The first unit in a new fleet of Rham Equipment recently arrived at Galane Gold’s Galaxy gold mine in South Africa. It is a Rham 30HD 3.4 m3 bucket LHD. Training is commencing and Galane expects to have the new fleet operational by mid-December.

The Rham fleet includes aside from this machine two 23 t payload DT23 underground dump trucks, an 18HD LHD with 1.8 m3 bucket, two 10 t payload DT10 underground dump trucks, a UV5000 utility vehicle, T230D transporter and FD32 face drill rig. The larger machines are destined for the Galaxy deposit, they will be utilised for development and stoping, historically the Galaxy deposit has been observed to have a maximum width of up to 35 m within a strike length of up to 100 m. The smaller units are destined for Princeton, which is essentially a narrow vein orebody, these machines will be utilised in both development and stoping. The Woodbine and Giles section will require handheld pneumatic rockdrills, locomotives and hoppers.

The general Rham LHD design has several notable features for durability and ease of maintenance. Rham LHDs use Poclain wheel motors as the final drive in out hydrostatic system. Poclain Hydraulics are world leaders in hydraulic technology and the motors were tested at the Rham Gerotek testing ground on a 50% decline and the machine used came from full speed to a stop purely on hydrostatic braking. The advantage of this braking system is that no single part is exposed to wear, allowing for reduced maintenance and less cost. Rham machines require engine and hydraulic oil only. A conventional machine will have hydraulic oil, transmission oil, engine oil and axle oil. With a hydrostatic system it is also possible to change direction while at full speed, without causing damage. The hydrostatic traction control and 100% ground engagement results in a 40-60 % measured improved tyre life while the hydrostatic drive power transfer is more efficient and provides 15-20 % fuel saving per kW absorbed.

Galaxy Gold is one of the oldest mining operations in South Africa with the discovery of gold by Jack Greaves in 1888. It is located approximately 8 km west of the town of Barberton and 45 km west of the provincial capital of Nelspruit (Mbombela), in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. The mine comprises several east-west trending gold orebodies and tailings storage facilities from historical workings. Galaxy consists of 21 orebodies all of which can be accessed via adits at level 17 and level 22. Examples of the orebodies are:

• Galaxy orebody – a massive pipe shaped orebody with a thickness of 35 m and a strike of around 100 m.
• Woodbine and Giles orebodies – both narrow steeply dipping with a thickness of up to 2.4 m and a strike of 900 m.
• Princeton orebody – a steeply dipping ore body with a thickness of 5 m and a strike of 300 m.

The current mine plan includes the mining of Galaxy and Princeton using a mechanised cut and fill mining method. There are also extensive tailings around the mine site which Galaxy will use to supplement production. The mine plan production build-up for Galaxy was designed at 7,000 t/mth for the first six months, ramping up to 15,000 t/mth after six months, for a period of a year and reaching steady state production of 30,000 t/mth after one year and six months. Princeton produces 4,000 t/mth for the first six months, ramping up to 10,000 t/mth after six months, maintaining this production rate for a year and ramping up to steady state production of 15,000 t/mth after a year and six months. The Woodbine and Giles sections only start producing a year after production has started at the Galaxy and Princeton sections. Initial production starts at 2,000 t/mth for a period of a year after which production ramps up to a steady state of 5,000 t/mth. The LOM plan consists of a total of 4.14 Mt diluted tonnes at a diluted grade of 3.46 g/t containing 461,000 oz of gold.

Galane has refurbished the existing 15,000 t per month crush, mill and float plant. It has upgraded the crushing circuit, float plant and filtration plant to 30,000 t/mth. Galane also increased the resource in 2020 by 60% through a review of historic drilling and grade control records of Princeton. Galaxy was remodelled using existing data.

Mining wise the latest technical report from this year says there will be development of a spiral ramp extending from above 16 Level to below 28 Level, adjacent to the Galaxy orebody is required. Access crosscuts are developed from the spiral ramp on each level to intersect the centre of the Galaxy Orebody. Inclined fans are developed from the access crosscut on top of each other to access the successive cuts. On each level, a ventilation crosscut is developed on the curve of the spiral ramp that serves as the starting point for the development of level to level ventilation raises. On 22 Level, Galaxy deposit access development connects to the existing 22 Level, providing a means for ore transportation from underground to the 22 Level adit on surface.

The development design for Princeton is significantly different to the Galaxy design due to the thin, sheet like nature of the Princeton orebody lenses. A large amount of off-reef development is required to open up sufficient ground for the planned production rate of 15,000 t/mth. The most significant difference between the Galaxy and Princeton design, is the inclusion of off-reef drives (HLG) in the Princeton design. A spiral is developed adjacent to the Princeton orebody lenses. Access crosscuts connect the off-reef drives to the spiral on each level. The off-reef drives are developed along the strike of the orebody in both directions, making it possible to develop several fans on a level, as opposed to a single fan per level as per the Galaxy design. Ventilation crosscuts are developed from the off-reef drives on each level at set intervals. Ventilation raises are developed from the ventilation crosscuts between a lower and an upper level. Pass bays are developed on the loops of the spiral ramp to accommodate machinery moving past each other. The crosscuts are broken away from the off-reef drives, to access the orebody. Fans are developed sequentially from the crosscut, starting with the bottom fan and progressing upwards as each cut-and-fill slice is mined.