SOUTH AFRICAN SUPPLIERS
talpasolutions , which provides support to continuously improve maintenance and production-related activities .
Blasting record
Another South Africa-based mining technology leader , BME recently broke the record for the largest electronic detonator blast in the country , initiating 3,780 detonators in a single blast at a manganese mine near Hotazel in the Northern Cape .
BME , a member of the Omnia Group , says it has pioneered the use of cold emulsion explosives in Africa and innovated a range of electronic initiation and digital blast planning solutions .
According to Kobus Boonzaaier , BME Area Manager in the Northern Cape , the latest record was achieved using the company ’ s AXXIS™ GII electronic detonation system .
“ This was a normal production blast for the mine , where our team on site was once again able to deliver a quality blast to generate the customer ’ s specified fragmentation ,” Boonzaaier said .
The record blast used 461 t of BME emulsion explosive , which charged 2,679 blast holes measuring an average depth of 9.2 m . Some 890,000 t of overburden was moved by the blast , powered by emulsion from BME ’ s Losberg plant in southern Gauteng . BME also supplied the necessary accessories for the blast , including boosters and surface wire .
Boonzaaier highlighted that the AXXIS system is facilitating the mine ’ s move towards larger blasts . This will allow blasting to take place less frequently , reducing the disruption caused by blast-related pit stoppages and improving the mine ’ s productivity . BME has been providing the mine with a full blasting service since 2016 , with a 23-strong site team on the block including a foreman , blasters , operators and assistants .
The company has notched up a string of blasting records since it introduced its AXXIS electronic initiation system to the local market in 2010 . Early records included South Africa ’ s largest blast , in 2011 , which used 3,111 detonators to initiate a single blast at a nickel mine in Mpumalanga province , and , in 2014 , another record blast of 3,256 detonators at a local platinum mine .
A complete package
Over the border in Namibia , a joint venture involving Murray & Roberts Cementation and Lewcor Mining is working on establishing the underground stoping horizon at the Wolfshag zone , part of B2Gold ’ s Otjikoto mine .
In its September quarter report , B2Gold said development of the portal and primary underground ramp had commenced , with stope ore production expected to start in early 2022 , in-line with the company ’ s original estimates .
The Wolfshag zone at Otjikoto comprises a series of shallow , easterly dipping mineralised shoots that sub-crop below calcrete cover , plunging for a strike length of at least 1,600 m .
The JV contract will see a decline of 5 m wide by 5.5 m high driven to the orebody from a portal in one of Otjikoto ’ s depleted open pits . There will also be two 4 m diameter ventilation shafts created using raiseboring methods . One will measure 200 m in depth and the other 80 m .
Allan Widlake , New Business Director at Murray & Roberts Cementation , said of the contract : “ We will be conducting this project in a strategic partnership with a highly professional local Namibian open-cast mining and earthmoving contractor , Lewcor Mining . Lewcor is an existing service provider at Otjikoto and is well-regarded by the client and the industry .”
He says the operation will be highly mechanised and efficient , with equipment including drill rigs , dump trucks , LHDs and utility vehicles , as well as shotcreting and ancillary equipment . About 150 employees will be active on the project , including an experienced crew from a recent contract in Zambia . Most of those involved will be Namibians who will be trained as part of a special counterpart training program to transfer skills to local workers , according to Murray & Roberts Cementation .
Widlake says Murray & Roberts Cementation is one of very few companies worldwide with the experience and capability to conduct both development work and raiseboring as part of a single package .