“Through our constant innovation across a range of fields, built on the expertise of our highly experienced staff, we keep developing very interesting responses to customer’s challenges,” says Pieter Oosthuysen, Senior Project Manager at Murray & Roberts Cementation.

Among the sector’s growing challenges has been the criminality associated with illegal mining activities. The company has developed solutions to prevent cable theft – including the encasing of cables in grout-filled pipes – and to seal off old areas using grout packs that create permanent barriers.

“Water management has also become a key issue for mines, especially in the mature deep-level gold mining sector,” says Oosthuysen. “Here, their issues are about ensuring responsible water management as well as reducing pumping costs from dormant or mined-out mining areas. This often requires that old underground areas be sealed off to contain the massive water pressures at depth.”

Murray & Roberts Cementation

This is by no means a new issue, of course, but Murray & Roberts Cementation has been in this field for so long that they literally ‘wrote the book’, he notes. The company was part of the team that developed the Code of Practice for designing and constructing high pressure bulkhead plugs, and has a track record dating back decades with plugs and water doors.

“Our team collaborates with plug designers to guarantee that the plug’s design and placement are constructable,” he explains. “The successful construction and pumping of these plugs relies on the use of our mobile grout plants to overcome logistical obstacles.”

It demonstrated this capacity many years ago, when the company’s intervention saved the West Driefontein gold mine from flooding back in 1968. Since then, it has pushed the boundaries of technology to achieve a successful plug at over 2,800 m deep at ERPM’s 68 Level – where it also placed its longest plug segment at an impressive 24 m.

Managing water in the underground environment is not the only place where the company has excelled. As the public spotlight has focused on the safety of tailings dams, Murray & Roberts Cementation helps mines with the crucial task of draining water from these facilities.

“If drainage pipes from the penstocks are damaged over time, these need to be replaced to ensure proper drainage to support the stability of the dam,” he says. “While the mine installs new penstocks and drainage, we wash out these old pipes, install intrusion pipes and seal them off to ensure no leakage.”

Behind these achievements is Murray & Roberts Cementation’s pioneering role in the field of grout plants. It was the first to design and implement a high pressure pumping system that could convey grout from a surface plant to workings underground; the distances regularly covered by these systems have been between three and seven kilometres.

With further capability in aspects including raise drilling, silo and settler construction, blind hole boring, vent passes and ore and shaft rehabilitation, the company presents an unmatched portfolio, according to Dirk Visser, who is also a Senior Project Manager at Murray & Roberts Cementation.

“It is these additional support services that make us really unique in the market,” argues Visser. “Most other players will specialise in one or other aspect of this work, but we give customers the advantage of an integrated solution – allowing us to assume more project risk and relieving customers of significant coordination responsibility.”

For this reason, the company can manage projects that demand drilling and cementation, for instance, while also providing the raiseboring and remote shotcreting functions. The capacity to deliver these offerings, he emphasises, demands skills and experience which requires considerable investment.

“The core talent in our division has an average length of service between 12 and 18 years – with many employees reaching 30 to 40 years within the business,” he says. “We also continuously replenish our skills pipeline with up-to-date, relevant training which includes state-of-the-art training facilities including mock-ups for a grout plant, drop raise and raise drilling.”

The necessary hardware is also an important part of any successful project, and the investment by Murray & Roberts Cementation has also been significant. There is an extensive fleet of machines for the raiseboring part of the business, with more than 8 km of drill pipe available.

“All that we do is underpinned by our comprehensive Murray & Roberts Cementation safety system, which has been developed by taking best practice and enhancing our own CRM systems,” he concludes. “The effectiveness is our safety commitment is demonstrated by our track record – with over seven million fatality-free shifts.”

The post Mining services leader offers the full package appeared first on Mining Business Africa.

Tony Pretorius, Education, Training and Development Executive at Murray & Roberts Cementation, says the new installation is a quantum leap for mining-related training in Africa. Located at the Murray & Roberts Training Academy at the company’s Bentley Park complex near Carletonville in Gauteng, the new facility will give a fully immersive learning experience across the underground mining value chain.

