Northam Platinum’s Booysendal resource lies on the Eastern Limb of the Bushveld Complex in Mpumalanga. Spread across 15,170 ha and with a strike length of 14.5 km, Booysendal has a 103 Moz resource for a potential life of mine exceeding 100 years. Engineering firm, DRA Mineral Projects has been awarded the full EPCM contract. The Booysendal UG2 North project, located within the Groot Dwarsrivier valley, will see the development of a new platinum mine extracting the UG2 reef, infrastructure and concentrator for a life of approximately 20 years, exploiting only the first tenth of the UG2 reserve closest to the surface and nearest to the northern project boundary.
The project was fully approved in April 2010 for a capital control budget of R3,6 billion. Future project developments promise further growth of the UG2 mine into a major competitor on the Eastern Limb as well as potential development of the narrow Merensky Reef.
Early works procurement for the major construction packages is complete and procurement for the mining contract is in progress. Progress with the approval of environmental applications in terms of NEMA, NWA and MPRDA is below par and potential upside to the current forecast construction access dates for project implementation is fading as a result. The project critical path for mining will however remain unaffected but challenged.
The first contractors completed the site inductions and medical examinations and mobilised on May 19. Initial construction will include:
• Providing safe access from the Der Brochen access gate to the Booysendal property
• Construction of the 11 kV overhead line for construction power from Mototolo substation to the Booysendal farm and the line reticulation on the Booysendal farm
• On-reef boxcut, ventilation adits and boxcut pollution control facilities
• Temporary laydown area at the position of the future mine complex
• Construction water reticulation network and equipping
• The fencing of environmentally sensitive and heritage areas.
The construction start of the decline is currently still dependant on the approval of the environmental applications – delays in the processing by authorities currently hold the most project risk due to uncertainty.
It is a narrow tabular orebody. Development will use strike drives, crosscuts and raises with mining by scattered breast stoping using underground hydropowered machinery. It will require four-stage beneficiation with concentrator (separate plants for two reef products) , smelter, base metals refinery (to precipitates Cu and Ni). Final product (PGM concentrate) to Heraeus. Mill throughput to the plant is to be 150,000 t/month (187,500 t ROM through the DMS plant).