Name of the Project
Bakubung Platinum Mine (BPM) project.

Location
The BPM project, formerly known as the Frischgewaagd-Ledig project, is located on the western limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex, north of the City of Rustenburg, in the North West.

Client
JSE-listed Wesizwe Platinum.

Project Description
The project entails the construction of a platinum-group metals (PGMs) mine on Wesizwe Platinum’s core assets.

The mine will comprise an underground mine with a twin vertical shaft system – a production shaft and a services shaft, which will also function as the second escape route – and a process plant.

An optimisation study completed on the project in 2014 increased mine capacity by 8.7% to 250 000 t/m of run-of-mine ore at full capacity.

The key results of the optimisation study included:
• semimechanising all development;
• shortening the shafts through the removal of underground crushing, and bringing level development close to reef horizons (on-reef development), which will result in a substantial reduction in off-reef development and an increase in hoisting capacity to support the increased production rates;
• the substantial use of conveyor belts and chairlifts to transport ore and mineworkers respectively;
• using three 6.1 m raisebore shafts to further assist with ventilation distribution;
• increasing hoisting capacity to support the increased production rates;
• removing underground infrastructure to surface, including primary crushing; and
• revising the shaft pillar strategy, which will be mined at the end of the mine’s life.

A combination of conventional and mechanised methods will be employed. The Merensky and UG2 reefs will be mined using conventional stoping, with mechanised mining used in all the development to access the two reef horizons. The concentrator design has emanated from the results of the testwork conducted during the bankable feasibility study and is based on a standard PGM plant layout. Options for collaboration in developing synergies with neighbouring mines are continually being investigated to exploit benefits from economies of scale and sharing capital infrastructure costs. BPM will have a life-of-mine of 35 years.

Jobs to Be Created
Once the mine has reached full production, it is expected to have about 3 242 employees.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Value
According to the optimisation study, the control budget estimate of nominal capital expenditure is expected to decrease from R12.03-billion to R10.69-billion, primarily as a result of the significantly improved ramp-up timeframe to full production. Real capital cost has resulted in a 9% increase, largely owing to the cost of capital equipment designed to reduce operating costs over the life-of-mine, including conveyor belts and chairlifts.

Duration
The main commissioning of the mine is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2018, with full production expected by mid-2022.

Latest Developments
Wesizwe Platinum reported in March that 779 m of service shaft development had been completed in the 12 months to December 31, and that the shaft had been equipped to the shaft bottom.

Holing between main shaft and the service shaft on 81 Level was complete and civil work for surface conveyors had begun.

The process plant development would be by way of the engineering procurement construction models, following the approval of the inquiry process in December last year.

Implemented community social and labour plan programmes at an investment of R40-million include an integrated housing project, which has started with bulk infrastructure construction.

On-schedule services projects include a second-phase power supply, and bringing total installed capacity to 80 MVA and a 50 Mℓ water reservoir and pipeline.

Capital commitments for the next 12 months total R399-million, down from 2015’s R465-million.

The updated feasibility study of the Bakubung project was tested by the auditors for an impairment assessment and still continues to yield encouraging results.

The completion of Phase 1 commissioning in June 2017 will be followed by Phase 2, a multibillion-rand flat development scope, which entails the planned capital footprint development. This is linked to production build-up to steady state in mid-2022. Wesizwe will then embark on a new contracting model for specialist scopes for these packages constituting surface and underground works until the project is fully commissioned in line with the critical timeline identified.

The main commissioning of the mine is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2018, with full production expected by mid-2022.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
WorleyParsons (feasibility study and current engineering, procurement and construction management contract); Eskom (power supply); LT Services (surface road infrastructure); Aveng (Main shaft equipping); EBJ Mining Construction (development and construction labour); and Kamano group (TMM maintenance).

On Budget and on Time?
The Bakubung project remains on target both in terms of full planned concentrate production output and the project construction cost budget.

Contact Details for Project Information
Wesizwe Platinum manager: corporate communications Thandiwe Mapi, tel +27 11 994 4600, fax +27 11 944 4601 or email thandiwe.mapi@wesizwe.com.