“Our new mock-up facility is as close to a real mine as you can get,” Pretorius says. “Learners experience not only the look and feel of an underground bord-and-pillar mine, but even have the smells and sounds of such an operation.”

Safe and low-cost learning environment

He emphasises that this experience is a valuable next step to complement the simulated and virtual reality platforms already provided to learners at the MRTA facility. To build skills, operators need to put their theoretical learning into practice – but the pressurised production environment of a real mine is often not the ideal location.

“Rather, our new facility provides a safe and low-cost learning environment, where learners can practice their skills without hindering production or compromising safety,” he says. “At the same time, they still get the sensory experience for developing the muscle memory they require for the real-life workplace.”

Equipped with essential first-line equipment such as drill rigs and bolters, the facility also has its own machinery for loading, hauling and dumping blasted rock. The realistic environment includes ventilation systems, support structures and blasting systems.

“Learners are taken through the full value chain of mechanised mining activities, from the waiting places, entry exam and safe declaration to the installation of support and cleaning of blasted rock,” says Pretorius. “They conduct marking, drilling and indexing of the face wall, charging up with inert explosives and simulating the blast with a centralised blasting system.”

He explains that MRTA’s extended reality framework follows the situational leadership model, which places considerable value on learner participation in activities – to entrench their applied competence. Built over recent years, the facility is housed in a large covered structure 3,5 metres high and covering some 1,125 m 2 . Together with its dedicated equipment, it represents an investment of over R35 million, he says.

The post Murray & Roberts Cementation mock-up raises bar for mechanised mine training appeared first on Mining Business Africa.

The 8.5 metre diameter upcast vent shaft – which holed through to an already developed return air way at depth – is vital to PMC’s Lift II project. Lift II will develop access to ore resources sufficient to extend the life of this copper mine beyond 2040. Murray & Roberts Cementation Senior Project Manager Fred Durand says a key achievement was the project’s fatality free record, earned over more than a million hours worked.

“The achievement of a million fatality free hours – reached in November 2023 – is more than just a number,” says Durand. “It reflects the deep-rooted safety culture that has permeated every aspect of the project.”

The innovative sinking methods, used for the first time in South Africa, were also carefully focused on achieving zero harm. Murray & Roberts Cementation employed its Canadian shaft sinking methodology, adapted to what became called ‘the PMC way’. This method included an innovative solution to poor ground conditions, where the sidewall of the shaft was closed up within 48 hours by means of the shaft concrete lining after every three metres of advance.

Success in safety of the shaft sinking

“Among the improvements that this facilitated was the removal of the hazardous work by rock drill operators at the shaft bottom, who would traditionally have to install temporary support,” he explains. “We also decided not to conduct concurrent work in the shaft, so there was no risk of danger to anyone below when work was carried out from the stage.”

He emphasises the close collaboration between Murray & Roberts Cementation and PMC to ensure the success and safety of the shaft sinking. The project was significant insofar as there were many lessons learnt which could be taken forward into future projects, he says, further improving the safety record of shaft sinking practice.

“We are already looking ahead to two more important shaft sinking projects within the South African mining sector, where there is potential for certain of these learnings to be applied,” says Durand. A veteran of over 15 shaft sinking projects around Africa during his career, he admits finding aspects of the PMC way initially quite unusual when he joined the project in 2022.

“Ultimately, though, we all want to deliver safe projects, so there are many brilliant ideas that we have proven on this project,” he says. “These strategies have been combined with the company’s leading mining and engineering expertise, and made us very excited about the future of shaft sinking and contract mining.”

To facilitate streamlined programming on the project, the work ran on continuous operations with two 12 hour shifts. He notes that this improves on the usual eight hour shift system, which requires three shift changes – each change taking up valuable project time. The two-shift system requires only a morning and evening change.

