Tag Archives: Graham Chamberlain

Murray & Roberts Cementation continues to boost mining reputation in southern Africa

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Murray & Roberts Cementation continues to add to its order book of business in southern Africa, with the company saying it is engaged in a number of projects in South Africa and having project prospects in nearby countries.

According to Graham Chamberlain, New Business Director at Murray & Roberts Cementation, the busy pipeline of projects demonstrates the mining sector’s faith in the company’s industry knowledge and depth of skills. In southern Africa, the main projects underway are at De Beers’ Venetia Mine, Ivanhoe Mines’ Platreef project and Palabora Mining Company.

At the Venetia Underground project near Musina, work has been ongoing since 2013 in one of the largest investments in South Africa’s diamond industry in decades. Transitioning from open-pit to underground mining will extend the mine’s life until 2046. Murray & Roberts Cementation has been engaged in sinking, lining and equipping of two shafts – the production and service shafts – to a depth of 1,080 m. The company also developed a decline tunnel and is completing associated surface and underground infrastructure, in a project whose scope included raiseboring work to establish ventilation infrastructure.

“In this maturing project, the mine is now getting into ore and starting to develop the infrastructure levels,” Chamberlain says. “At the shaft bottom, good progress continues to be made with the construction of workshops, pumping stations, silos and loading arrangements.”

Murray & Roberts Cementation is also conducting all the infrastructure development at Ivanhoe Mines’ Platreef project near Mokopane. This includes the sinking of a 5.1 m ventilation shaft to meet horizontal development at 950 m below surface. To achieve the high accuracy levels demanded by the project, the raiseboring equipment was guided by directional drilling technology.

“A unique aspect of this project is that the shaft will be hoisting ore at that same time as allowing upcast air to reach surface,” Chamberlain says.

Another vent shaft by Murray & Roberts Cementation – measuring 8.5 m in diameter and reaching a depth of 1,200 m – is nearing completion at Palabora Mining Company near Phalaborwa. Part of the mine’s Lift II expansion, the project has earned an impressive safety record – being fatality free and achieving 574 days without a Lost Time Injury since 2022. Ground conditions were among the reasons why a blind sink was chosen as the optimal method instead of raiseboring, as the side walls needed immediate support to prevent scaling.

“We also have a number of services projects underway related to raiseboring, grout plants and rehabilitation,” Chamberlain explains. “Much of our work in this field is focused on old infrastructure that requires maintenance, repairs or upgrades; we also conduct extensive vertical work in ore passes and silos.”

The company carries out vital rehabilitation in ore passes where ground conditions have deteriorated to prevent ore from moving smoothly – thereby risking production targets. Innovating safer techniques for this work, Murray & Roberts Cementation has developed the tube-and-fill method, first applied about seven years ago at an underground platinum mine in South Africa. These installations are also expected to outlast the lifespan of an ore pass rehabilitated with traditional shotcrete.

“On the engineering front, we continue conducting rebuilds of underground mining equipment at our Bentley Park facility near Carletonville,” Chamberlain says.

He highlights the work of the company’s design department, which remains extremely busy with feasibility studies associated with vertical work. With the renewed interest in commodity segments like copper, there is also previous work that customers are asking Murray & Roberts Cementation to review and update.

Training in underground mining and related skills at the company’s Training Academy on Carletonville continues to empower many thousands of learners each year, Chamberlain points out. This skills development is done on behalf of clients, as well as for the company’s own requirements.

“At any one time, we can host about 420 learners, and we are generally at full capacity,” he says. “We have just recently upgraded these facilities to further enhance training technologies that allows learning to take place safely but in a realistic environment.”

In compliance with many African countries’ localisation regulations, Murray & Roberts Cementation has registered companies in eight countries in the Southern African Development Community – most of which have seen the company active with raiseboring. Chamberlain notes that there are specific opportunities in Zambia that the company hopes to capitalise upon in the near future, and is encouraged by the mining sector’s progress in countries like Namibia and Botswana.

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Murray & Roberts Cementation to accelerate ore hoisting at Ivanhoe Mines’ Platreef project

Automation, Mine shafts and equipment, Mineral project development, Mining services, Precious metals, , , , , ,

In a project innovation that will allow early hoisting of ore at Ivanhoe Mines’ Platreef project, in South Africa, Murray & Roberts Cementation will be repurposing its 3 Shaft – a ventilation shaft – to serve a dual function.

