23 / 56
COVER STORY
November 2016
MODERN MINING
21
Rock Project
According to Greyling, the WorleyParsons
head office-based design team and site-based
construction team reached a total of 72 at proj-
ect peak – although this figure is now declining
with the WorleyParsons portion of the BRP now
over 65 % complete. WorleyParsons’ EPCM
Project Manager is Paul Liebenberg while the
construction team based permanently on site
is headed by Construction Manager Theo van
Niekerk.
Highlighting the safety achievement,
Greyling says the WorleyParsons site team, in
partnership with an average of 1 200 contrac-
tors per month, has accumulated (as of the time
of writing in early October) 1 488 days without
a fatality and 750 shifts without a single lost
time injury (LTI), with the Lost Time Injury
Frequency Rate (LTIFR) being an exceptional
0,2. “A very comprehensive Safety, Health,
Environmental and Quality system, very simi-
lar to the WorleyParsons ‘Good to go’ system,
ensures that all contractors are adequately
trained, prepared, informed and instructed
before they are allowed on site,” he states. “Any
incidents that do occur on site are investigated
vigorously in order to establish root causes and
effective remedial actions.”
The BRP can be viewed as primarily a
‘brownfield’ project as it affects separate pro-
ducing underground mines. These are the
Gloria mine and the Nchwaning mines, com-
missioned between 1975 and 1981, producing
medium grade carbonated ore. The extraction
method utilised is room and pillar mining,
with average stoping widths being in the region
of 3,5 to 4,5 m.
Infrastructure in use at the mines includes
a mixture of vertical and decline shafts for
3
2
personnel, rock and material transport.
The project encompasses the modernisation,
upgrading and extension of the current infra-
structure at both Gloria and the Nchwaning
mines. Specifically, a new vertical ventilation
shaft at Gloria was commissioned and handed
over to BRMO in February 2016 while at
Nchwaning II the vertical dual purpose shaft
has been refurbished and upgraded, a task
Above:
Nchwaning II shaft
headgear modifications in
progress.
Bottom from left to right:
1.
Shaft ore-pass control
chute under construction.
2.
Nchwaning I load-out
arrangement at 2 West.
3.
Nchwaning I crusher feed
conveyor head chute.