Name and Location
Cut 8 project, Jwaneng diamond mine, Botswana.

Client
Debswana – a joint venture (JV) between the government of Botswana and De Beers.

Project Description
The project involved a major extension at the Jwaneng mine.

The project, known as Cut 8, will ensure profitable and continuous production at the mine until at least 2025.

The development required the removal of 658-million tons of waste rock to allow diamond miners to access 91-million tons of ore that will yield about 102-million carats of diamonds.

The waste stripping will directly affect existing parts of the mine, with some existing buildings and infrastructure having to be moved or modified.

It also required a large amount of new infrastructure to be constructed and installed.

The fact that the waste profile is so large will move Jwaneng towards the status of being one of the world’s super pits.

Value
Debswana invested $500-million in the infrastructure construction project between 2009 and 2012.

Taking into account all project stages, including feasibility, design, implementation and mining operations, as well as the cost of plant and equipment, the estimated total project investment is likely to be $3-billion over the next 15 years.

Duration
The Cut 8 Project began mid-2009 with early works in preparation for the construction, which started at the end of that year.

Early construction prepared the northern part of the pit for Cut 8 Phase 1 mining to start in January 2010.

This was followed by three years of construction and demolition to progressively make more areas of the pit accessible for Cut 8 mining.

Full access to the pit was achieved during 2011 and mining started on the central section in October 2011.
Construction was completed by mid-2012.

To date, more than 60-million tons of waste has been removed.

Cut 8 mining is now fully operational and aims to achieve 110-million tons a year from 2013 onwards.

Latest Developments
Fluor recently hosted a function to mark the completion and handover of the project to the mine.

The Cut 8 project was executed in three phases to support and align with the three areas of waste mining in January 2010, January 2011 and January 2012.

All three of these major milestones were successfully achieved.

Key aspects of the project included a 1 700-person construction camp on the outskirts of Jwaneng town; new conveyors for tailings and recrush; a personnel control centre; a new front-end ore feed between the primary crusher and crusher/scrubber building; a full year of structural modifications to the existing crusher/scrubber building; a new tripper conveyor for the crushing plant and three new cascade conveyors for the scrubbing plant; a new earthmoving vehicle (EMV) complex; green area services to supply the EMV complex; new utilities and services; upgrading the existing 33 kV reticulation; construction of a new 33 kV pit ring; two years of demolition work that included conveyors, transfer towers, underground tunnels, major crushing facilities, utilities and buildings; as well as three major shutdowns that were executed on a continuous 24-hour basis.

According to Fluor project manager Jim Picken, the most significant challenges of the construction works were the numerous interfaces of the existing mine facilities, services and systems, as well as the execution thereof with minimal disruption to and impact on production, while still maintaining schedule.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Fluor Corporation (feasibility study and engineering, procurement and construction management); Bateman Botswana (engineering); Basil Read Bothakga Burrow JV (Phase 1 mining contractor); and Majwe JV (mining services contract for Phase 2).

On Budget and on Time?
The project was completed within the original budget of $500-million and all major milestones were achieved to enable Cut 8 mining to proceed without major disruptions.

Contact Details for Project Information
Basil Read, Jenny Smith, tel +27 11 418 6466 or email jsmith@basilread.co.za.
De Beers Botswana, Chipo Morapedi, tel +267 361 5205.
Debswana, Esther Kanaimba, tel +267 361 4216.
Fluor Corporation media relations, Keith Stephens, tel +1 469 398 7624 or Brian Mershon, tel +1 469 398 7621.
Leighton Holdings CEO David Stewart, tel +61 2 9925 6077; or CFO Peter Gregg,
tel +61 2 9925 6048.