“This is a unique project in many respects, as the shaft will be hoisting ore at that same time as allowing upcast air to reach surface,” Graham Chamberlain, New Business Director at Murray & Roberts Cementation, says. “We were able to bring our well experienced experts into the planning process to develop a safe and effective solution.”

The project has followed the sinking of the vent shaft by Murray & Roberts Cementation, which had required very accurate drilling, using raiseboring equipment guided by directional drilling technology. The 5.1-m diameter shaft meets horizontal development at a depth of 950 m below surface.

“During this process, Ivanhoe looked at bringing forward some of their ore generation activities, and this required adding hoisting capacity,” Chamberlain explains. “The timeline for their main shaft meant that it would not be able to contribute to this capacity, so a team was established to consider how to retrofit the vent shaft into an early hoisting shaft.”

As an integral part of that multidisciplinary team, Murray & Roberts Cementation conducted a feasibility study on the options, allowing for the selection of the most suitable methodology. The company also carried out the necessary designs, including winders and headgear as well as hoisting and tipping arrangements. In September 2023, the project was awarded to Murray & Roberts Cementation to implement, and is scheduled to take about two years.

“This project stands out in terms of innovation, adaptability, teamwork and design,” Chamberlain says. “With our many decades in the sector, we were able to draw on hundreds of years of experience in mining – and leverage this in our design team.”

Among the range of technical challenges is the need to work within the vent shaft while it is performing its function of channelling an upcast current of air to surface. Any blockage of the air current in the shaft would affect the development operation of the mine, so this is critical to avoid.

“There needs to be periods during which we can reduce the ventilation, but we will have to ensure that air flow is always adequate,” Chamberlain says. Another vent shaft is planned to add ventilation capacity for the future.

Chamberlain points out that it will be necessary to deal with the slight deviations in the shaft; while accurately drilled, vent shafts are not designed to the same tolerances as hoist shafts. An important aspect of the design was the steelwork required to accommodate those deviations.

“The work will be conducted by a relatively small team of our highly skilled people,” he says. “This will include the installation of a compact headgear using refurbished winders from our strategic stockholding.”

The infrastructure will employ technology that will allow man-less operation to enhance safety, using automated processes in loading and measuring functions, for instance. The project will require specialised subcontractors on much of the equipment employed, but the more day-to-day consumables are procured locally to support local businesses.

“In the absence of a supplier, we would then develop their capability through our procurement system and enterprise development commitment,” Chamberlain says. “In this way, we foster small businesses and help to nurture them until they are self-sustaining.”

M&R Cementation ready to make shaft sinking transition at Palabora copper mine

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The sinking of the 1,200-m deep ventilation shaft at Palabora Copper, in South Africa, is proceeding apace, notwithstanding the COVID-19 shutdown and restrictions, contractor Murray & Roberts Cementation reports.

Work began on the 8.5 m diameter shaft early in 2019, with pre-sinking recently reaching a depth of 50 m and the changeover from pre-sink to main sink almost complete, according to Murray & Roberts Cementation Project Executive Mine Development, Graham Chamberlain.

Part of the development of Palabora Copper’s new LIFT II underground block cave mining area, the shaft will be developed to a final blind sink depth of 1,190 m, with a drop raise to its final depth. Completion is expected in the September quarter of 2022, Murray & Roberts Cementation says.

“We were required by the client and national lockdown regulations to pause our work schedule, but operations resumed as planned when restrictions were relaxed,” Chamberlain said. “The priority is to ensure that safe working conditions are maintained, and the COVID-19 infections are avoided.”

The project is using automated machinery at the shaft bottom, removing employees from high-risk contact areas. Modern, high-penetration rate hydraulic drills are deployed on robotic arms nested on the shaft sinking stage. This allows operators to conduct drilling at any position in the shaft without physically being in contact with the drills, the company says.

“We shorten our cycle times with the use of explosive delivery pods containing sensitised emulsion,” Chamberlain said. “Electronic systems deliver real-time data on blast holes numbers, volumes and pressures, improving blasting efficiency and quality.”

To reduce potential disruption from the intersection of poor ground conditions, Murray & Roberts Cementation takes the shaft lining to the bottom of the shaft during sinking. In the past, industry practice tended to carry this lining to about 20 m from the bottom.

“Our lining approach is applied with the use of a modified version of the traditional shuttering, and our specialised concrete mixes which we design for this specific purpose,” Chamberlain explained. “The mixes are prepared and delivered by our on-site batch plant.”

Chamberlain adds that the company’s focus on Zero Harm and a rigorous safety regime continues to deliver a high level of safety on the project.