Modern Mining January 2018

DIAMONDS

Venetia Underground will be a high-tech pacesetter

The Venetia Underground Project (VUP) of De Beers will not only extend the life of Venetia – South Africa’s biggest diamond pro- ducer – into the 2040s but it will also result in the mine emerging as a world leader in terms of the automation of mining opera- tions. Modern Mining’s Arthur Tassell recently visited Venetia and spoke to Gerrie Nortje, Venetia’s General Manager, and Christoff Kϋhn, Head of the Venetia Underground Project (VUP), who confirmed that the decision had been taken to deploy au- tonomous trackless mobile machinery (TMM) in the new under- ground mine, which will start producing ore in 2021.

I n essence, the VUP involves creating a state-of-the-art underground mine underneath the existing open-pit op- erations at Venetia. The two kimberlite pipes to be mined are K01 and K02, with the mining methods selected being Sub Level Caving (SLC) for the bigger K01 ore body and

a modified SLC system for K02. The K01 cave will produce 4 Mt/a and the K02 cave 2 Mt/a. To access the ore bodies, two concrete-lined vertical shafts, each 7 m in diameter, are being sunk to a depth of 1 040 m, and a decline system for trackless equipment with a total length of 7 km is being developed. As of late November

Above: Pictured at the De Beers’ offices in Musina are (from left) Gerrie Nortje, Venetia’s General Manager, and Christoff Kϋhn, Head of the Venetia Underground Project (photo: Arthur Tassell).

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48  MODERN MINING  January 2018