Name of the Mine
Mogalakwena mine.

Location  
Mogalakwena is located 30 km north-west of the town of Mokopane in Limpopo, South Africa.

Mine Owner/s  
Anglo American Platinum.

Brief Description  
Mogalakwena mines the Platreef, the primary platinum group metal-bearing horizon developed in the northern limb of the Bushveld Complex.

Mining is currently focused on the Zwartfontein South, Mogalakwena North and Central openpits. Pit depths vary from 128 m in South pit to 283 m in North pit. Ore is processed on-site at the North and South concentrators, as well as at the Baobab concentrator, which is located about 90 km off-site.

Brief History  
The earliest recorded mining activities recorded at Mogalakwena started on the Tweefontein and Sandsloot farms in 1926, with early trenching, drilling, and sampling leading to mining operations on Zwartfontein, Sandsloot, and Vaalkop farms, supported by a newly built beneficiation plant. Operations halted as a result of the Great Depression in 1929, only restarting in 1968 under Johannesburg Consolidated Investments, now Anglo American Platinum. Over two decades, a comprehensive exploration programme involving field mapping, sampling, and extensive drilling along the northern limb of the Bushveld Complex helped assess key properties, including Sandsloot, Tweefontein, Vaalkop, and Overysel.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, bulk sampling and trial mining tested the thick, low-grade Platreef orebody, leading to the adoption of bulk openpit mining, with primary production starting at Sandsloot in 1992. 

Subsequent development included the Zwartfontein South pit in the early 2000s, followed by the Central and North pits by 2008, which remain Mogalakwena’s principal mining areas. In 2019, Anglo American Platinum expanded its holdings by acquiring Central Block and Kwanda North prospecting rights from Atlatsa Resources, which are now part of the Mogalakwena mining right, though not classified as mineral resources. 

Further exploration continues, with an underground mineral resource declared at Sandsloot in 2022 following a scoping study.

Primary Metals/Minerals
Platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold (4E).

Secondary Metals/Minerals
Nickel and copper.

Geology/Mineralisation  
The Platreef orebody occurs in the northern limb of the Bushveld Complex. The orebody can be described as a multiple pulse mafic magmatic horizon, dominated by pyroxene-rich rock types, overlain by Main Zone gabbronorites. It is underlain by a succession of sedimentary units of the Transvaal Supergroup ranging from shales and banded ironstones in the south, to dolomites in the centre, overlain onto Archaean basement granites and gneisses in the northern areas.

At Mogalakwena, the Platreef is structurally affected by dolerite dykes and several lateral fault systems trending in a north-east/south-west direction. Zones adjacent to major fault systems are discounted as geological losses. The fault systems display normal to reverse fault displacements ranging between 50 m and 600 m, with up-thrown blocks proving favourable to mine design. The Platreef hosts significant dolomite inclusions in the southern region of the mining area and these also constitute geological loss zones.

Reserves  
Total proven and probable reserves were estimated at 1.2-billion tonnes grading at 2.95 g/t 4E.

Resources  
The Mogalakwena mine had total measured, indicated and inferred resources of 2.06-billion tonnes as at December 31, 2023, grading at 2.36 g/t 4E.

Type of Mine
Openpit and underground.

Mining Method  
Openpit mining is conducted using conventional drill, blast, load and haul surface-mining methods. Underground mining is based on hybrid open-stope mine designs supported by long-term economic viability.

Major Infrastructure/Equipment  
Material is moved using truck-and-shovel to the processing plants, stockpiles and waste-rock dumps along a network of constructed surface roadways.

Prospects  
Anglo American Platinum has progressed the optimised mine plan work at Mogalakwena, whereby the adjusted mining sequence will enable it to mine less waste, reduce stripping ratios and target a lower mining unit cost in the medium term. 

Contact Details 
Anglo American Platinum
Tel  +27 11 373 6111
Email info@angloamerican.com
Website https://www.angloamericanplatinum.com/