Name and Location
Styldrift 1 expansion project, North West, South Africa.

Client
Royal Bafokeng Platinum (67%) (RBPlat) and Anglo American Platinum (33%) (Amplats).

Project Description
The Styldrift project area is adjacent to the existing Boschkoppie mining area and is located about 5.5 km from the existing Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum Mine (BRPM).

The project will exploit one of the last major Merensky mining blocks on the Western Bushveld.

Styldrift 1 will deliver an underground operation, which will be accessed through a twin vertical shaft system, with the main shaft being sunk to 758 m and the services shaft to 723 m.

The configuration of the main shaft will allow for a single-deck personnel and material cage compartment, with capacity to transport 185 people; a cage counterweight compartment; two Merensky reef skip compartments, each designed to accommodate a 22 t skip; and two future upper group two skip compartments, each to accommodate a 13 t skip.

The services shaft will comprise a personnel and equipment cage compartment, with capacity to transport 22 people and a cage counterweight compartment.

Four winders will be used during the project construction phase and three during the production phase. The height of the main shaft headgear is 58.6 m and the service shaft 41.3 m.

Concentrator capacity will be 2.76-million tonnes a year.

Initially production will be conducted through wide-reef trackless mining methods and later through narrow-reef conventional mining methods.

The mine will process 230 000 t/m of Merensky reef and 20 000 t/m of waste at steady state.

Value
R11.39-billion.

Duration
The project was approved by the boards of Amplats and Royal Bafokeng Holdings in the third quarter of 2008.

Production ramp-up is expected to start in July 2015 and steady state at 230 000 t/m in July 2018.

Latest Developments
The Styldrift 1 expansion project has advanced to 32.2% completion, compared with a planned completion of 31.2%, based on the revised project schedule resulting from the project optimisation study, and remains on schedule.

Activities in the first half of 2013 included the sinking of the main and service shafts, lateral development on 600 level (Merensky reef), 642 level (top of silos) and 708 level (shaft ore-loading level) and construction of the rock winder.

At the end of June, the main shaft had progressed to the 708 level. The final depth of 758 m is scheduled for June 2014.

The services shaft progressed to 642 level, with completion to 708 level scheduled for November 2013.

A total of 603 m of lateral development was completed in the six months ended June 30. This included station bulk excavations, ore handling infrastructure and access haulages.

A total of 2 349 m of development is scheduled for this year.

The prefeasibility study for Styldrift 2 will be completed in the last quarter of 2014, with Styldrift 1 conceivably providing early mining access from a decline shaft.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
TWP Projects (main project engineering, procurement and construction management contractor); Anglo technical division (mine shaft design); Mining & Engineering Technical Services (Mets − services shaft headgears); Shaft Sinkers (main and services shafts and associated works); Louwill Engineering (main and services shafts’ headgears and winder house structural manufacturing and erection); FLSmidth Minerals (main shaft personnel and material winder mechanical portion); Actom (formerly Alstom Industry − main shaft personnel and material winder electrical portion); Coilmech (service winder mechanical and electrical portions); Stefanutti Stocks Civils Wramatshe joint venture (civils Phase 2 contract – main bulk surface civils); Sarens (cranes); DRA Mineral Projects (concentrator study) and Sandvik Mining (underground production trackless equipment).

On Budget and on Time?
During the first half of 2013 RBPlats concluded the approval of the optimisation study completed in 2012, resulting in the project budget being reduced from the original R11.8-billion to R11.39 billion and the project schedule being extended by 13 months.

The extension in the project schedule is attributable to the ramp-up to steady state being increased from 27 to 36 months, the inclusion of an additional shaft and underground infrastructure.

Contact Details for Project Information
RBPlat communications manager Kea Kalebe, tel +27 14 573 1487, fax +27 86 219 5131 or email kkalebe@bafokengplatinum.co.za.
TWP Projects, tel +27 11 218 3000.
Mets, tel +61 8 9421 9000 or fax +61 8 9325 8311.
Shaft Sinkers, tel +27 11 445 4300.
Louwill Engineering, tel +27 11 818 5186, fax +27 11 818 5185 or email mail@louwill.co.za.
FLSmidth Minerals, tel +45 36 18 10 00, fax +45 36 44 11 46 or email info@flsmidth.com.
Actom, tel +27 11 820 5111 or fax +27 11 820 5100.
Coilmech, tel +27 11 452 4063, fax +27 11 452 6104 or email info@coilmech.co.za.
Stefanutti Stocks, tel +27 11 571 4300, fax +27 11 571 4370 or email holdings@stefstocks.com.
Sarens, tel +27 11 861 3800, fax +27 11 861 3899 or email info@sarenssa.co.za.
Dowding, Reynard & Associates, tel +27 11 202 8600 or email info@drasa.co.za .
Sandvik Mining business development manager, EMEA, Bjorn Gohre, tel +27 11 570 9676.