The vent shaft will replace the two existing vent shafts from the Lift I project, which are likely to be affected as they are in the Lift I zone of influence. In the final stages of the project, Murray & Roberts Cementation will strip out its services from the shaft, lift out the stage and dismantle the headgear. Final demobilisation of the company’s infrastructure will be carried out during the first quarter of 2024, says Durand.

The post Pioneering vent shaft at Palabora holes out safely at 1,200 metres appeared first on Mining Business Africa.

According to Graham Chamberlain, New Business Director at Murray & Roberts Cementation, the busy pipeline of projects demonstrates the mining sector’s faith in the company’s unsurpassed industry knowledge and depth of skills. In southern Africa, the main projects underway are at De Beers’ Venetia Mine, Ivanhoe Mines’ Platreef project and Palabora Mining Company.

At the Venetia Underground Project near Musina, work has been ongoing since 2013 in one of the largest investments in South Africa’s diamond industry in decades. Transitioning from opencast to underground mining will extend the mine’s life until 2046. Murray & Roberts Cementation has been engaged in sinking, lining and equipping of two shafts – the production and service shafts – to a depth of 1,080 metres. The company also developed a decline tunnel and is completing associated surface and underground infrastructure, in a project whose scope included raiseboring work to establish ventilation infrastructure.

“In this maturing project, the mine is now getting into ore and starting to develop the infrastructure levels,” says Chamberlain. “At the shaft bottom, good progress continues to be made with the construction of workshops, pumping stations, silos and loading arrangements.”

Project update

Murray &Roberts Cementation is also conducting all the infrastructure development at Ivanhoe Mines’ Platreef project near Mokopane. This includes the sinking of a 5,1 metre ventilation shaft to meet horizontal development at 950 metres below surface. To achieve the high accuracy levels demanded by the project, the raiseboring equipment was guided by directional drilling technology.

“A unique aspect of this project is that the shaft will be hoisting ore at that same time as allowing upcast air to reach surface,” he says.

Another vent shaft by Murray & Roberts Cementation – measuring 8,5 metres in diameter and reaching a depth of 1,200 metres – is nearing completion at Palabora Mining Company near Phalaborwa. Part of the mine’s Lift II expansion, the project has earned an impeccable safety record – being fatality free and achieving 574 days without a Lost Time Injury (LTI) in 2022. Ground conditions were among the reasons why a blind sink was chosen as the optimal method instead of raiseboring, as the side walls needed immediate support to prevent scaling.

“We also have a number of services projects underway related to raiseboring, grout plants and rehabilitation,” he explains. “Much of our work in this field is focused on old infrastructure that requires maintenance, repairs or upgrades; we also conduct extensive vertical work in ore passes and silos.”

The company carries out vital rehabilitation in ore passes where ground conditions have deteriorated to prevent ore from moving smoothly – thereby risking production targets. Innovating safer techniques for this work, it has developed the tube-and-fill method, first applied about seven years ago at an underground platinum mine in South Africa. These installations are also expected to outlast the lifespan of an ore pass rehabilitated with traditional shotcrete.

“On the engineering front, we continue conducting rebuilds of underground mining equipment at our Bentley Park facility near Carletonville,” says Chamberlain.

He highlights the work of the company’s design department, which remains extremely busy with feasibility studies associated with vertical work. With the renewed interest in commodity segments like copper, there is also previous work that customers are asking Murray & Roberts Cementation to review and update.

Training in underground mining and related skills at the company’s world class Training Academy on Carletonville continues to empower many thousands of learners each year, he points out. This skills development is done on behalf of clients, as well as for the company’s own requirements.

“At any one time, we can host about 420 learners, and we are generally at full capacity,” he says. “We have just recently upgraded these facilities to further enhance training technologies that allows learning to take place safely but in a realistic environment.”

