Platinum development company Wesizwe Platinum has 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 the State-owned Council for Mineral Technology (Mintek) for analysis this month.

Chip samples of the Merensky reef have already been collected and sent for sampling and the initial results are expected in six weeks.

“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 setup of the planned process at the plant site,” Bakubung mine GM Eddie Mohlabi said during a media tour of the site.

While the sampling process is under way, work continues 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 demon-strated 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 by the end of the third quarter of 2015,” he said.

The main shaft will be completed in the first quarter of this year, which is 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 all the steelwork for the permanent equipping of the main shaft, which is currently under construction.

Key milestones for this year include the start of waste development and Phase 2 of the 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 will also be commissioned.
The next milestone for the mine will be the completion of two main mining shafts, expected to be about 1 km deep, by the end of the year in both shafts, he said.