Name of the Project
Styldrift I expansion project.

Location
South Africa’s North West province.

Client
Royal Bafokeng Platinum.

Project Description
The Styldrift project area is located about 5.5 km from the existing Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum Mine (BRPM).

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

Styldrift I will deliver an underground trackless operation, which is accessed through a twin vertical shaft system, consisting of the Main shaft being shaft sunk to 758 m and the Services shaft to 723 m.

The configuration of the Main shaft has been equipped and commissioned and allows 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 capable of accommodating a 13 t skip. The Services shaft will comprise a personnel-and-equipment cage compartment that can transport 22 people, and a cage counterweight compartment. Equipping of the services shaft started in June 2016.

Jobs to be Created
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
Not stated.

Value
The project is estimated at R11.01-billion.

Duration
Steady-state production is expected in the first quarter of 2020.

Latest Developments
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has granted RBPlat approval for the listing of R1.2-billion 7% senior unsecured convertible bonds.

The bonds will be listed on the main board of the JSE with effect from the start of business on April 20.

RBPlat intends to use the net proceeds from the issue of the convertible bonds to fund the next phase of the ramp-up of the Styldrift I expansion project from 50 000 t/m to 150 000 t/m by the end of 2018.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
WorleyParsons (main project engineering); 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); the Stefanutti Stocks Civils Wramatshe joint venture (civils Phase 2 contract – main bulk surface civils); Sarens (cranes); Sandvik Mining (underground primary trackless fleet); Fermel (secondary trackless fleet); Master Drilling, Murray & Roberts and Redpath (vertical raiseboring); and Howden (surface fan supply and installation).

All procurement and construction management are currently owner-managed.

On Budget and on Time?
The overall capital cost of the project has increased. This has been attributed to:
• increased time-related escalation, owing to the scaling down of operations announced in August 2015 and the subsequent delay in ramp-up;
• the cost-plus contracting strategy adopted with RBPlat’s main shaft sinking contractor (Shaft Sinkers) during 2015 to avoid a potential six-month delay that would be incurred if a new contractor were to be mobilised, owing to the financial demise of Shaft Sinkers;
• changes in mine design and the implementation of new technologies to minimise the impact of revised legislative requirements associated with vehicle collision avoidance; and
• increased trackless fleet purchase costs associated with the substantial weakening of the rand against the euro over the past three years.

Styldrift’s project expenditure amounted to R970-million for the year, bringing the cumulative project expenditure to R6.46 billion to date.

Contact Details for Project Information
RBPlat executive: corporate affairs Mpueleng Pooe, tel +27 10 590 4515 or email mpueleng@bafokengplatinum.co.za; or investor relations manager Lindiwe Montshiwagae, tel +27 10 590 4510 or email lindiwe@bafokengplatinum.co.za.