In compliance with many African countries’ localisation regulations, Murray & Roberts Cementation has registered companies in eight countries in the Southern African Development Community – most of which have seen the company active with raiseboring. Chamberlain notes that there are specific opportunities in Zambia that the company hopes to capitalise upon in the near future, and is encouraged by the mining sector’s progress in countries like Namibia and Botswana.

The post Leading underground mining contractor serves sector on multiple fronts appeared first on Mining Business Africa.

This impressive achievement at the PMC Lift II expansion project is not just a numerical milestone but a testament to the shared commitment to safety and operational excellence by both Murray & Roberts Cementation and PMC. Crucial to PMC, the project will extend the life of operations to beyond 2040 with the 8.5 metre diameter ventilation shaft being integral to the Lift II block cave as part of its overall mining infrastructure.

Expertise 

The vent shaft project’s complexity and technical challenges highlight the expertise and experience of all parties involved. Under the leadership of Fred Durand, Senior Project Manager at Murray & Roberts Cementation, the project team has consistently emphasised safe execution. Durand notes that the company’s stringent safety protocols have been pivotal in reaching this milestone.

“The achievement of 1 Million Fatality Free hours is more than just a number; it’s a reflection of the deep-rooted safety culture that permeates every aspect of the project,” Durand says. “From planning stages to daily operations, safety is the cornerstone of the project’s success, demonstrating that even in the most technically challenging environments, prioritising safety is key to achieving remarkable outcomes.”

Aidan Schoonbee, Senior Manager for PMC’s Lift II Construction, Concentrator and Vent Shaft, says that as the PMC Lift II project continues to progress, this milestone serves as a reminder of the importance of safety in the mining industry. “It is a shining example of how collaboration, expertise and a steadfast commitment to safety can lead to extraordinary achievements.”

The post Murray & Roberts Cementation achieves 1 million fatality free hours on PMC vent shaft appeared first on Mining Business Africa.

“This is a unique project in many respects, as the shaft will be hoisting ore at that same time as allowing upcast air to reach surface,” explains Graham Chamberlain, New Business Director at Murray & Roberts Cementation. “We were able to bring our well experienced experts into the planning process to develop a safe and effective solution.”

The project has followed the sinking of the vent shaft by Murray & Roberts Cementation, which had required very accurate drilling, using raiseboring equipment guided by directional drilling technology. The 5,1 metre diameter shaft meets horizontal development at a depth of 950 metres below surface.

“During this process, Ivanhoe looked at bringing forward some of their ore generation activities, and this required adding hoisting capacity,” he explains. “The timeline for their main shaft meant that it would not be able to contribute to this capacity, so a team was established to consider how to retrofit the vent shaft into an early hoisting shaft.”

Dual purpose vent shaft

As an integral part of that multidisciplinary team, Murray & Roberts Cementation conducted a feasibility study on the options, allowing for the selection of the most suitable methodology. The company also carried out the necessary designs, including winders and headgear as well as hoisting and tipping arrangements. In September 2023, the project was awarded to Murray & Roberts Cementation to implement, and is scheduled to take about two years.

“This project stands out in terms of innovation, adaptability, teamwork and design,” he says. “With our many decades in the sector, we were able to draw on hundreds of years of experience in mining – and leverage this in our design team.”

Among the range of technical challenges is the need to work within the vent shaft while it is performing its function of channelling an upcast current of air to surface. Any blockage of the air current in the shaft would affect the development operation of the mine, so this is critical to avoid.

“There needs to be periods during which we can reduce the ventilation, but we will have to ensure that air flow is always adequate,” he says. Another vent shaft is planned to add ventilation capacity for the future.

Chamberlain points out that it will be necessary to deal with the slight deviations in the shaft; while accurately drilled, vent shafts are not designed to the same tolerances as hoist shafts. An important aspect of the design was the steelwork required to accommodate those deviations.

“The work will be conducted by a relatively small team of our highly skilled people,” he says. “This will include the installation of a compact headgear using refurbished winders from our strategic stockholding.”

