Modern Mining January 2016

DIAMONDS

makes its debut at Venetia

of mine. Once in production, the underground mine will produce approximately 96 million carats over its life from the treatment of 130 Mt of ore. The current processing plant on site has the ability to treat this volume of material. Says Kühn: “At the moment, the plant is typically handling 5,5 Mt annually whereas the under- ground mine will deliver around 5,9 Mt/a to the facility. To cater for this increase, some minor

followed in 2009/10 and a full feasibility in 2011, with board approval for the project being given in late 2012. The construction phase of the VUP was launched in October 2013, when President Jacob Zuma turned the first sod on site. As Kühn points out, “Given that the con- struction phase extends through to 2021, when Venetia transitions into an underground mine, the entire VUP is almost a 20-year enterprise from concept to commissioning.” De Beers is managing the VUP itself with the assistance of WorleyParsons RSA, which has been involved since the feasibility stage and was appointed as engineering consultant for the project. WorleyParsons RSA was com- missioned to execute the detailed engineering design for both the surface and underground infrastructure, as well as provide support to the Owners Project Management Team and Site Project Management Team related to procure- ment, fabrication, logistics and construction. Giving an indication of the scale of the proj- ect, Kühn says it will involve the development of around 80 km of shafts, tunnels, chambers, workshops and water and ventilation systems – with this figure rising to 220 km over the life

A Sandvik DD421 twin boom jumbo working in the decline. Pictured here (from left) are De Beers’ Christoff Kühn, Head of the VUP, and Japie du Plessis and Graham Chamberlain, both of Murray & Roberts Cementation.

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January 2016  MODERN MINING  47