Mining Mirror January 2018 | Page 7

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 [5]