Tag Archives: RUC Mining

GCR Mongolia JV hits shaft sinking milestone at Oyu Tolgoi

7th February 2024Base metals, Mine shafts and equipment, Mining services, Precious metalsGCR Mongolia, Gobi Infrastructure Partners, Oyu Tolgoi, RUC Mining, Shaft sinkingDaniel Gleeson

GCR Mongolia, a joint venture between Gobi Infrastructure Partners and RUC Mining, says it has reached a depth of 1,000 m on Shaft #4 at the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia.

On the achievement, RUC Mining said: “This achievement is a testament to the unwavering dedication and efforts of our exceptional shaft sinking project team.”

Back in 2018, GCR Mongolia was awarded a contract to design, construct and commission the sinking and lining of Shaft #3 and #4 and build the stage one material handling system at the copper-gold underground project.

The shaft sinking aspect for these ventilation shafts involves blind sinking and concrete lining of the two shafts, while the material handling system will require the installation of 9 km of conveyors able to transport ore to surface at 6,500 t/h. Shaft #4 was planned to be sunk to a depth of 1,200 m with a finished diameter of 11 m.

Oyu Tolgoi, in the southern Gobi Desert of Mongolia, is expected to produce the equivalent of 500,000 t/y of copper at its peak.

RUC Mining set for Newmont Tanami shaft lining and equipping contract

12th February 2021Mine operation news, Mine shafts and equipment, Mining services, Precious metalsAustralia, gold, Newmont, Northern Territory, RUC Cementation Mining Contractors, RUC Mining, Shaft sinking, TanamiDaniel Gleeson

RUC Cementation Mining Contractors says its RUC Mining business has been awarded preferred bidder status for the shaft lining and equipping contract at Newmont’s Tanami Expansion 2 project in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Additionally, Newmont, last week, granted RUC Mining authority to proceed with long lead procurement RFQ process via a short-term contract to progress the works, the contractor said.

Back in November, RUC Cementation Mining Contractors and GR Engineering Services agreed to team up as part of a plan to construct surface infrastructure, as well as complete the shaft lining and equipping, for a proposed hoisting shaft at the Tanami Expansion 2 project. There was no mention of this agreement in the latest news from RUC Cementation.

“RUC Mining is excited to be engaged on the major project with global leader Newmont, the world’s largest gold producer,” it said. “Together we look forward to safely progressing the Tanami Expansion 2 project, delivering long-term value to both Newmont and RUC shareholders.”

Subject to finalisation of agreements, the contract award is expected this month, it said.

The Tanami Expansion 2 project is expected to increase the annual capacity of the processing site to 3.5 Mt/y, from 2.6 Mt/y, and extend the life of the mine beyond 2040.

RUC Mining, Barminco keep Panoramic’s Savannah nickel restart plan on track

20th October 2020Base metals, Mine shafts and equipment, Mine ventilation, Mineral project development, Mining equipment, Mining servicesback-reaming, Barminco, cobalt, contract mining, copper, mine development, Mine ventilation, nickel, Panoramic Resources, raiseboring, RUC Mining, Savannah, Savannah North, Victor Rajasooriar, Western AustraliaDaniel Gleeson

Panoramic Resources says underground development at the Savannah nickel project in Western Australia is moving ahead as planned, with both its raisebore contractor and contract miner striving towards the ASX-listed company’s first half 2021 restart goal.

In a progress update, the company said mining contractor, Barminco, had completed the 468 m horizontal underground development drive, connecting with the vertical ventilation shaft to complete Fresh Air Raise (FAR #3) development at Savannah North, in late September.

Since then, specialist raiseboring contractor, RUC Mining, has been setting up the raisebore rig on the surface and installing the reamer head at the 1675 RL, which was developed to intersect into the existing FAR #3 raise.

“This complicated and critical task was completed safely and efficiently as planned,” Panoramic said on October 19. “RUC is tasked with the FAR #3 back-reaming, which commenced over the weekend and expected to be completed in the March 2021 quarter.”

A total of 354 m will be back reamed at a diameter of 3.85 m, according to the company. This is planned to provide sufficient ventilation to support future full-scale mining operations from Savannah North in line with the Mine Plan released in late July.

Managing Director and CEO, Victor Rajasooriar, said: “We now have a firm foundation to recommence underground pre-production development next month, to complete ventilation works for Savannah North and complete areas of capital development to lay further groundwork for a potential restart of operations. This work will be concluded towards the end of the March quarter 2021 and we expect to be in a position where the project is capable of being restarted in the first half of 2021.”

The Savannah Mine Plan outlined a mine life of around 13 years, with the majority of ore sourced from the Savannah North orebody. Average annual production for years 1-12 would be 8,810 t of nickel, 4, 579 t of copper and 659 t of cobalt in concentrate, with all-in costs for these years of $5.27/lb of payable nickel, net of copper and cobalt by-product credits.