African Mining January 2020 | Page 21

MINE EXCURSION  The drilling team on site: Klint Somerset (electrician), Pedro Mucale (assistant), Nicol Goodwin (project engineer), Walter Tshabalala (fitter), Lukas Muller (site manager), Gordon Brandon (fitter). pack into new frontiers. Using the machine to sink a shaft will not only be a lot faster than conventional methods, it will also be safer, and it will reduce the overall costs significantly. Jordaan says that only 20% of the personnel needed on www. africanmining.co.za African Mining Publication a conventional sink are deployed when drilling with the shaft borer. Moreover, only 50% of the power is needed. The estimated cost of the entire system will be in the region of R500-million.  African Mining African Mining  January 2020  19