Industry intelligence
Phase two at Finsch remains on track
The pre-cast retaining wall erection at Petra Diamonds’
Finsch Mine close to Kimberley.
The bulkhead apron feeder installation
and bin assembly.
The scope of works at Finch includes, among others,
the installation of four bulkheads.
Phase two of construction of the
ground handling infrastructure at
Petra Diamonds’ Finsch Mine, 160km
northwest of Kimberley, is on track to be
completed by July 2018.
TDS Projects Construction started work on
phase one in November 2014 after a successful
tender process and was completed on 25 March
2016. Phase two commenced on 4 April 2016.
The scope of works includes the
fabrication, construction and installation of
nine tipping points, five ore pass retaining
walls, four bulkheads, two crusher stations
with overhead cranes and four conveyors.
According to Hennie Coetzee, managing
director at TDS Projects Construction,
the company’s experience allows it
to be innovative when presented by
requirements dictated by a project or
site. “This is evident in aspects of the
project such as the ore pass retaining
walls, which are pre-casted and a first of
their kind for underground operations
and allow flexibility for the construction
of tipping points on multiple levels
simultaneously,” says Coetzee.
“With the construction and operation
of the bulkheads, there were numerous
key findings by our team – some of which
challenged the SANS standards used for
the design thereof,” explains Coetzee.
The bulkhead structures include
steelwork more than 100t per bulkhead
and were installed at the bottom of a
5.1m diameter ore pass, ranging from
70m to 190m in height.
One of the bulkheads consists of
165t of steel, 150m³ of concrete and
15t of reinforcing. The conveyor system
constructed at Finsch covers 1 650m
at an incline of 9 degrees and was
completed within 13 months.
JANUARY 2018 MINING MIRROR
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