SHAFT SINKING
CRCHI’ s 1,000 m machine milestone
Recently, the“ Steel Backbone”( Gangtie Jiliang Hao) – the world’ s“ first full-face hard-rock shaft boring machine capable of excavating to a depth of 1,000 m”, according to China Railway Construction Heavy Industry( CRCHI) – rolled off the production line at the CRCHI Changsha Second Industrial Park, in China.
This achievement is a key outcome of a National Key R & D Program project titled“ Key Technologies and Equipment for 1,000-Meter Hard-Rock Full-Face Shaft Boring Machines”, CRCHI claims.
Building upon the research and operational experience gained from CRCHI’ s first-generation machine, the“ Shuchang Hao”, the project’ s collaborative industry-academia-research-application team extensively applied new research findings to completely redesign and significantly improve the cutterhead, support mechanism, suspended platform and hoisting system, among other elements.
“ The successful development of this equipment stands as a prime example of collaborative innovation across industry, academia, research and application sectors,” CRCHI says.“ It marks a significant leap forward for the country in the field of ultra-deep shaft excavation equipment, providing safer and more efficient infrastructure for deep mineral resource development
The“ Steel Backbone” is the world’ s first full-face hard-rock shaft boring machine capable of excavating to a depth of 1,000 m, according to China Railway Construction Heavy Industry
and underground space utilisation, while further enhancing the country’ s global competitiveness in deep underground space development.”
The business now benefits from collaboration with its sister operations in North America, Cementation Americas, enhancing both credibility and technical depth, he added.
When asked about the low-hanging technology‘ fruit’ available to shaft sinking specialists like Cementation Africa, Chamberlain pointed to three specific areas:
• Mechanised pre-sinking technologies;
• Mechanised shaft excavation techniques; and
• Increased automation and remotecontrolled equipment.
In terms of the first in the list, Chamberlain talked about the potential for such technologies to reduce the need for people to work in the excavation. He added:“ Cementation Africa is excited about roadheader-based systems that can excavate through softer weathered rock while keeping personnel out of the immediate mining area, delivering significant safety benefits.”
In the second technology opportunity bucket he talked up greater use of raiseboring and mechanised shaft excavation techniques for projects with existing underground access.
The company has experience of both, with Murray & Roberts Cementation( now Cementation Africa) using the Rotary Vertical Drilling System( RVDS) to ream the 950 m deep ventilation shaft at Ivanplats’ Platreef project in Limpopo, which recorded a deviation of just 0.5 % over nearly a kilometre.
When it comes to other mechanised means, the company also worked with
36
Herrenknecht, as part of a joint venture with Thyssen Schachtbau GmbH, on developing the SBE.
Raiseboring, specifically, is recognised as a high-demand segment of the market where additional equipment acquisitions could support future growth opportunities, Chamberlain said.
He commented on such technologies:“ By eliminating the conventional shaft cleaning cycle, these methods can accelerate development considerably while reducing exposure to risk. In some cases, shaft sinking can be completed up to a third faster than traditional blind sinking methods.” In terms of automation of equipment, Chamberlain pointed to the obvious safety benefits as well as the potential to allow drilling and excavation activities to be conducted on“ a continuous basis”, boosting sinking productivity.
With the awareness that equipment weight and the practicalities of operating heavy machinery in a shaft environment are key challenges for such mechanised equipment, Cementation Africa thinks it is a combination of all three that could make some headway in the future.
“ Technologies like pre-raisebore, then utilising the SBE or shaft enlargement equipment, offer significant potential, particularly when combined with a standardised shaft design to allow for amortisation of this type of equipment over several projects,” Chamberlain said.
The company’ s long-term thinking does not stop with the amortisation of such equipment over multiple projects either. It is calling for mines to think more proactively about infrastructure renewal and redundant shaft capacity, with the use of the latest LiDAR scanning technology for shaft maintenance being an obvious avenue for Cementation Africa to pursue here.
“ This enables maintenance to be prioritised before a failure occurs,” Chamberlain says, acknowledging that this is now part of the company’ s“ broader, onestop-shop service”.
This sees Cementation Africa undertake the scanning, assess the findings, prioritise maintenance requirements and then execute the repair work.“ The technology is particularly valuable on older shafts where infrastructure condition is not always fully understood,” Chamberlain said.
The company is already applying this approach on rehabilitation and upgrade projects, including at Mopani Copper Mines’ Mindola shaft in Zambia.
“ We also regularly support clients following shaft incidents, combining our design capability with field execution to rapidly reconstruct and replace damaged shaft components and restore operational capacity,” Chamberlain said.
DMC looks to new integration level
DMC Mining Services is exhibiting a different type of continuity at the Victoria project in Sudbury, Canada, owned by KGHM International.
DMC was contracted by KGHMI to engineer, procure and construct works associated with the Advanced Exploration Phase at Victoria. This includes early works construction, sinking of the exploration shaft, lateral development, definition drilling,
International Mining | SEPTEMBER 2026