured here (from left)
are De Beers’ Christoff
Kühn, Head of the VUP,
and Japie du Plessis and
Graham Chamberlain,
both of Murray & Roberts
Cementation.
makes its debut at
Venetia
followed in 2009/10 and a full feasibility in
2011, with board approval for the project being
given in late 2012. The construction phase of
the VUP was launched in October 2013, when
President Jacob Zuma turned the first sod on
site. As Kühn points out, “Given that the con-
struction phase extends through to 2021, when
Venetia transitions into an underground mine,
the entire VUP is almost a 20-year enterprise
from concept to commissioning.”
De Beers is managing the VUP itself with
the assistance of WorleyParsons RSA, which
has been involved since the feasibility stage
and was appointed as engineering consultant
for the project. WorleyParsons RSA was com-
missioned to execute the detailed engineering
design for both the surface and underground
infrastructure, as well as provide support to
the Owners Project Management Team and Site
Project Management Team related to procure-
ment, fabrication, logistics and construction.
Giving an indication of the scale of the proj-
ect, Kühn says it will involve the development
of around 80 km of shafts, tunnels, chambers,
workshops and water and ventilation systems
– with this figure rising to 220 km over the life
of mine. Once in production, the underground
mine will produce approximately 96 million
carats over its life from the treatment of 130 Mt
of ore. The current processing plant on site has
the ability to treat this volume of material. Says
Kühn: “At the moment, the plant is typically
handling 5,5 Mt annually whereas the under-
ground mine will deliver around 5,9 Mt/a to the
facility. To cater for this increase, some minor