The infrastructure will employ technology that will allow man-less operation to enhance safety, using automated processes in loading and measuring functions, for instance. The project will require specialised subcontractors on much of the equipment employed, but the more day-to-day consumables are procured locally to support local businesses.

“In the absence of a supplier, we would then develop their capability through our procurement system and enterprise development commitment,” he says. “In this way, we foster small businesses and help to nurture them until they are self-sustaining.”

The post Dual-purpose vent shaft at Platreef will also hoist ore appeared first on Mining Business Africa.

Keeping up with these demands has been the focus of the Murray & Roberts Cementation Training Academy near Carletonville, combined with ongoing attention on raising safety levels in pursuit of Zero Harm. According to Tony Pretorius, Education, Training and Development (ETD) Executive at Murray & Roberts Cementation, this has meant constantly pioneering effective strategies that build excellence and discipline in the workplace.

“An important foundation for us has been the integration of technology in our training programmes, incorporating tools such as virtual and augmented reality, e-learning, and online resources,” says Pretorius. “These technologies enhance the learning experience, improve knowledge retention, and facilitate the development of digital skills essential for working with advanced mining equipment and systems.”

At the same time, he highlights the promotion of a safety culture in mining. To achieve this, the academy places a strong emphasis on cultivating a safety-first mindset among trainees. By prioritising safety in all aspects of training, the academy helps instil a culture of vigilance, risk assessment and continuous learning – aligning with best practices for workplace safety in the mining industry.

Murray & Roberts Cementation

“We also ensure that our training programmes align with relevant mining regulations,” says Pretorius. “This equips workers with the knowledge and skills to adhere to the latest safety guidelines while keeping their workplace compliant with regulatory requirements.”

An example of how digital technology has been leveraged in the learning space, he points to the academy’s use of virtual and augmented reality in the training process. These immersive technologies allow trainees to experience realistic, risk-free simulations of mining environments and scenarios.

“This approach not only improves knowledge retention but also enables the identification and correction of potential mistakes before they occur in real-world situations,” he explains.

Another important aspect of the modern training approach has been towards competency-based training. Here, the focus has shifted away from the mere completion of training programmes, to the more detailed assessment of competence of workers in their specific roles. The focus, therefore, is on the development of practical skills, knowledge and attitudes that lead to improved job performance and overall safety. Pretorius also points to the vital role of what were previously referred to as ‘soft skills’ – competencies which are today proving to be as important as technical skills.

“In addition to technical skills, the mining industry recognises the importance of developing skills such as communication, leadership, teamwork and problem-solving,” he says. “These skills are vital for maintaining a safe working environment, especially in high risk situations where effective collaboration and decision-making can prevent accidents and save lives.”

Beyond the daily work tasks, workers are also having to become more aware of sustainability and environmental issues. This is inevitable, as the mining industry faces increased scrutiny regarding its environmental impact.

“Training programmes now include modules on sustainable mining practices, resource conservation and waste management,” he says. “This helps ensure that workers are aware of their responsibilities and the role they play in minimising the industry’s environmental footprint.”

The post Safety training to keep up with changing technologies appeared first on Mining Business Africa.

These awards, which spotlight various operations across group companies, recognised Murray & Roberts Cementation for its exceptional safety performance. As a leading underground mining contractor, the company has several projects under its belt that affirm its dedication to safety and the ultimate goal of achieving Zero Harm.

One of its standout projects is the Venetia Underground Project (VUP). Collaborating with De Beers Group, Murray & Roberts Cementation played a pivotal role in developing and equipping this underground mine which has seen the transition of Venetia Mine from an open pit operation to an underground mine. Hard work and emphasis on safety by the VUP team earned the project the accolade of ‘Best Employee Participation Programme (Leading Indicator Reporting)’.

CE Safety Awards

Trevor Schultz, Risk Executive at Murray & Roberts Cementation, explained the significance of leading indicators. “These are proactive and preventive measures that grant crucial insights into the safety performance of a project. They also act as an early warning system, shedding light on potential issues in a given work environment.”

