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Headgears and Shaft Equipment

Equipping, changeover on track for March

1st April 2022 Diversified mining company Ivanhoe Mines is expected to complete the equipping and changeover of its Platreef Project Shaft 1 by the end of last month. The construction of the 996-m-level station at the bottom of Shaft 1 was completed in July 2020. Shaft 1 will initially be used to access the... →

Pre-sinking complete at Karowe mine

By: Sabrina Jardim 1st April 2022 Shaft pre-sinking at Canadian-headquartered diamond mining company Lucara’s Karowe mine, in Botswana, was completed at the end of February. “Each shaft is approximately -52 m below collar. The final depth for the ventilation shaft is -730 m below surface, and -767 m below surface for the... →

Image of a stage being lowered into the shaft

HOOK, LINE AND SINKER Lucara has completed shaft pre-sinking on its Karowe mine

No ‘mucking about’ with safety for UMS

1st April 2022 Shaft sinking company United Mining Services (UMS) boasts shaft sinking innovations that the company is applying across its international projects, says CEO Digby Glover. Throughout its 60-year history, UMS has helped its clients extract value from the world’s most challenging ore bodies. Over... →

An image depicting construction at a shaft

SAFETY FIRST UMS CEO Digby Glover says it is now possible to sink shafts without accidents, owing to innovations of equipment and methodology

Machines help Belarus mine reach new depths

By: Cameron Mackay 16th April 2021 Dortmund-based shaft construction specialist Redpath Deilmann has used two Shaft Boring Roadheaders (SBR) from mechanised tunnelling company Herrenknecht, for the first time in Europe. The recently developed technology “inspires new top performances” in the mechanised construction of... →

Photo by © Herrenknecht AG
SINKING TO NEW DEPTHS The new technology marked a mining milestone, with two fully mechanised shaft sinkings

Covid affects use of platinum miner’s shafts

By: Cameron Mackay 16th April 2021 The Covid-19 pandemic and its impact in terms of health and safety regulations has significantly affected the use of two underground mine shafts at local platinum miner Wesizwe’s Bakubung platinum mine, in the North West province of South Africa, as well as the development of the mine project.... →

MAKING SHAFTS SAFER Since the shafts were commissioned, the company has had to implement a range of measures when transporting mineworkers up and down the shafts

Company assists manganese mine shaft refurbishment

By: Mc'Kyla Nortje 17th April 2020 Mining solutions provider United Mining Services (UMS) is assisting with shaft refurbishment at a manganese mine, in the Northern Cape. UMS COO Murray Macnab says the mine operators decided to extend the life-of-mine by refurbishing the old existing shafts and installing new shaft towers. The... →

Mechanised hard-rock shaft-sinking tech being developed

By: Darren Parker 17th April 2020 The development of a mechanised shaft-sinking solution for hard-rock applications through rock-boring and drilling services provider Master Drilling’s subsidiary, Master Sinking – a joint venture between Master Drilling and the Industrial Development Corporation – is well underway. The... →

IT’S A HARD-ROCK LIFE The development of a mechanised shaft sinking machine for hard-rock applications will add much value to the sector

Mechanised shaft-boring feasibility studies under way

By: Darren Parker 17th April 2020 Shaft sinking original-equipment manufacturer Herrenknecht is engaged in numerous feasibility studies with mining contractors in South Africa and other African countries, such as Zambia, for the potential use of the company’s mechanised shaft-boring machines. Herrenknecht business development... →

HITTING ROCK BOTTOM The Jansen project was the first time globally that mining shafts have been sunk successfully using only mechanical excavation

New gold shaft to be commissioned this year

17th April 2020 Gold mining company Caledonia Mining’s Blanket gold mine, in Zimbabwe, expects to commission its new central shaft in the fourth quarter of this year, following which production will ramp up. Shaft sinking at the central shaft was completed in July last year to the target depth of 1 204 m. Since... →

DEEPENING RETURNS The well-established Blanket gold mine will see an increase in production once the new central shaft project is completed later this year

Murray & Roberts Cementation

3rd September 2019 South Africa-based Murray & Roberts Cementation forms part of the Murray & Roberts Group which is recognised internationally as a leading mining contracting organisation with operations in Africa, Australia and the Americas. Murray & Roberts Cementation has served the mining industry for more... →

