SHAFT SINKING
Melong , meanwhile , said the Redpath Canada division – which services USA , Canada , Mexico , Indonesia and Mongolia – was working on sinking projects at South32 ’ s Hermosa project in Arizona – where it plans to develop two exploration shafts down to a planned depth of 900 m – the aforementioned Odyssey project – where it is sinking a 6.5-m diameter , 1,800-m deep concrete lined shaft – and Alamos Gold ’ s Island III + expansion project in Ontario – where it is sinking and equipping a 1,373-m-deep shaft .
“ I think the shaft sinking market will be very busy in the next few years ; it has to , we have no choice with the amount of metals we need to extract ,” Melong said .
“ The sooner we can get involved with the clients , the better from our perspective . Early contractor involvement provides such value during the feasibility study stage , making a world of difference in not only managing the supply chain – which is currently one of the biggest risks for shaft sinking projects – but also engineering a project for success .”
Securing the sinking skills
As well as early-stage involvement , Murray & Roberts Cementation sees opportunities for its highly-skilled employees to stay on at major projects beyond the shaft sinking and equipping stages , which is key to the South Africa-based company retaining personnel when the shaft market is patchy in terms of demand .
“ A factor that ensures our shaft sinking personnel are always well occupied is that they are multi skilled and can be engaged in not only sinking work but in activity such as trackless development ,” Japie du Plessis , Managing Director of Murray & Roberts Cementation , told IM .
In a large mining development , there is plenty of high level construction work , so the company ’ s skills in civil , mechanical , electrical and structural construction can make a valuable contribution ,
Murray & Robers Cementation has been involved with the Venetia Underground Project for the last 10 years . Pictured is the sinking of Silo 1 at the project – one of the three underground silos the company is sinking
he added .
This is certainly the case at the Venetia Underground Project – a project Murray & Roberts Cementation has been involved in for the last 10 years – where it has been sinking two vertical shafts , to depths of 1,070 m .
The highly mechanised underground