Modern Mining April 2016

COVER STORY

The Platreef project – Ivanhoe’s Construction of what could ultimately become the world’s biggest platinum-group metals mine – the Platreef project of TSX-listed Ivanhoe Mines – is now well underway, with the sinking of the first shaft already in progress and poised to enter the main sinking phase. The newmine will exploit a remark- able underground orebody known as the Flatreef which has an average thickness of 24 m – making it roughly equivalent to 24 narrowMerensky reefs stacked one on top of another. The man respon- sible for the day-to-day management of the project, Gerick Mouton, Vice President & Executive Head: Capital Projects of Ivanhoe subsidiary, Ivanplats, believes that it represents the future of the platinum mining industry, not only in South Africa but globally.

E laborating, Mouton says that the in- credible width of the Flatreef means that it will be a platinum mine like no other. “If you look at all the other underground platinum mines in South Africa, they’re mining either the Meren-

sky or the UG2 reefs, which are generally only a metre or so thick,” he says. “Mechanising the mining of orebodies of this type is difficult although there has been some success with semi-mechanised methods on the UG2, which typically offers more mining width than the Me-

Ivanplats’ Mokopane team pictured at the company’s premises in the town.

20  MODERN MINING  April 2016