JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – South African gold miner Pan African Resources has completed the R41.5-million stoppage and refurbishment programme for the 7 and 8 shafts at its Evander gold mine, in Mpumalanga, and normal production has resumed.

During a media briefing at the mine this week, Pan African group mining engineer Bert van den Berg explained that the “mammoth” 55-day programme required a number of infrastructure items to be replaced, including 7 shaft’s pump column support infrastructure, a damaged section of the main pump column at the 7 shaft and the water reticulation system between 7 and 8 shafts.

Further work included the removal of redundant shaft steelwork at the 7A and 8 shafts, cleaning and refurbishing the 7 and 7A shaft bottoms, as well as assessing all other underground infrastructure critical to maintaining and sustaining production at Evander.

Mining operations are currently taking place on the 23, 24 and 25 levels at 8 shaft, while 7A shaft is used to hoist the ore aboveground.

Pan African last year initiated engineering studies to assess the condition of Evander’s underground mining infrastructure and, in February, reported that the studies had identified critical infrastructure issues that needed remedial action to ensure safe operation of the 7 and 8 shafts.

An employee had also been killed at 7 shaft in February when the supporting infrastructure for the pump column failed.

Meanwhile, media were also taken to the site where Pan African will build its R6.35-billion Elikhulu tailings retreatment plant. Construction will start in the third quarter of this year and be completed by the third quarter of 2018, with production to start the following quarter.

The first phase of the project will see tailings from the Kinross mine dump treated. Phases 2 and 3, which will result in the treatment of the Bracken/Leslie and Winkelhaak dumps respectively, are schedule to start in the fourth quarter of 2021 and the third quarter of 2026 respectively.

Once completed, Elikhulu will process one-million tons a month of tailings. The project is expected to recover about 689 000 oz of gold.