Lessons from the past
Trekkopje construction nearing completion in 2010.
2008. The mine was poised to become the
tenth-largest uranium mine in the world.
The estimated life of mine was 12 years.
Construction got under way and the mine
was nearing completion, on target to start
production in 2011, when disaster struck
at the Fukushima nuclear power station
in Japan (the mine and plant actually
completed a test run in 2011). Production
was planned for that same year. Fukushima
pulled the rug from the uranium market’s
feet, and Trekkopje postponed production
until the jitters had settled down. The
uranium price, however, tanked and
continued its slide to rock bottom. Since
then, it has recovered somewhat, but not
enough to ensure Trekkopje’s profitability.
More than eight years later, this promising
project is still on care and maintenance.
Care and maintenance
Mining in extreme environments like
on the Namibian west coast, which
experiences four seasons in one day,
requires constant maintenance to preserve
plant and equipment. This is the case
when actively mining, but even more so
when a mine has been placed on care and
maintenance, like Trekkopje was in 2013.
Although Trekkopje has never produced
saleable product, the mine and plant are
fully functional, and it has to remain in
working condition. All structures built
on the mine are protected and can be
[30] MINING MIRROR JANUARY 2019
commissioned when required and at
minimal cost.
The C & M team of 20 people work
according to maintenance schedules
that have been captured on the Pragma
software program. The Pragma database
contains all structures and equipment
with the manufacturers’ specifications and
maintenance requirements. The system
generates job cards, schedules work in
progress, and produces monthly reports
on, for example, maintenance statistics,
labour hour distribution, or completion of
schedules. General C & M tasks include
proper storage, lubrication, corrosion
protection, and functionality checks.
In addition to the scheduled work,
some special projects were carried out in
2015. In October 2015, the engineering
team successfully optimised overhead
line insulator cleaning operations
by adding linseed oil to Tectyl 506,
a product already used to combat
the corrosion of this equipment. The
cleaning and protection of over 60 000
conveyor idlers is a major task that will
be repeated annually.
Cleaning and protection of dust
collector ducts at the crushers were
completed. Protection of pumps, valves,
and gauges is achieved by cleaning
them with a mixture of soluble oil and
water under high pressure, followed by a
spray-on coat of Tectyl soon after drying.
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