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. Normal production has resumed.

Evander GM Tenda Tendaupenyu noted during a media briefing at the mine last month that the operation was in a much better space following the programme. “We have been going through a period of trauma in this part of the world and, out of need, we are trying to make sure that we are sufficiently resourced. This is a very old lady, so you would expect that most of the challenges we have relate to ageing infrastructure, which needs to be maintained.”

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, and 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 taking place on the 23, 24 and 25 levels at 8 Shaft, while 7A Shaft is used to hoist the ore above ground.

Van den Berg pointed out that, in October last year, damage caused to the 1.8-km-deep 7A Shaft resulted in the hoisting speed at the mine dropping from 13 m/s to about 8 m/s, significantly reducing the tonnages produced at the mine.

Pan African subsequently initiated engineering studies to assess the condition of Evander’s underground mining infrastructure and reported in February that the studies had identified critical infrastructure issues that needed remedial action to ensure the 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, further prompting the need for interventions.

To further reduce operating costs at the mine, Pan African completed a retrenchment programme in March, resulting in 210 voluntary and 440 compulsory retrenchments.

The mine currently has a workforce of about 1 780 people.