JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Platinum development company Wesizwe Platinum this week intersected the secondary upper group two (UG2) reef at the main shaft of its Bakubung mine, on the western limb of the Bushveld Complex, and will send the samples to South Africa’s State-owned Council for Mineral Technology (Mintek) in April.
Chip samples of the Merensky reef had already been collected and sent away for sampling pand analysis this month, with the initial results expected in six weeks’ time.
“The analysis of the bulk sampling will take around five months to complete. This sampling process is on schedule and the results will assist in the overall set-up of the planned process at the plant site,” Bakubung mine GM Eddie Mohlabi said during a media tour of the site on Thursday.
While the sampling process was under way, work continued on the development of the Bakubung mine site as a whole, with both the main and ventilation shafts now at a depth of 770 m.
“Originally, the development of the ventilation shaft was ahead of the main shaft, but owing to its extensive work, both shafts are now at the same level. The project is exactly where Wesizwe Platinum anticipated being at this point in time,” stated Mohlabi.
He added that these milestones demonstrated that the mining company was on track with the development of the mine as a whole and that its considerable efforts were reaping rewards.
“The next major milestone on the development schedule is the completion of the shaft sinking process. We are currently looking at the ventilation shaft sinking process being completed at the end of the third quarter of 2015,” he said.
The main shaft would be completed in the first quarter of 2016, which was ahead of schedule.
“In the meantime, concurrent with the underground work that is under way, there is also surface construction that is currently happening,” he noted.
He added that the jigging workshop required for all the steel work for permanent equipping of the main shaft was under construction.
Key milestones for this year would include the start of waste development and of the phase two bulk power supply project, as well as the commissioning of the bulk water supply tanks and key shaft bank installations.
By 2016, the bulk water and services would also be commissioned.