Name of the Project
Styldrift I expansion project.

Location
The Styldrift project area is located about 5.5 km from the existing Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum Mine (BRPM), in South Africa’s North West province.

Project Owner/s
Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat).

Project Description
The project will exploit one of the last major shallow Merensky mining blocks on the Western Bushveld.

Styldrift I will deliver an underground trackless operation, which is accessed through a twin vertical shaft system consisting of sinking the main shaft to 753 m and the services shaft to 723 m.

The configuration of the main shaft has been equipped and commissioned, and allows for a single-deck personnel-and-material cage compartment that can transport 180 people; a cage counterweight compartment; two Merensky reef skip compartments, each designed to accommodate a 22 t skip; and two future skip compartments, each capable of accommodating a 13 t skip.

The services shaft has been equipped and commissioned, and allows for a personnel-and-equipment cage and counterweight compartment that can transport 22 people.

At steady state, Styldrift will produce 320 000 oz/y of platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold, or 4E.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
The project is estimated at about R12.4-billion.

Planned Start /End Date
Styldrift reached commercial production on January 1, 2019.

Latest Developments
With the final 230 000-t-a-month stoping infrastructure footprint completed during the second quarter of 2021, and RBPlat’s planned immediately stoppable reserves section flexibility of 1.3 in place, management’s focus shifted to developing and embedding the operational maturity required to secure improvements in operating efficiency to optimally leverage the installed infrastructure capacity.

The operations team has initiated an operational improvement strategy aimed at enhancing management systems, and improving mining and engineering processes and associated support service functions. The combination of these interventions, inherent face flexibility and ongoing gains in operational maturity and experience position the operation well to achieve steady state in 2022.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
WorleyParsons (main project engineering); Anglo Technical Division (mine shaft design); Mining & Engineering Technical Services, or Mets (services shaft headgears); Shaft Sinkers (main and services shafts and associated works until January 2015, when RBPlat terminated its contract); Louwill Engineering (main and services shaft headgears and winder-house structural manufacturing and erection); FLSmidth Minerals (main shaft personnel and material winder mechanical portion); Actom – formerly Alstom Industry (main shaft personnel-and-material winder – electrical portion); Coilmech (service winder – mechanical and electrical portions); Stefanutti Stocks Civils Wramatshe joint venture (civils Phase 2 contract – main bulk surface civils); Sarens (cranes), Sandvik Mining (underground primary trackless fleet); Fermel (secondary trackless fleet); Master Drilling, Murray & Roberts and Redpath (vertical raiseboring); and Howden (surface fan supply and installation).

All procurement and construction management are currently owner-managed.

Contact Details for Project Information
RBPlat communications manager Thapelo Montshioa, email thapeloM1@bafokengplatinum.co.za; or communications assistant Priscilla Mabaso, email Priscilla@Bafokengplatinum.co.za.