From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, this is the Real Economy Report.  Platinum’s “new kid on the block” Wesizwe Platinum continues to make good headway on the development of its flagship Bakubung mine, in the North West, recently celebrating the cutting of the first level of the ventilation shaft some 690 m below the surface and 45 m above the first intersection of the platinum-rich Merensky reef. Mining Weekly’s Natalie Greve travelled to the platinum belt to find out more.

Natalie Greve:
The Chinese-backed Wesizwe Platinum appears seemingly unphased by recent tensions in the platinum-rich Rustenburg area, forging ahead with development of its envisaged 420 000 tonne-a-year underground mine which would, upon completion in the latter half of 2018, be accessed by twin independent vertical shafts and a shorter third shaft during its 30-year life.

Bakubung’s most recently milestone was the cutting of the first level of the ventilation shaft, on which horizontal development would now begin to connect it to the same level of the parallel main shaft.

Wesizwe projects executive Jacob Mothomogolo told Mining Weekly Online that the latest milestone was one of a number of targets achieved thus far this year, with continual progress made in sinking the main and ventilation shafts, pre-commissioning the ventilation shaft winder, and overall project sinking.

Wesizwe projects executive Jacob Mothomogolo

Natalie Greve:
He added that the shaft ventilation sinking team had encountered an unexpected geological fault as it progressed vertical development.

Jacob Mothomogolo

Natalie Greve:
Wesizwe had meanwhile made good progress on the development of its main shaft, now forecasting the completion date for the 970 m shaft – October 15, 2015 – to be 85 days ahead of the initially expected completion date in January the following year.

Similarly, the ventilation shaft was expected to reach its final depth of 880 m in November 2016 – some 72 days ahead of schedule.

This followed the commissioning of a mine optimisation study late last year that had investigated ways of bolstering the project’s business case by incorporating recent changes in the platinum business environment.

The resultant plan outlined that an initial 230 000 t/m should be mined from the Merensky reef, with the balance sourced from the secondary UG2 reef.

Once the Merensky reef was depleted, between 10 and 15 years from the start of full production in 2021, the full 25 000 t capacity would comprise UG2 ore only.

The plan had since been approved for implementation and had seen cost-savings of some R2.2-billion.

Jacob Mothomogolo

Shannon de Ryhove:
Other news making headlines this week: The Department of Public Enterprises promises swift action on Eskom’s sustainability; Sappi emerges as a world player in the spcialised-cellulose market; and Golder Associates launches its new building.

South African electricity utility Eskom will present a “comprehensive sustainability strategy” to the economic cluster of Ministers by the end of June, outlining proposed solutions to its current financial, operational and asset-creation problems.

Eskom interim CEO Collin Matjila

Pulp and paper group Sappi Southern Africa has diversified its operations to include the export of specialised cellulose, a grade of pulp which it produces and from which it generates a revenue of about $800-million a year.

Sappi CFO Colin Mowatt

Consulting firm Golder Associates launched its new building in Midrand recently, where MD Dr Ralph Heath stated that the new building represented a shift towards a refocused collaboration for Golder and its partners.

Golder Associates MD Dr Ralph Heath

That’s Creamer Media’s Real Economy Report. Join us again next week for more news and insight into South Africa’s real economy.