JSE-listed Wesizwe Platinum continues to advance the development of its flagship Bakubung mine, in the North West province, with the headgear construction some three-quarters complete and the primary shaft at a depth of 120 m at the end of the presink stage.

Bakubung is expected to have a life span of 35 years and will produce 350 000 oz/y of plati- num-group metals (PGMs) from the underground mine, which will be accessed by a twin independent vertical shaft system, comprising a main shaft for miners and materials, envisaged to reach 1 000 m below ground.

An additional 930-m-deep ventilation shaft would also function as a second escape route.

During a site visit to the mine last week, Bakubung projects executive Jacob Mothomogolo said the headgear construction would be completed by the end of May, after which the main shaft would enter the slow-sink phase.

The 86-m-tall main shaft headgear, weighing over 1 860 t, will be one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere once completed.

“We are, besides a few deficit metres in the ventilation shaft, on schedule and meeting timelines. The project is in a good state of health,” he commented, adding that Wesizwe was on track to meet its deadline to have the mine fully commissioned by April 2018 and achieve full production by the third quarter of 2023.

Once completed, the main shaft will have a hoisting capacity of 230 000 t/m of ore and 40 000 t/m of waste, with 180 000 t/m of ore mined from the Merensky reef and the balance sourced from secondary UG2 reef ore.

The complex will include a processing plant, located adjacent to the mine shafts, to treat and produce a concentrate, as well as four underground crushers.

“The decision to install the crushers underground was largely driven by the noise pollution that above-ground crushers would inflict on the local community, some of whom reside within 1 km of shaft positions and adjacent to the mining lease area,” said Mothomogolo, noting, however, that optimisation studies were currently under way to revisit this decision, which was made during the feasibility study.

He indicated that the crushers might be moved above ground, but that this would require design change to reduce or eliminate noise pollution.

The crushed ore would then be separately stored in large silos, while the reef ores would be hoisted and poured onto separate stockpiles before being moved into the mills at the planned concentrator plant.

Meanwhile, the PGMs miner said, the water supply feasibility study had been completed during 2012, and included a detailed engineering and costing evaluation.

“Water supply contracts were negotiated in terms of a joint venture with Maseve Invest- ments, and a capital programme and standard water-use offtake agreement with Magalies Water,” Wesizwe CEO Jianke Gao said in the company’s 2012 integrated report.

Moreover, while parastatal Eskom had delivered the Phase 1 permanent power supply of 8 MVA to the project site, it could not, as yet, confirm that it would have the capacity to provide the power required for Phase 2.

“We are engaged in ongoing discussions with Eskom in this regard, but we are a little concerned,” Mothomogolo commented.

Chinese Funding
The platinum explorer spent R779.1-million advancing Bakubung in 2012, with R1.4-billion committed as at the end of the financial year.

The bulk of this funding was secured through the China Development Bank (CDB), which approved $650-million in project funding.

Mining Weekly reported in January that Wesizwe had agreed to the financing deal with Jinchuan, of China, and the China-Africa Development Fund in 2011, when the China-Africa Jinchuan Investment consortium paid $227-million for 45% of Wesizwe and undertook to provide $877-million in funding for the Bakubung platinum mine project.

The finalisation of project funding documents was currently in progress, with the CDB having approved two bridging loans of $100-million each, of which one $100-million drawdown had taken place.

Last month, Wesizwe reported a consolidated profit of R9.7-million for 2012, a marked improve- ment from a loss of R3.6-million in the previous year.