SHAFT SINKING
The sinking headgear at Palabora Mining Company is seen here with ventilation pipe support trestles specially designed to allow safe movement of elephants through the area( photo: Cementation Africa)
Intelligent 3D design platforms are used to create digital twins that can be accessed remotely by teams on site or at fabrication facilities. Embedded risk indicators in drawings, aligned with fatal risk protocols, support safer execution.
Perhaps one of Cementation Africa’ s strongest advantages is the continuity of its people. Over 90 % of the Mine Engineering team has been with the company for more than 10 years, creating deep institutional knowledge and strong client relationships. This continuity allows for consistent performance across phases, with many engineers following projects from early studies through to commissioning, it says.
The company concluded:“ As Cementation Africa enters a new chapter under its refreshed identity, its engineering strength remains at the heart of its shaft sinking excellence. Backed by a global network, a history of technical leadership and a culture of responsibility, the company is well positioned to take on the continent’ s most ambitious underground mining projects – from shaft collar to final commissioning.”
x 50-m deep shaft sink, conducted in 300 MPa rock using the SBS system, achieving a Technology Readiness Level( TRL) of 7.
“ Our experimental tests provided for valuable insights, identifying areas for increased efficiency and operational flexibility as well as simplification in design,” it told IM. The company is currently reengineering the machine to conduct further tests by the beginning of 2026, all with a goal of reaching a TRL 9 level and commercialising the technology during the second half of 2026.
“ We are confident that the upcoming tests will enable us to meet a new set of key performance indicators, including at least 85 % availability and a production rate of between 5-10 m / d,” the company says.“ We also plan to modify the machine to increase its diameter from 4.3 m to between 5 m to 6 m in diameter. Our aim is to enlarge the existing 50-m-deep experimental shaft and sink an additional 30 m.”
Another innovation Master Drilling, in tandem with Doppelmayr, is presenting to the shaft community is the combination of the companies’ expertise to develop new material transport opportunities for vertical sinking projects.
This could see Master Drilling sink shafts via a raisebore and use Doppelmayr’ s vertical material transport system, Vertical RopeCon ®, to help quickly and costeffectively remove up to 2,000 t / h of material.
A world first in Herrenknecht SBR operation
The global nature of the shaft sinking space has been on show in the last 12 months, with project updates on mine developments in the UK, Poland( coal and copper), Canada
( nuclear waste), Uzbekistan( gold) and more.
In the UK, at the Anglo American-owned Woodsmith mine, Redpath Deilmann continues to make progress on sinking the 7.5-m diameter, 1,565-m deep service shaft.
In Anglo American’ s half-year results, it said shaft sinking activities were continuing on the service shaft in order to progress through the Sherwood Sandstone Group( SSG) – a water-bearing layer of hard rock.
The company continues to cut rock using a modified SBR, delivered by manufacturer Herrenknecht, but it has also said a semiautonomous partial drill and blast process will be used to progress through the SSG.
Anglo American told IM:“ Modifications to the SBR in the service shaft have been made to ensure the SBR continues to maintain efficient sinking rates, through the SSG, where the rock will exceed 100 MPa in zones.”
It says there were a range of options available that had the potential to address the expected reduced cuttability rates, with the priority being to find a solution that maintained the safety elements of the SBR technology while also providing the associated cutting efficiencies.
The first and simplest option chosen was to enhance the current SBR cutting system, which included the development of a purpose-built hard rock cutting drum. This was developed through use on previous projects and trialled in-shaft, which resulted in the development of a fourth generation hard rock drum, the mining company says. This drum includes hard facing, optimised pick attack angles, an optimised pick lacing pattern and hydraulic changes to reduce vibration and maintain pressure at the cutting face.
“ The improvements to the cutting drum improve the cuttability and reduce the vibration through the SBR when cutting through hard ground, all with minimal
Master Drilling SBS hits TRL 7 status
Another raiseboring leader with numerous global projects ranging from single-lift shafts up to 1.5-km in depth to small inter-level drain holes, Master Drilling has continued to advance its Shaft Boring System( SBS) in the last 12 months.
The SBS was developed as a 45-m long, 450-t machine to progress through rocks with a UCS of 200-400 MPa, carrying out cutting, mucking and shaft reinforcement concurrently.
Master Drilling says it has achieved significant results during the recent experimental program for the 4.3-m diameter
Master Drilling says it has achieved significant results during the recent experimental program for the 4.3-m diameter x 50-m deep shaft sink, conducted in 300 MPa rock using the SBS system
International Mining | SEPTEMBER 2025