RUSTENBURG (miningweekly.com) – The completion of the latest shaft sinking milestone at platinum hopeful Wesizwe Platinum’s Bakubung platinum mine, near Rustenburg, has marked the start of shaft equipping and commissioning.

Work at the Chinese-backed flagship mine continued to develop at pace as Wesizwe’s shaft sinking programme culminated with the last vertical blasts pushing the main shaft down to a depth of 826 m at 82 level and the ventilation shaft reaching a depth of 816 m at 81 level.

Next year would see increased activity as the last phase of the surface infrastructure, including the construction of the control rooms and administration office, progressed and the preparations for the construction of the process plant got under way.

Wesizwe would now move into the next phase of the project, shifting focus to the preparations for the commissioning of the main shaft in the second quarter of 2017.

“All the previous milestones have been related to sinking, whereas this new one marks the beginning of our working towards getting to work on the orebody itself,” Bakubung GM Eddie Mohlabi said during an underground visit to the mine on Wednesday.

The shaft would be stripped of all the temporary steelwork that was used for sinking and permanent steelwork would be installed.

Wesizwe was moving “full steam” towards the completion of the ventilation shaft infrastructure.

In the new year, the processes for rock handling would be developed, while work on waste development through the ventilation shaft would continue.

The mine operational readiness plan, which was implemented this year, would be progressed, and the second phase of the 60 MW power supply to the mine would be commissioned during the second quarter of 2016.

Wesizwe would also order long-lead items for the process plant ahead of the start of construction in mid-2016.

The group had started the process of enquiry for the engineering, procurement and construction management and front-end engineering for the process plant.

The plant was expected to be commissioned in the third quarter of 2019.

The Bakubung mine would reach full production late in 2020 – two-and-a-half years ahead of schedule – with an initial 230 000 t/m production rate planned for October 2020.