SHAFT SINKING
majority of this mucking able to be carried out remotely.”
There are also other projects on the horizon that could see a‘ pureplay’ S100 incorporated into shaft mucking proceedings, with Greinacher flagging potential at another shaft project in Europe, specifically.
When it comes to the S20 hydraulic shaft mucker for shafts with a smaller diameter, Redpath can already look at existing deployments to state its credentials.
A previous iteration of this machine was used with success on four shaft projects in both soft rock – with an integrated tool package – and hard rock. Unlike the S100, which can move independently of the galloway within the shaft via a telescopic boom, the S20 is connected to the galloway, requiring the lowering of the galloway to move the mucker into position for mucking.
Fitted with a bucket as standard, the S20 offers a maximum digging depth of 7.96 m and a bucket volume of 560 litres. It also offers good flexibility, with the bucket capable of six rotations per minute, according to the company.
The latest generation S20 is currently in use at the Canadian Malartic Partnership’ s Odyssey gold project in Quebec, Canada, where it is helping sink a 6.5-m diameter, 1,800-m deep concrete lined shaft.
Greinacher said Redpath Deilmann is also using the S20 on a project in Germany where it is working with Thyssen Schachtbau to help sink circa-200-m-deep, 5-m diameter shafts for a salt mining company.
In the fully mechanised hard-rock shaft sinking space, Redpath Deilmann continues to evaluate the use of the Shaft Boring Cutterhead( SBC), a machine designed to sink 9-m diameter shafts down to around 1,500-m depth in hard rock up to 250 MPa.
Both the shaft sinking specialist and Herrenknecht have been developing the SBC, with Greinacher saying both companies are evaluating deployment options for the full-scale inaugural unit.
This comes after Herrenknecht created a demonstration rig at its Schwanau facility that is 1:3 the size of the full-size machine to test out both the cutting ability in hard rock, as well as the pneumatic mucking system – which is tied to the circular motion of the cutter discs situated on the full-face cutterhead.
Helping flatten the shaft learning curve
It is technology like the S100 and S20 that Redpath Canada’ s Kevin Melong sees as key to facilitating the training and upskilling of the next generation of shaft sinkers.
As Vice President, Shafts and Technical Services, Melong is currently involved in numerous shaft sinking projects across
North America. He also helps resource and staff future projects the company bids on.
“ When I look at the shaft space, technologies like the S20 and the S100 can provide that step change in sinking rates,” he told IM.“ The benefits of concurrent mucking while you’ re, say, pouring concrete are huge. Overlay that with the ability to muck between shifts via teleremote operations, and you are gaining so much in terms of productivity and safety.
“ Sure, it’ s not the full-face mechanical cutting that we have talked about for some time, but it ticks so many boxes and allows you to continue drill and blast operations, which is much smoother from a change management perspective.”
The hydraulic shaft mucking process is sinking on the ventilation shaft commenced in the first half of its 2025 financial year( June 2024-December 2024), with sinking activities in the main shaft commencing in the June quarter of 2025. Both shafts are set to go down below the 800-m-deep mark. Melong said the staging of the shaft work has enabled the company to transfer learnings across the project.
“ A lot of lessons learned from the ventilation shaft have gone into the setup at the main shaft, including the services, training and a few other elements,” he told IM.“ As a result, we expect the main shaft to reach the expected development rate quicker than we did in the ventilation shaft.”
South32 is currently progressing Hermosa through FAST-41, a legislatively
South32 recently confirmed sinking on both the ventilation shaft and main shaft at the Taylor deposit had commenced
also easier to teach recruits, Melong says, with Redpath having already developed a simulator to allow personnel to learn the ropes.
“ We’ re also just finishing designs on our own three-boom shaft jumbo right now, which will complement use of these muckers,” he said.“ It is this type of equipment that will allow our personnel to show up at site knowing what they will use from the off, helping flatten the learning curve and achieve scheduled development rates that much earlier in a project’ s life.”
Speaking of projects, the company is currently engaged in the design and build of two hoist plants, as well as sinking of the main shaft and ventilation shaft, at the Taylor zinc-lead-silver project, part of the Hermosa complex in southern Arizona.
South32, owner of Hermosa, recently confirmed in its June quarter results that established process for improving federal agency coordination and timeliness of environmental reviews for infrastructure projects.
As part of this process, a Draft Environmental Impact Statement( EIS) was released by the US Forest Service during the June 2025 quarter, with a Final EIS on track for the second half of South32’ s 2026 financial year.
Melong says it is these types of permitting advantages that are seeing more projects established and advanced in the US.
“ The environment in the US is extremely positive towards mine development right now,” he said.“ South32 has presented its project in a way that has allowed them to take advantage of the available expedited processes – carrying out a lot of work around community involvement and
International Mining | SEPTEMBER 2025