Murray & Roberts Cementation wins Palabora contract

19th April 2019 Mining contractor Murray & Roberts Cementation has been awarded a contract by copper miner Palabora Mining Company for a 1 200-m-deep ventilation shaft. The shaft, with a lined diameter of 8.5 m, will reach a final blind sink depth of 1 190 m before a drop raise takes it to its final depth,... →

CONSTRUCTION A surface headgear and winder installation will be constructed from January to March 2020

Underground copper project start remains on track

19th April 2019 Copper ore company Nevada Copper has confirmed that its Pumpkin Hollow underground copper project remains on target to start production in the fourth quarter this year. Pumpkin Hollow is located in Nevada, in the US and has substantial reserves and resources including copper, gold and silver. →

ON SCHEDULE surface infrastructure and processing equipment are advancing to plan

Construction at Turquoise Ridge mine progresses

19th April 2019 Construction of a third shaft at mining company Barrick Gold’s underground mine Turquoise Ridge in Nevada, in the US, continues to advance according to schedule and within budget, the miner noted in its financial report, released in February. Efforts for this year will focus on shaft sinking and... →

PIPELINE POTENTIAL Barrick Gold continues to advance a pipeline of high-confidence projects at or near its existing operations

Ivanplats to complete early-works construction at Platreef Shaft 2

By: Mc'Kyla Nortje 19th April 2019 Ivanplats, the South African subsidiary of Ivanhoe Mines, is expected to complete early-works construction at Shaft 2 of the Platreef palladium/platinum/nickel/copper/gold/rhodium project, near Mokopane, in Limpopo, South Africa, in the second quarter, says Ivanplats VP and project director... →

SHAFT 2 Aerial view of the Shaft 2 box cut early works with the concrete hitch under construction

Twiflex

19th April 2019 Over the past 30 years the main technological development in brakes for mine hoists has been the replacement of less efficient drum brakes with Hydraulic disc brakes. At the forefront of this development is the British Company Twiflex. →

UMS Group follows alternative shaft sinking methodologies

By: Mc'Kyla Nortje 19th April 2019 Mining solutions provider United Mining Services (UMS) Group is focusing on an alternative shaft sinking methodology that emphasises safety and mechanisation. The UMS Group comprises Shaft Sinkers as well as Mining Engineering Technical Services (METS) and aims to provide clients with the full... →

MACHINES With mechanisation shaft development is performed by machines with little or no need for humans to interface with those machines

Companies reach shaft sinking milestones

20th April 2018 Multinational mining company Turquoise Hill Resources’ Oyu Tolgoi copper/gold mine in Mongolia, has achieved significant underground development milestones with the completed sinking of two shafts this year. The Oyu Tolgoi, one of the world’s largest new copper/gold mines, is located in the South... →

ONGOING DEVELOPMENTS Oyu Tolgoi is one of the world's largest new copper/gold mines and is located in the South Gobi region of Mongolia

Hoisting mechanism offers increased productivity

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 20th April 2018 Engineering, equipment and service solutions supplier FLSmidth has developed an “innovative” skip discharging mechanism for vertical mine shafts – an alternative solution that can increase hoisting capacity and reduce hoisting duty cycles as well as maintenance time and costs, FLSmidth commercial... →

NEW SOLUTION FLSmidth’s Crank Dump Type Mechanism is advantageous for mines that seek to increase hoisting capacity

Shaft sinking progresses at Platreef’s Shaft 1

21st April 2017 The sinking of Shaft 1 at the Platreef platinum-palladium-gold-nickel-copper project in Limpopo, South Africa, has reached a depth of more than 283 m below surface, 697 m away from its target depth. Proceeding at an average rate of about 45 m a month, the shaft, with an internal diameter of 7.25... →

STEADY PROGRESS The sinking of Shaft 1 is scheduled to be complete in 2018

Blanket’s Central shaft sinking on schedule

21st April 2017 The Central shaft at the Blanket gold mine, in Zimbabwe, remains on track to reach a target depth of 1 080 m by 2018 and is the key enabler of mining company Caledonia Mining’s longer-term life-of-mine plan at Blanket, says CEO Steve Curtis. →

CONTINUED GROWTH The sinking of the Central shaft is expected to reinforce Blanket’s status as a low-cost gold mine

