Name and Location
Styldrift 1 expansion project, North West, South Africa.

Client
Royal Bafokeng Platinum, or RBPlat (67%), and Anglo American Platinum (33%).

Project Description
The Styldrift project area adjacent to the existing Boschkoppie mining area, is located about 5.5 km from the existing Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum Mine.

The project will exploit one of the last major Merensky mining blocks on the Western Bushveld.

Styldrift 1 will deliver an underground operation, which will be accessed through a twin vertical shaft system, with the main shaft being sunk to 758 m and the services shaft to 723 m.

The configuration of the main shaft will allow for a single-deck personnel-and-material cage compartment that can transport 185 people; a cage counterweight compartment; two Merensky reef skip compartments, each designed to accommodate a 22 t skip; and two future skip compartments, each accommodating a 13 t skip.

The services shaft will comprise a personnel-and-equipment cage compartment, with the capacity to transport 22 people, and a cage counterweight compartment.

Four winders will be used during the project construction phase and three during the production phase. The height of the main shaft headgear is 58.6 m and the service shaft 41.3 m.

Concentrator capacity will be 2.76-million tonnes a year.

Initially, wide-reef trackless mining methods will be used, followed by a combination of wide-reef trackless mining and narrow-reef conventional mining methods.

The mine will process 230 000 t/m of Merensky reef and 20 000 t/m of waste at steady state.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Value
The miner reduced the budgeted capital expenditure for the Styldrift 1 project from R11.4-billion to R11.01-billion in November 2013, with R3.818-billion having been spent to the end of 2014, of which R1.307-billion was spent during the 2014 financial year.

RBPlat has an obligation to fund 67% of the total project.

Duration
Steady-state production is expected in the first quarter of 2019.

Latest Developments
RBPlat has terminated its contract with Shaft Sinkers for its Styldrift I project.

In a statement to shareholders on January 2014, RBPlat noted that it served formal notice to Shaft Sinkers that the contract for all work related to the sinking and lining equipping, the commissioning of the main and services shaft, as well as all associated station and off-station development at Styldrift 1, has been terminated.

“As part of the company’s ongoing risk-mitigation strategy for the business, RBPlat started with a process in 2014 to contract directly, where appropriate, with all project-related suppliers and have available all critical equipment required to continue with the shaft equipping and construction,” it said in the statement.

Further, RBPlat stated that it would engage with all interested parties, including Shaft Sinkers, their employees, union representatives and Aveng Mining Shafts & Underground, a division of construction company Aveng Africa, which was appointed in September 2013 as mining contractor for the ramp-up of the Styldrift I project. This engagement would serve to identify and implement mechanisms required to secure the continued services of the employees on site and reduce the impact on the project.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
WorleyParsons (main project engineering, procurement and construction management contractor); Anglo Technical Division (mine shaft design); Mining & Engineering Technical Services, or Mets (services shaft headgears); Shaft Sinkers (main and services shafts and associated works until January 2015, when RBPlat terminated its contract); Louwill Engineering (main and services shafts’ headgears and winder house structural manufacturing and erection); FLSmidth Minerals (main shaft personnel and material winder mechanical portion); Actom - formerly Alstom Industry (main shaft personnel and material winder electrical portion); Coilmech (service winder mechanical and electrical portions); Stefanutti Stocks Civils Wramatshe joint venture (civils Phase 2 contract – main bulk surface civils); Sarens (cranes) and Sandvik Mining (underground production trackless equipment).

On Budget and on Time?
In October 2014, the company reported that its expansion project was delayed by six months, owing to activities having been constrained by the service shaft hoisting capacity. Ramp-up is expected to start in the first quarter of 2016.

The capital cost of the project remains at R11.01-billion.

Contact Details for Project Information
RBPlat executive corporate affairs Mpueleng Pooe, tel +27 10 590 4515 or email mpueleng@bafokengplatinum.co.za.
WorleyParsons, tel +27 11 218 3000.
Mets, tel +61 8 9421 9000 or fax +61 8 9325 8311.
Louwill Engineering, tel +27 11 818 5186, fax +27 11 818 5185 or email mail@louwill.co.za.
FLSmidth Minerals, tel +45 36 18 10 00, fax +45 36 44 11 46 or email info@flsmidth.com.
Actom, tel +27 11 820 5111 or fax +27 11 820 5100.
Coilmech, tel +27 11 452 4063, fax +27 11 452 6104 or email info@coilmech.co.za.
Stefanutti Stocks, tel +27 11 571 4300, fax +27 11 571 4370 or email holdings@stefstocks.com.
Sarens, tel +27 11 861 3800, fax +27 11 861 3899 or email info@sarenssa.co.za.
Sandvik Mining EMEA business development manager Bjorn Gohre, tel +27 11 570 9676.