Pan African Resources last week reported that the refurbishment of the 7 and 8 Shaft complex at its Evander mines was progressing on time and within the R40-million budget.
The company, led by CEO Cobus Loots, expected the refurbishment programme to have been completed on April 15.
The programme entailed the replacement of the 7 Shaft pump columns support infrastructure; the replacement of a damaged section of the main pump column at the 7 Shaft; the replacement of the water reticulation system between the 7 and 8 shafts; the removal of redundant shaft steelwork at the 7A and 8 shafts; and repairs to the 7 and 7A shaft bottoms.
The programme also includes an assessment of all other underground infrastructure that is critical to maintaining and sustaining production.
Evander Mines’ 7A Shaft, which is used for rock hoisting, has normalised hoisting speed to 13 m/s, after this was reduced to 8 m/s for repairs.
During the refurbishment period, on-mine management also focused on the preparation of Evander Mines’ underground mining areas for mining restart.
Underground mining operations Evander will restart with the hoisting of about 6 000 t of mined ore currently stored in the underground infrastructure. The processing of these tonnes will assist in the expeditious ramp-up of its underground production profile.