Engineering and construction group Murray & Roberts’ (M & R’s) subsidiary M & R Cementation has been selected by diamond miner De Beers as the preferred contractor to undertake the development of an underground mining operation at the Venetia diamond mine, in Limpopo.

De Beers, together with project house TWP and consultant Quoin, is in the process of undertaking an advanced feasibility study to phase in the new underground mine. The diamond mining company’s board will consider whether or not to move ahead with this project by the middle of this year.

Venetia is South Africa’s biggest diamond mine, contributing about 40% of the country’s total diamond output.

The underground expansion at Venetia, which is currently an opencast operation, would extend the operation’s life to beyond 2045, from 2021. The diamond miner is expected to invest between R10-billion and R15-billion in the project.

The feasibility study, which will be completed early this year, will go through a financial modelling process before being submitted to the shareholder board for approval by midyear.

As the preferred contractor, M&R Cemen- tation plans to abandon the traditional South African approach to shaft sinking in favour of a Canadian model that undertakes all activities in the sinking cycle in-line – with no two jobs taking place simultaneously.

“We believe we were nominated as the preferred contractor for Venetia based on this bold new approach. If the underground project is given the green light, this mine could become the first to benefit from our progressive new methodology,” says M&R Cementation’s business development executive, Allan Widlake.

“The primary driver in the transition to this methodology is safety. Companies, trade unions, the Department of Mineral Resources and mining consultants seek ways to improve safety during shaft sinking and to restrict the use of certain equipment that may have contributed to incidents in the past,” he adds.

Widlake believes this practice will bring about the same safety statistics currently being recorded by M & R Cementation’s sister companies in Canada and the US – a full shaft completed without one lost-time injury.

This zero-harm performance is attributable both to technology and to a higher skills set among the personnel involved.