platinum
22
06.13
T
he Impala No 16 Shaft complex is one of Impa-
la Platinum’s new fourth-generation shafts and
consists of a 1 682 m deep, 10 m inside diam-
eter, concrete-lined man/material and rock hoisting
shaft (main shaft) and a 1 450 m deep, 6,8 m inside
diameter, concrete-lined upcast ventilation shaft.
The shaft system accesses both the Merensky and
UG2 reef horizons and is capable of producing up to
226,5 kt/month of reef from seven operational levels.
As this article was being written, the official open-
ing of the shaft was due to take place in June 2013,
a great achievement for both Impala Platinum and
RSV, and a testament to a successful and supportive
EPCM and client relationship under the guidance of
client representative Frikkie Höll, General Manager
of Impala No 16 Shaft.
Innovations and ‘firsts’ on the project have been
numerous and have included the Fulton award-win-
ning concrete headframe, which towers 108 m above
bank level and is the tallest concrete headframe in
the world. Its construction saw the first application
of concrete pumping in a headframe slide in South
Africa. The shaft sinking also saw some innovative
departures from conventional practice, among them
the use of an integrated shaft bottom pumping system
and an improved machine kibble (mini-jumbo) for
drilling of support. Noteworthy too has been RSV’s
planning and project management which allowed
shaft sinking – by Shaft Sinkers – to begin ahead of
schedule through accelerated mobilisation and fast
tracking of shaft infrastructure and design work.
The innovation that has characterised the project
has extended to the vertical transport system which
utilises two 6,5 m diameter, tower-mounted, four-
Successful rope-up
at Impala’s No 16 Shaft
The friction winch in position next to No 16 Shaft headframe.
The roping-up of the two Koepe friction winders at Impala Platinum’s No 16 Shaft near Rustenburg marks the
effective completion of a pace-setting deep shaft project which was initiated in 2004 and which has seen a
number of innovations in shaft and headgear design, hoisting arrangements and shaft-sinking methodology.
Modern Mining’s
Arthur Tassell recently visited the site to view the progress on the roping-up, now com-
pleted, and spoke to Torra Engelbrecht, Group Construction Manager of RSV, the EPCM contractor on No 16
Shaft. He described the roping-up as a “once in a decade event” – the last roping-up of Koepe winders using
modern friction winch and clamp and lifting device application technology in South Africa having taken
place at the Palabora mine in 2001 – and said it had attracted international attention.
