February 2010
Our cover story in February deals with mechanisation at Gold Fields' South Deep mine, where a long-hole stoping method has replaced the conventional drift-and-fill mining method previously used. Also featured in February are Great Basin Gold's Burnstone mine near Balfour, where the first gold pour is expected by late July, African Nickel's Bon Accord nickel project near Barbeton, which has the potential to be a 300 000 t/a operation, and Firestone Diamonds' BK11 project in Botswana, now in the mine development phase.
February, of course, also saw the annual Mining Indaba in Cape Town. As we make clear in this issue, the mood at the Indaba was overwhelmingly positive, in stark contrast to the 2009 event which was held in the shadow of the financial crash of 2008.
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South Deep - making mechanisation work
Atlas Copco equipment is playing a key role in the mechanised mining at South Deep and the company currently has nearly 90 machines working at the mine.
Burnstone heads for its first gold pour
The US$230 million Burnstone gold mine is now at an advanced stage, with the decline shaft having intersected the Kimberley Reef and trial Long Hold Stoping (LHS) underway.
Elandsrand rebranded
Harmony Gold Mining Company has renamed its Elandsrand mine on the Far West Rand. The mine, which is destined to be Harmony’s ‘flagship’ by 2013, will now be known as Kusasalethu (‘our future’).
BK11 comes to the boil
Firestone Diamonds expects to be producing from its BK11 kimberlite near Orapa in the second quarter of this year, following the relocation of a processing plant to the site from its Namaqualand operations in South Africa.
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