Digging deeper becoming more attractive, financially possible

By: Victor Moolman 21st April 2017 Developing a new shaft is regarded as a grudge purchase by mining companies and their shareholders because of the capital-intensive nature of such projects. However, 2017 Rapid Underground Mine & Civil Access Conference organising chairperson Murray Macnab avers that underground orebodies are... →

NEW SHAFT APPEAL New underground shafts can be expensive, but have larger returns on investment than opencast mines

Strategic mining alliance to clients’ benefit

21st April 2017 Mine shaft sinking and mining services company Redpath Mining South Africa has entered into an alliance with multidisciplinary construction group Stefanutti Stocks, joining their complementary capabilities and services to enhance benefits to their clients. →

SINGLE SOURCE Through the Redpath Mining and Stefanuti Stocks alliance, mining clients benefit from a single role-player taking responsibility for an entire project

Headframe modelled using 3D technology

15th April 2016 The first three-dimensional (3D) model produced by mining services company Murray & Roberts Cementation using its new three-dimensional printing technology is of mining company Ivanhoe Mines’ Platreef Shaft 2 headframe, in Limpopo. “3D printing of structures allows for the assessing of the... →

3D BENEFITS The physical model and the virtual models are almost identical, enabling the ergonomics of the structure to be visually checked to ensure functionality

Four new hoists for Venetia

15th April 2016 Power and automation technology company ASEA Brown Boveri (ABB) will supply four hoists to South Africa’s largest diamond producer, De Beers. →

PROLONGING PRODUCTION Two new shafts will be sunk by De Beers extending the Venetia mine's life beyond 2040

Main sinking at Platreef Shaft 1

15th April 2016 The changeover from presinking activities to main-sinking activities at Shaft 1 of the Platreef platinum-group metals (PGMs) mining project, in Limpopo, is expected to be completed by April, enabling the start of main sinking. Presinking of the shaft was completed to a depth of 54 m below surface. →

MOVING ON Presinking of Shaft 1 at the Platreef project was completed to a depth of 54 m below surface

New shaft drilling method under development

By: Kimberley Smuts 17th April 2015 Body copy: Raiseboring and drilling services group Master Drilling is evaluating the possibility of drilling a shaft without bottom access, which could bring about “a radical change” in the industry, executive director Koos Jordaan tells Mining Weekly. He explains that, traditionally, raiseboring... →

New corrosion-protection solution developed

By: Kimberley Smuts 17th April 2015 Wear control group Filter Focus has launched a new environment-friendly corrosion-protection solution, RustPrufe, used for protection of any surface, eliminating rust and corrosion for extended periods. The product is formulated with an added flash rust inhibitor, which provides a superior level... →

RUSTPRUFE COATED COMPONENTS RustPrufe is environmentally-friendly solutionused to protect electric motors, equipment and structures in acid plants at numerous South African mines

Training academy accommodates latest shaft sinking technology

17th April 2015 Mining contracting company Murray & Roberts Cementation’s Training Academy at Bentley Park, near Carletonville, has adapted its conventional shaft sinking infrastructure to accommodate the latest shaft sinking methodology introduced to the South African mining industry from underground mining... →

Obtaining social licence a manageable challenge for emerging miner

By: Kimberley Smuts 17th April 2015 Obtaining a social licence to operate is one of the main challenges faced by emerging miner Wesizwe Platinum, which is sinking the main shaft of its Bakubung mine, on the western limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex. Wesizwe corporate affairs and investor relations executive Hamlet Morule tells... →

Bakubung shaft sinking remains on track

By: Kimberley Smuts 17th April 2015 Shaft-sinking activities at platinum miner Wesizwe Platinum’s Bakubung mine, in the North West, remain on track, with the main and ventilation shafts now having reached a depth of 770 m. Shaft sinking started in 2012, following the receipt of $600-million in financing from the China Development... →

EVENED OUTOwing to additional development work done on the ventilation shaft, both shafts are now at the same depth

Bakubung platinum mine GM Eddie Mohlabi discusses the mine’s shaft sinking progress.

Mine shaft systems division poised for growth

18th April 2014 Global manufacturer and equipment supplier FLSmidth is initiating a five- to seven-year strategic business plan that will see its mine-shaft systems business grow organically, fill gaps in the market and build the necessary skills and experience to become a one-source solution in the global... →

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