copper
30
06.13
T
he original contract, which commenced in
January 2011, comprised a twin decline sys-
tem on the East Limb and ramps to access the
orebody. This was completed in October 2012 ahead
of schedule.
“Our team achieved 14 190 m and we remained
ahead of target against the mining schedule for the
duration of the contract,” says Wyllie Pearson, Mur-
ray & Roberts Cementation’s senior project manager
at Lubambe. “The support regime involved welded
mesh with split sets being installed by the drill rig
operators after every blast from grade line to grade
line, and extended to 0,5 m from the face.
“Additional work included in the first contract in-
volved the installation of 75 m Level tips – 6,1 m in
diameter by 18 m in length. These tips were raise-
bored. Construction of the tip and box front infra-
structure were subsequently also awarded to Murray
& Roberts Cementation. Cover drilling, which was
included in the contract to ensure safe and effective
development, was undertaken using Kempe diamond
drills which covered advance development.”
The latest contract involves all horizontal and in-
clined development for trackless high speed tech-
nology in Ramps 3, 4 and 5, situated in the mine’s
Cementation
wins second
contract at copper mine
Development shift boss checks the explosive timing prior to blasting.
In the wake of a successful decline sinking project completed last year at Lubambe Copper Mine in Zambia,
a joint venture between African Rainbow Minerals, Vale and Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investment
Holdings, Murray & Roberts Cementation has been awarded a new contract for trackless high speed develop-
ment at the mine, a project scheduled to extend to January 2014.
Eastern Limb. The Murray & Roberts Cementation
team will continue the development of infrastructure
for two conveyor belt systems and will maintain the
owner’s fleet of equipment.
Pearson says his project team, comprising South
Africans, Australians, Filipinos and Zambian person-
nel, is once again exceeding the development target.
The first sand zone, 30 m wide, has been success-
fully negotiated using Titan soil nails, Becker arch
sets, 5,6 mm welded mesh and shotcrete as support
mediums and the second zone is currently being de-
veloped. Sand is excavated out of the face using a
Hyundai 35Z7 mini-excavator.
“Although the new employees gained experience
with the mechanised equipment being used on this
project during our first contract, it was necessary to
elevate the competency level for the latest project,” he
comments. “We’ve extended the training programme
to include maintenance and rebuilding on both the
mechanical and electrical sides, civil and steel fixing
and the efficient supply of services, as well as the de-
velopment logistics required to achieve 1 450 m per
month. Underground vehicle training has been ac-
complished with the assistance of the client’s simula-
tors, supplied by Sandvik, and final assessments and
pass-out were undertaken in
underground conditions.”
The equipment purchased
by Lubambe for this contract
was shipped to Durban har-
bour and transported by truck
to the Zambian Copperbelt.
The machinery includes five
Sandvik DD320-26 split feed
drill rigs, two Sandvik DD320-
26 fixed feed drill rigs, two
Sandvik LH514 and four Sand-
vik LH410 load haul dumper
(LHD) units, nine Sandvik
TH540 trucks, three Getman
emulsion charge-up utility ve-
hicles, one Getman scissor lift,
one Fermel scissor lift, one
Fermel grader, one Manitou
and seven Toyota Land Cruis-
ers. The drill rigs are currently
developing
approximately
1 450 m per month, while the
LHDs and dump trucks are
moving 63 500 tons of ore and
32 500 tons of waste – a total
of 96 000 tons of rock on a
monthly basis – from the de-
velopment ends to the internal
silos and surface stockpiles.
