Bakubung platinum mine, the flag- ship project of JSE-listed junior plati- num group metals (PGMs) mining company Wesizwe Platinum, continues to meet the challenges of a new mining project development during the current difficult mining cycle, Wesizwe projects executive Jacob Mothomogolo tells Mining Weekly.

The company, in which Chinese mining major China Africa Jinchaun has a 45% stake, started the Bakubung project in July 2011.

Mothomogolo says Wesizwe decided to invest in the platinum mine because it foresaw a bright future in the PGMs sector, despite declining market prices, demands for high salary increments and rising production costs.

“Wesizwe is actually one of the few junior mining companies currently investing amid this downswing. Ours is a very aggressive approach because we believe it is the best way to invest in mining.

“There’s no question about it – the PGMs sector is facing a downturn, but history has proven that things will pick up; the demand for those commodities will increase and we will be ready for the period when that happens,” he explains.

Wesizwe expects the mine to be fully developed and ready for production by the time the mining industry recovers from the downturn.

“A mining project life cycle can last for between five and eight years and, with the Bakubung project’s start-up period and projected set-up period, the mine will be ready to start production just in time for the high demand that will come with recovery.

“We’re also projecting that, in five or more years the current challenges facing the South African mining industry will be sorted out,” he details.

Mothomogolo maintains what adds to Wesizwe’s prospects for success is that the mine is being developed on the former Frischgewaagd-Ledig platinum mine project, on the western limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex, north of Rustenburg, in the North West.

“We are in a better space than most junior mining companies because we have a well-defined and well-explored orebody, which gives us a great idea of what to expect when we go underground,” he says.

Mothomogolo adds that it is an advantage that Wesizwe’s major shareholder has a wealth of experience and expertise as a mining company and that Wesizwe has already started with synergy exercises to enhance skills transfer and sharing.

“For instance, as part of an expansive and ongoing expertise transfer process, we had a meeting in October 2013 where a technical team of six personnel from our major shareholders spent time with the design managers to review the mine designs and discuss how to expand and improve on it,” he explains.

Developing Bakubung

At full production, the Bakubung underground mine will employ more than 3 200 people. Currently, Wesizwe, in conjunction with its contracted engineering company Aveng Engineering, has an artisan and technical training programme for 12 students who will be given employment opportunities on the mine when production starts.

“We have committed to upskilling some community members in the area where Bakubung is situated and we will employ them after they complete their training,” Mothomogolo explains.

Further, Wesizwe is finalising an optimisation study to improve the current bankable feasibility study, which aims to bring production forward – by at least two years – and reduce capital costs.

Mothomogolo adds that the study also aims to improve the mine’s design and processes to increase efficiencies while reducing operating costs.

However, despite these positive projections, Mothomogolo highlights that Wesizwe has faced many of the same challenges that other mining companies operating in South Africa have had to face in recent years.

“Even though we have a good health and safety record, we have had instances where work had to be halted for a number of days, owing to work stoppages. A day lost on a huge development programme like a mine site is a long time and it will obviously impact negatively on our bottom line,” he elaborates.

Project Progress

The Bakubung mine, which is considered Wesizwe Platinum’s core asset, will comprise an underground mine with on-site substations for bulk power and water supply.

The sinking of an independent twin vertical-shaft system – which is still being developed – will be used to access the orebody. The system will comprise a 1 000-m-deep, 8.5-m-diameter downcast men-and-materials and hoisting shaft, as well as a 930-m-deep upcast ventilation shaft, which will be 7.5 m in diameter.

Mothomogolo tells Mining Weekly that, by the end of 2013, the first phase of shaft sinking was complete. The shafts will be strategically positioned to provide efficient access to both reef horizons.

The Bakubung mine has an estimated life-of-mine of 35 years at a projected production rate of 230 000 t/m, producing an average of 350 000 oz/y of platinum-group elements during steady-state production.

Wesizwe says during the initial phase of production, 180 000 t/m will be mined from the Merensky reef, while the balance will be mined from the secondary upper group two (UG2) ore. After the Merensky reef is depleted, between 10 and 15 years from the start of production, the full 230 000 t capacity will be generated from UG2 ore.

Bakubung will have a staff intake capacity of 3 200 permanent employees when in full production, of whom 120 will work at the process plant, while 1 800 will work underground.

The project has an estimated value of R7.9-billion, with expected inflation and cost escalation expected to take that to R12-billion.

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 mine complex will include a pro- cessing plant adjacent to the mine shafts to treat and produce a concentrate, and four underground crushers, concludes Mothomogolo.