Modern Mining January 2016

DIAMONDS

What is believed to be the biggest diamond mining project currently underway anywhere in the world, the US$2 billion Venetia Underground Project (VUP) at De Beers’ Venetia mine in Limpopo Province, is making excellent progress, as Modern Mining’s Arthur Tassell recently witnessed on a visit to the site. He spoke to Graham Chamberlain, Project Executive with Murray & Roberts Cementation (MRC), and De Beers’ Christoff Kühn, Head of the VUP. The project – MRC’s biggest current contract – is seeing the deployment – for the first time in South Africa – of a new shaft-sinking methodology derived fromMRC’s sister company, Cementation Canada. Canadian-style shaft sinking

E xplaining the background to the VUP, Kühn says the project will extend Venetia’s life to 2043. “Ve- netia mine was opened in August 1992 and ranks as a Tier One mine and De Beers’ flagship operation in South Af- rica, producing 3,2 million carats in 2014,” he states. “It currently mines three orebodies – K01, K02 and K03 – via open-pit methods. The open pit is heading towards its economic limits and has to be replaced in 2021 by an un-

derground mine – hence the need for the VUP. The project represents the biggest ever invest- ment by De Beers in South Africa and – very importantly – will ensure that Venetia con- tinues as one of the main employers and gen- erators of economic activity in an area where work opportunities are in short supply.” Projects such as the VUP require years of planning and the first concept study on the development of an undergroundmine at Venetia was undertaken in 2003. A pre-feasibility study

The steel headgears of the service shaft and the production shaft. They were erected by Genrec using a 750-ton mobile crane (photo: De Beers).

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46  MODERN MINING  January 2016