It will take 5 years to complete sinking the shafts at the new Bakubung Platinum Mine. The deepest shaft is 1 kilometre down. The mine will be ready to begin extracting platinum in 2018.
More about Bakubung:
Wesizwe’s core project is the Bakubung Platinum Mine (formerly known as the Frischgewaagd-Ledig project). The property consists of various portions of the farm Frischgewaagd 96 JQ and Ledig 909 JQ. These two farms are located directly south of the Pilanesberg complex.
The project site is situated directly adjacent to the western side of the Royal Bafokeng Platinum Styldrift project and immediately north of Maseve’s Project 1, owned in partnership with Canadian group Platinum Group Metals (PTM). These properties are all located on the Western Limb of the mineral-rich Bushveld Igneous Complex in the North West province of South Africa.
The Bakubung Platinum Mine will comprise of an underground mine with a twin vertical shaft system – a main shaft and a ventilation shaft which will also function as the second escape route – and a process plant.
The main shaft is planned to have a hoisting capacity of 230 000 tonnes of ore plus 40 000 tonnes of waste per month. Initially the Merensky Reef ore will be mined at the rate of 180 000 tonnes and the UG2 ore will make up the balance of 50 000 tonnes per month. Once the Merensky has been depleted, the full 230 000 tonnes will be generated from UG2 ore. It is anticipated that the annual 4E (3 PGM + Au) production during steady state be around 350 000 ounces.
The Merensky Reef will be mined using conventional stoping methods and the UG2 using semi-mechanised methods, also known as hybrid methods. Crushing will be done underground from where the reefs will be separately conveyed to stockpiles at the concentrator plant. The concentrator design has emanated from the results of the test work conducted during the bankable feasibility study and is based on a standard PGM plant layout. Options for collaboration in developing a joint concentrator plant with neighbours Maseve are being investigated to exploit benefits from economies of scale and sharing capital infrastructure costs.
[source: http://www.wesizwe.co.za/bakubung.asp]
