Company Announcement - One of the primary objectives of all mining operations is to run as close as possible to their nameplate production capacity in order to minimise the production costs.  This particularly applies to underground operations. For an underground operation, one of the bottlenecks is the access and hoisting shafts where as close to 24-hour operation as possible is highly desirable. For safety reasons and to ensure such high utilisations, it is essential that regular shaft inspections are carried out in order to satisfy both regulatory and operational compliance procedures.

Although mining safety and inspection regulations vary from country to country, in most mining countries the typical approach is to undertake a regular visual inspection of the whole shaft (typically once a week) together with a more detailed condition and survey check annually. Physical visual inspections and traditional shaft surveys are time consuming, that by their nature are carried out in a challenging and hazardous work environment. Typically, a visual inspection requires  a slow speed inspection  through the entire depth of shaft and more detailed inspections may require  a complete shutdown for a period while the inspection is carried out. Furthermore, visual inspections typically deliver less-than-optimal quality results. DMT, a consulting firm and service provider to the international mining industry, has recently developed innovative systems for remote, fast, safe and highly accurate full 3D documentation of shaft walls and installations, for both shafts with- or without- hoisting facilities.

Initially captured images are processed using special software in order to create extremely accurate CAD drawings of the entire shaft and its contained furnishings. Utilising a ranking system whilst processing the images allows the condition (whether good or in need of repair) of each element in the shaft to be defined. This immediately and accurately provides a list for timely planning of maintenance and repair, the benefits of which are reaped in the continued production of the shaft operation at maximum capacity.

In DMT’s home country of Germany, this technology has already been proven at more than 50 operational sites and is now accepted in Germany as the standard shaft inspection method, completely replacing traditional surveys and partly replacing visual inspections. Several projects outside of Germany, for example  .in Russia, have been recently carried out with equally impressive results. DMT’s South African subsidiary, DMT Kai Batla (Pty) Ltd, recently presented the technology at Mining Indaba 2015 for the first time. This presentation garnered a fair share of interest from several South African companies operating deep underground mines where shafts are an important feature and potential bottleneck in their operations.

In a climate of volatile commodity prices and shifting demand fundamentals, mining companies are under increasing pressure to control costs, improve capital efficiency and productivity in order to rebuild investor confidence, Mine operators will need to focus on the adoption of new innovative technologies in order to satisfy meet the twin demands.. of improved operational efficiency and enhanced levels of safety . Due to the high level of interest achieved at the Mining Indaba, DMT is now planning to make this highly innovative technology available to the local mining community in South Africa. A number of pilot projects have been planned in 2015 and the equipment and services will be made available via DMT Kai Batla during the period from June to August 2015at special introductory rates. DMT Product Manager Norbert Benecke pointed out: “We are totally convinced that we will be able to demonstrate the efficiency and quality of our technology through the planned pilot projects. Having done so, , we will establish a shaft survey service permanently in South Africa to serve the market locally.”

Companies who are interested in carrying out a pilot project and/or a demonstration of the service, are kindly invited to contact Sodhie Naicker, Director of DMT Kai Batla sodhie.naicker@dmt-group.com or Norbert Benecke at DMT in Germany norbert.benecke@dmt-group.com