16 / 56
14
MODERN MINING
March 2017
MINING News
In his commentary on Northam Platinum’s
results for the 2017 financial half-year,
Chief Executive Paul Dunne says that the
standout feature of the first half of F2017
was the good operating performance at
Northam’s Booysendal mine on the Eastern
Limb of the Bushveld Complex and the
pace at which growth is being achieved.
“The production run rate of 100 000
PGM ounces in the first half significantly
exceeded the mine’s nameplate capac-
Standout performance by Booysendal
ity. From the original mining footprint we
believe we have created capital efficient,
scalable growth opportunities with long-
term benefits for all stakeholders,” he says.
“Both the deepening project on the
UG2 mine, and work on the Booysendal
South mine continued apace. The first
blast for the boxcut at Booysendal South
was completed in early September 2016
and the mining contract has recently
been awarded to begin underground
The Booysendal platinummine (photo: Northam).
operations in March 2017. The Merensky
module at Booysendal North is now com-
plete and producing at 25 000 tonnes per
month.”
Commenting on Northam’s Zonder
einde operation on the Western Limb of
the Bushveld Complex, Dunne notes that
both tonnages and production ounces
were affected owing to operational
reorganisation measures underground,
following the discharge of 357 employ-
ees after labour disruptions in June 2016.
“This situation is being addressed and we
expect to be back to full complement by
March 2017. The drop in milled tonnages
was exacerbated by an 18-day outage
resulting from a mill bearing failure in the
UG2 concentrator.”
Dunne says that the development
of Booysendal South continues. “With a
relatively modest capital programme and
small footprint, this brownfields expan-
sion will deliver 250 000 PGM ounces per
annum at steady state.”
Dunne also refers to Northam’s pro-
posed acquisition of the Eland platinum
mine near Brits from Glencore Operations
South Africa for R175 million. “We believe
that the Eland orebody, together with
the established infrastructure, presents
an attractive, low-cost opportunity and a
medium-term option for growth,” he says.
Eland’s surface and underground infra-
structure includes a concentrator with a
nameplate capacity of 250 kt/month; a
chrome spiral recovery plant; a tailings
storage facility with a capacity of 100 Mt;
and two decline systems. Its assets also
include a substantila mining fleet in
excess of 100 vehicles.
Shanta drill holes intersect “encouraging mineralisation”
AIM-listed Shanta Gold has provided an
update on its ongoing exploration pro-
gramme within and surrounding the New
Luika Gold Mine (NLGM), located in the
Lupa goldfields of south-west Tanzania.
Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling at the
Nkuluwisi mineralised target, located
approximately 12 km north-west of the
NLGM’s central processing hub, has inter-
sected encouraging mineralisation which
is open along strike and at depth.
A total of 44 RC drill holes comprising
5 833 m of drilling has been completed
at Nkuluwisi, identifying mineralisation
down to vertical depths of approximately
120 m below surface. Exploration to date
has covered a strike length of about 900 m
and significant portions of the regionally
prominent Nkuluwisi Shear Zone remain
untested and exploration work is ongoing.
The drilling results are currently being
modelled and will be submitted to Shanta’s
independent resource consultants for
resource estimation purposes in the near
future.
Drilling highlights include: 13 m at
6,31 g/t gold from 60 m in hole SGR090,
including 5 m at 10,81 g/t; and 19 m at
3,58 g/t from 22 m in hole SGR178, includ-
ing 10 m at 5,3 g/t.
Toby Bradbury, Chief Executive Officer,
commented: “The excellent exploration
results from Nkuluwisi once again show-
case the geological potential of the Lupa
goldfields. Furthermore, after resource
upgrades at Elizabeth Hill in 2015 and
Ilunga in 2016, Shanta’s exploration team
continues to demonstrate its ability to
convert its knowledge and experience into
value-creation through the drill bit.
“The grades and thicknesses of the
mineralisation at Nkuluwisi are very
encouraging. The deposit remains open
at depth, and strike, and we are confident
that further exploration will add to the
forthcoming expected maiden resource at
Nkuluwisi due in Q2 2017.”