https://www.miningweekly.com

Unisel mine, South Africa

9th March 2018

By: Sheila Barradas

Creamer Media Research Coordinator & Senior Deputy Editor

     

Font size: - +

Name: Unisel mine.

Location: Unisel is located near Virginia, in the Free State, about 270 km from Johannesburg, South Africa.

Controlling Company: Harmony Gold Mining Company.

Brief Description: Unisel is a mature operation, reaching the end of its life-of-mine. Mining is conducted to a depth of 2 153 m below surface. Conventional scattered mining and pillar reclamation are undertaken to access the Basal, Leader and, to a lesser extent, the Middle reefs. Ore mined is processed at Harmony One plant.

Brief History: Unisel was established as a joint venture between Union Corporation and African Selection Trust in 1972, following a drilling programme undertaken in the ground between the Sand River and the President Brand mine. Site preparation and shaft sinking began in 1974 and production in 1979. On the amalgamation of Union Corporation and General Mining, Unisel continued operations under the mining house Gencor and then Gengold. In 1995, Randgold purchased Unisel from Gengold. When Randgold split, Unisel became part of Harmony’s stable of mines.
Products: Gold.

Geology/Mineralisation: Unisel mines gold-bearing reefs from the Witwatersrand Super Group, which is situated on the Kaapvaal Craton. The Basal and Leader reefs are the main economic horizons in the Unisel area.
The Basal reef occurs at the base of the Harmony Formation and overlies the footwall beds (Welkom Formation) with a marked unconformity.

The Leader reef is situated at the base of the Dagbreek Formation. The separation between the Basal and the Leader reefs varies from subcrop of the Basal against the Leader reef in the west to 17 m in the eastern areas of the lease.

Reserves: Total proven and probable reserves as at June 30, 2017, were estimated at two-million tonnes grading 4.58 g/t gold.

Resources: Total mineral resources as at June 30, 2017, were estimated at 2.6-million tonnes grading 6.97 g/t gold.

Mining Method: Mainly breast panel mining.

Major Infrastructure and Equipment: The Unisel complex comprises a steel headgear with a collar elevation of 496 m below datum, giving access to workings from 2 level (at 1 655 m below datum) to 10 level (2 375 m below datum). A decline shaft from 10 level to 13 level at 2 641 m below datum gives access to the lowest shaft levels.
The shaft has a second outlet to the Bambanani mine in the north at 10 level. Other holings to adjacent mines lead to the old Brand 5 shaft on 4 level.

Unisel does not have its own mineral processing plant. The ore mined is transported 8 km by rail to the Harmony One plant for processing.

Prospects: Planning to extract higher-grade portions of the shaft pillar has begun. This ground will be extracted using breast panel mining. The mine is currently in “harvest” mode and has a remaining operating life of 4.5 years.

Contact Person: Investor relations manager Lauren Fourie.

Contact Details:
Harmony Gold
Tel +27 11 411 2000
Fax +27 11 692 3879
Email HarmonyIR@harmony.co.za
Website https://www.harmony.co.za

 

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION