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COVER STORY
20
MODERN MINING
November 2016
T
he BRP has resulted in Assmang
becoming one of the major clients
of WorleyParsons RSA. Says Peet
Greyling, Project Director, Major
Projects for the company: “We’ve
been involved virtually continuously with
BRMO since 2007, starting with study work on
the BRP in 2010 which subsequently moved
into the execution phase, with WorleyParsons
RSA being appointed to provide engineering,
procurement and construction management
(EPCM) services for the entire underground
portion of the BRP.”
He adds that a major factor contributing to
the success of the BRP has been the very good
understanding and relationship that exists
between all the stakeholders in the project,
including the client team, the mine opera-
tion teams, and all the contractors including
WorleyParsons. “All parties realise that the
success of any project depends on good team
work,” he says. “Due to the complexities of
this project, stakeholder management is vitally
important and the various managers, guided by
André Sims, Assmang’s Project Manager, spend
a great deal of time managing this.”
Safety comes first
on Black
Leading project delivery company WorleyParsons is a major contributor to the ongoing R6 billion
Black Rock Project (BRP) at Assmang’s Black Rock Mine Operations (BRMO), situated near Kathu in the
Northern Cape. BRMO is operated by Assmang Limited, which is jointly owned by African Rainbow
Minerals Limited and Assore Limited. Initiated in 2014 and due for completion during 2019, the Black
Rock Project will see the modernisation of the mine to optimise resource exploitation and to create
the flexibility within the underground operations to ensure that the mine can more effectively react
to changes in market product requirements. The project has thus far enjoyed an impeccable safety
record with over 750 shifts having been worked to date without a single lost time injury.
1
The steel headgear (now removed) used during the sinking of the new ventilation shaft at
the Gloria underground mine.