Name and Location
Impala No 16 Shaft project, North West, South Africa.

Client
Impala Platinum (Implats).

Project Description
The shaft development is situated on the south-east corner of the Impala mining lease down dip of No 1 Shaft, on the western limb of the Bushveld Complex. The No 16 Shaft is expected to produce 226 500 t/m of reef from seven operational levels. The shaft will access the Merensky and upper group two (UG2) reef horizons.

The No 16 Shaft ore reserves will be accessed by a downcast rock and men-and-materials shaft.

The rock and men-and-materials shaft is lined to an inside diameter of 10 m and sunk to 1 648 m, while the ventilation shaft is a 6.8-m-diameter inside-concrete lining shaft, sunk to 1 390 m below the surface.

As the shaft will access reef from a depth of 1 220 m to 1 540 m, full-time refrigeration will be required for the underground workings, introduced through the rock and men-and-materials shaft. The refrigeration is designed to ventilate a maximum of 900 kg/s of cooled air from the surface.

The No 16 Shaft headgear, with a structural height of 108 m, houses two Koepe winders. One will hoist personnel and material, while the other will hoist only rock. The rock hoist tipping arrangement will be located inside the concrete headgear to reduce noise pollution. A conveyor will transfer reef and waste from the headgear bins to a transfer tower, from where reef will be transferred to two concrete silos – one for Merensky and one for UG2.

The power requirements for the new shaft will be met from a new Eskom 88/33 kV yard at the No 15 Shaft.

Value
R6.9-billion.

Duration
The ramp-up to full production of 226 500 t/m of reef is scheduled to start in the third quarter of 2013.

Latest Developments
The equipping of the rock and men-and-materials shaft is progressing according to plan, with all shaft steel work installed. Activities are currently focused on completiing the loading and shaft bottom portions, followed by headgear change-over. Shaft equipping and commissioning will be completed in time for the start of production build-up in the third quarter of 2013.

The remaining surface infrastructure required for production, including the surface rail installation, offices, change houses and parking area, is progressing on schedule.

The build-up to full throughput of 185 000 oz of platinum will be achieved in the 2018 financial year.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Shaft Sinkers (shaft sinking); Read Swatman & Voigt (engineering, procurement and construction management); JJG Construction (civil works – Phase 2); Louwill Engineering (structural steel – Phase 2); NIC Instruments & Engineering (electrical – Phase 2); FLSmidth Minerals (Koepe winder – mechanical); ABB South Africa (Koepe winder – electrical); and Wade Walker (surface electrical works).

On Budget and on Time?
The project is on target for the start of production during the third quarter of 2013.

Contact Details for Project Information
Impala No 16 Shaft general manager Frikkie Höll, tel +27 82 802 5051; or project manager Jako Pienaar, tel +27 72 699 9373 or email jako.pienaar@implats.co.za.
Shaft Sinkers, +27 11 445 4300.
JJG Construction, tel +27 18 484 1427, fax +27 18 484 5017 or email info@jjg.co.za.
Louwill Engineering, tel +27 11 818 5844.