Modern Mining July 2018

MINING News

Syama Underground to be an ‘autonomous’mine

Underground), following the 39 % increase inmineral resources previously announced in October 2017. The adoption of autonomous mining will result in substantially lower average mining costs, while improvements to site power generation facilities will deliver sig- nificant reductions in processing costs. “Our ambition at Syama is to transform this world gold class deposit into a world class gold mine,” comments John Welborn, MD and CEO of Resolute. “The updated DFS numbers capture the progress we have made in exploration, automation andpower, and confirmResolute is transforming Syama into a robust, long life, low cost mine.We are developing a new underground mine at Syama and are on track to commence sub- level caving in December 2018. “The sub-level cave mine plan at Syama lends itself to automation. Our partner- ship with Sandvik to deliver autonomous haulage and trucking enables major productivity and cost improvements over the Original DFS. An upgrade of the Syama power station supports a further cost reduction in sulphide processing. Collectively, these improvements sup- port life of mine production at an All-In Sustaining Cost of US$746/oz, a material improvement on the original mine design. significantly contributing to SRK becom- ing a premium brand in the industry. His consulting activities included: open pit planning and design; rock and soil slope stability analysis and design for road and rail cuttings and open pit and strip mines; and general surface mining geotechnics, includ- ing tailings dam investigation and design. His innovation and discovery activities included developing frameworks for pit optimisation, strategic mine planning, and the application of probability techniques in geotechnical engineering, particularly regarding risk analysis of slope failure in open pit stability investigations. He served as President of the South African Institution of Mining andMetallurgy from 1989 to 1990. He was awarded the Brigadier Stokes Memorial Award in 1995 and the SAICE Geotechnical Gold Medal in 2001. He was also awarded Mining Journal’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010 in rec- ognition of his technical contribution to the international mining industry. 

The Syama Underground mine. Resolute is on track to commence sub-level caving in December this year (photo: Resolute).

underground ore reserves to 3,0 million ounces (Moz) of gold. The DFS Update presents the results of an ongoing effort by Resolute to critically examine and pursue improvements in all aspects of Syama, its flagship operation, which is located in southern Mali. A key focus has been the redesign and resched- uling of the underground mine (Syama

ASX-listed Resolute Mining has announced an update (DFS Update) to the June 2016 Syama Underground Definitive Feasibility Study (Original DFS) which delivers a significant reduction in the Life of Mine (LOM) All-In Sustaining Cost (AISC) to US$746 per ounce (oz), from US$881/oz. This material cost reduction is accompa- nied and assisted by a 38 % increase in

Obituary: Dr Oskar Steffen (1940-2018) SRK Consulting has announced the passing of Dr Oskar Steffen – one of the three found- ers of the global firmof consulting engineers and scientists – on Wednesday 27 June in Johannesburg; he was 77 years old.

at Wits, where he worked with his mentor, Professor Jere Jennings. He remained at the university until late 1973; his research focused on rock slope stability, which later led to a PhD thesis dealing with methods of stability analysis for rock slopes. During 1973, Andy Robertson per- suaded Steffen and Hendrik Kirsten to join him in a consulting partnership and the firm Steffen, Robertson and Kirsten (SRK) was formed in 1974. The new partners set out to build a firm where staff could reach their full potential within the business, rather than having to leave in search of new challenges; the concept was a series of practices under a unifying and supportive umbrella. They recognised that work must be interesting, preferably fun, and would need to be profitable to be sustainable. Over the following decades, Steffen’s recognition and profile as a top-drawer consultant went from strength to strength,

Steffen was born in Swaziland, where he spent his youth and completed his school- ing. He left for Johannesburg in 1956 to study civil engineering at Wits University, graduating with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 1961 and 1963 respectively. He spent the next seven years working for Nchanga Consolidated Copper Mines in Zambia, initially in a geotechnical role focused mainly on pit slope stability and later transferring to production, where he moved successively through a series of roles culminating in his appointment as Open Pit Manager. He left Nchanga in 1969 to take up an appointment as Senior Lecturer in Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering

10  MODERN MINING  July 2018