42
MODERN MINING
February 2014
PLATINUM
Left:
Surface infrastructure
at Styldrift.
Right:
The 5,5 m diameter
man and material winder
installed at Styldrift (photo:
FLSmidth).
pumped back to surface, the recently developed
hydro-pack drill that we will use re-circulates
the driving water and will mean significant sav-
ings in pumping costs,” he added.
Rising electricity prices are, of course, a
growing concern for all mining operations, and
Styldrift has had to plan ahead for further hikes.
“The project has been designed and costed
with the increased Eskom rates schedule in
mind,” said Nhlapo. “Energy efficiency strate-
gies have also been developed and included
in all aspects of the design. Total planned con-
sumption of 50 MVA has been secured, and
will be available from the first quarter of 2016
in time for the planned production ramp-up;
until then, 22 MVA is available from the BRPM
allocation.”
Styldrift’s underground workings will be
accessed by a twin, concrete-lined vertical shaft
system; the 10,5 m diameter main shaft will
reach 740 m while the services shaft – at 6,5 m
diameter – will be 705 m deep. The primary
footwall infrastructure, mainly for the trans-
porting of ore to the shaft, will be developed
25 m below the Merensky Reef horizon. Apart
from travelling ways, all footwall infrastructure
will be developed by mechanised methods.
This includes tipping points on the reef
horizon, from which ore will be sent through
boxholes to the underlying main conveyor belt
decline transporting the ore to the shaft. Ore
will be hoisted to surface through the main
shaft by two 22-tonne rock skips.
The shaft system will be linked to the up-
dip and down-dip on-reef roadway clusters on
both the reef horizon and the footwall level.
A network of on-strike haulages will underlie
all sections for the transportation of ore to the
main shaft.
At the time of writing, the sinking of the main
shaft had reached 708 m (loading) level, the ser-
vice shaft was down to 642 m level, and over
1 700 m of lateral development had been carried
out on all three levels. Piloting of the first raise
bore ventilation shaft began in August 2013,
with raise boring starting in November 2013.
On surface, the workshops have been com-
pleted and the rock winder commissioned;
the company reports that the project’s surface
construction continues to progress according
to plan.
No discussion of platinum mining in South
Africa is complete without considering the
complex array of labour issues that flared so
violently at Marikana, and which lurk around
the current uneasy calm in the sector. Styldrift
is not immune to but is less likely to face the
militancy of a lower-skilled workforce, how-
ever, as its mechanised methods will require
higher skill levels.
“An interesting observation during the recent
strikes was that the mechanised room and pil-
lar shafts worked throughout,” Nhlapo said.
“This can be attributed to the fact that the work-
ers are generally more skilled and higher paid,
with more to lose when not at work. Styldrift
is planned to be a mechanised room and pil-
lar mine for its first seven years; only then will
conventional mining begin, and it is hoped that
by then there will be mechanised solutions to
economically mine the narrow-reef faces.”
Regarding the broader community engage-
ment, Nhlapo is confident that the company’s
ambition to accomplish ‘more than mining’ is
well on track through the solid implementation
of its social and labour plan.
“Empowering our communities and con-
tributing to their social, economic and