In another feather in Murray & Roberts Cementation’s cap, the Palabora Mining Company Lift II project was awarded with the ‘Best Major Incidents Prevention Programme’. This was in acknowledgment of their exceptional work in both sub-categories being Critical Control Verifications and Critical Control Assurance Audits. “Significantly, this project recently made headlines when, at the end of July 2023, it achieved a monumental feat by reaching the 1000-metre mark in its assignment to sink a 1200-metre ventilation shaft at PMC,” Schultz says.

The accolades didn’t stop there. The Matla Mine Relocation Project was lauded with the ‘Best Safety Performance at Project Level’ award, thanks to its stellar 12 months rolling TRCR performance. In addition to this award, this project had zero work related injuries during its 22-month duration.

Schultz was proud to announce that a whopping 14 of the company’s projects were bestowed the title of Zero Harm Projects, meaning they had zero recordable cases. Such an impressive statistic doesnt come easy. Schultz believes it’s the unwavering commitment from every single individual, from the full workforce on the ground to management that has made this possible.

In conclusion Schultz emphasises the company’s resolute focus on training and developing its workforce. This is rooted in the belief that to truly embed safety and Zero Harm principles, it should become an integral part of everyone’s daily tasks on site. The recent recognitions stand as a testament to the company’s success in this endeavour.

The post Murray & Roberts Cementation takes centre stage at CE Safety Awards appeared first on Mining Business Africa.

Wells’ retirement will mark the end of a distinguished career in mining spanning 39 years. After studying Mining Engineering at Wits and graduating in 1981, he spent the first 10 years of his career working for the gold division of Anglo American at the Elandsrand (now Kusasalethu), TauTona and President Brand gold mines.

He joined Cementation Africa in 1994, a company which was subsequently acquired by Murray &Roberts in 2005 and merged with its existing mining contracting arm, RUC, to form Murray & Roberts Cementation. His move to Cementation brought him into project work and in particular the sinking of the 3 km deep, 9 m diameter twin shafts of the South Deep gold mine, representing at the time the biggest shaft sinking contract ever let anywhere in the world. The project extended over nine years from start to finish, with Wells acting as project manager for part of this period, which he regards as one of the highlights of his career.

Achievements

While engaged on the project, Wells was involved in devising and constructing a concrete plug to seal off a major water intersection encountered during shaft sinking. A technical paper he wrote in on the methodology adopted earned him in 1997 the Association of Mine Managers Gold Medal for the best paper of the year.

After successively serving as senior projects manager, project executive and technical director, Wells was appointed managing director of Murray & Roberts Cementation in 2017. Over his tenure, the company has gone from strength to strength, confirming its status as one of the world’s leading mining contracting organisations. A particular achievement that he takes great pride in is the company’s safety record – it has now gone eight years without a single fatality and recently celebrated six million fatality free shifts.

In Japie du Plessis, Murray & Roberts Cementation has found a successor to Wells with a similar depth of technical and management expertise. A mechanical engineer, he has spent most of his career in mining. His first assignment after graduating was at Anglo American Platinum’s Amandebult mine, where he worked his way up to the position of section engineer. He then left for a two year stint with a sugar company in Mpumalanga before joining Murray & Roberts Cementation in 2008. He has been with the company ever since.

Contracts he has been involved with over the years he has been with Murray & Roberts Cementation include Paardekraal 2 shaft and Impala 20 shaft, both in the platinum sector, the Wessels manganese mine, the Booysendal platinum mine and the Cullinan diamond mine. Positions he has occupied include site engineer, contracts engineer, senior project manager, engineering manager and project executive.

Over the past seven years, he has had special responsibility for the Venetia Underground Project (VUP) of De Beers, one of Murray & Roberts Cementation’s flagship contracts. Du Plessis was selected by a panel within Murray & Roberts Cementation that considered both external and internal candidates. “He was by far the best qualified for the position,” comments Wells. “His experience is second to none and he has mining contracting in his DNA. The fact that he is an internal candidate is a further advantage as he has a thorough understanding of how the company works and the culture that drives it.”

Looking ahead, Du Plessis says one of his prime objectives will be to extend the company’s African footprint as the majority of its work is currently in South Africa (although it does have raiseboring contracts in progress in Zambia, Tanzania and Burkina Faso). He will also work to ensure that it stays at the forefront of the move by the mining industry towards ‘green’ mining, digitalisation and automation.

Murray & Roberts Cementation is the African arm of Murray & Roberts’ global mining platform, which also includes operations in the Americas and Australia. The platform is headed by Mike da Costa, who is based in Perth in Australia.

The post Change at the top for Murray & Roberts Cementation appeared first on Mining Business Africa.

The first water control door is a huge structure, with the steel frame some 8 m high, 8 m wide and 1 m thick. It is designed to hold back a 100 m head of water. Its construction has been undertaken by leading underground mining contractor by Murray & Roberts Cementation, whose scope of work includes a further three doors. Construction of the second door has recently started.

The need for the water control doors arises from the fact that the new underground mine, a large- scale caving operation, is being developed directly beneath the current open pit. At times of heavy rainfall, the pit will act as a giant funnel, potentially allowing large volumes of water to penetrate the underground workings. Although the Venetia mine is located to the west of Musina in Limpopo Province in an area generally regarded as hot and dry, heavy rains can occur in the summer months.

Steel sections

The water control doors will be activated in the event of water inflows into the mine exceeding the capacity of the underground pumping system, which will ultimately have the ability to pump 4 500 m 3 /h out of the mine. They are designed to seal off the ‘dry’ side of the mine, where the water pumps and other critical infrastructure are located, from the ‘wet’ side, where mining operations on the kimberlite pipe take place.

According to Jacques Labuschagne, by Murray & Roberts Cementation’s Contracts Manager for the construction of underground works at the VUP, the construction of the water control doors is not a run-of-the-mill assignment for the company.

“This is not a ‘first’ for by Murray & Roberts Cementation but certainly the sheer size of these doors is unusual,” he says. Labuschagne and his team were handed over the site for the construction of the first door – the first of two on 46 level – late in 2021. “Our task was to construct the water door in the roughly 9 m high by 9 m wide excavation, and one of the immediate challenges was the considerable undulations of rock surface due to the blasting required to create the excavation. One of the main consequences of this was that the 40 mm steel rock anchors – each of which varied in length – required to anchor the door into the host rock increased from 120 to 234 in number, however this was necessary to ensure the integrity of the structure.”

The steel sections making up the door were prefabricated on surface by a specialist steel company and transported down the decline in sections. These sections, which weighed up to 8 tonnes each, were then lifted into place by the by Murray & Roberts Cementation team. The completed structure comprises about 60 tonnes of steel. In addition, approximately 80 m 3 of concrete had to be poured to seal the area around the door to create a watertight interface between the door and the host rock.

Labuschagne says that three crews – civil, structural and electrical – totalling 19 people were deployed to construct the door. “Our safety record was excellent and no LTIs occurred,” he says. The water control doors are just one part of a much wider contract for construction of the VUP’s infrastructure which is being undertaken by Murray & Roberts Cementation. The work is varied and includes the construction of pumps stations, water walls, automated ventilation doors and truck loadout ramps. All told, by Murray & Roberts Cementation has around 370 workers on the site.

The De Beers VUP is one of the biggest and most complex mine developments underway in the world and will see a vast underground mine – based on the cave mining method – replacing the open pit operations which have sustained the Venetia mine since it was opened in 1992. The VUP, which will extend the mine’s life till at least 2046, will produce around 4,5 million carats a year. The vertical shaft and the decline of the VUP were both completed by Murray & Roberts Cementation.

The post First water control door for (VUP) completed appeared first on Mining Business Africa.