Modern Mining June 2024

MINING CONTRACTORS AND ENGINEERS

and safely, given the many competing demands for use of the mine’s shaft con veyance. This challenge was overcome by establishing clear lines of communica tion among all project stakeholders and proper planning as well as regular project meetings with the mine to discuss prog ress, challenges, and solutions. With this constraint in mind, BBE aimed to design components required to construct the BAC, as much as possible, in sections that could fit into a cage rather than being slung beneath it, which is far more time consuming. BBE Projects has been assisting Harmony with ventilation and refrigera tion upgrades at Tshepong North and South operations for the past few years with a major improvement in underground environmental conditions. The first proj ect was a booster fan station on 66 level

feature Closed-circuit cooling coils that were replaced with the BAC.

at Tshepong South Operations (formerly known as Phakisa) in 2019. Since then, BBE has successfully commissioned an underground condenser fan sta tion on 55 level at Tshepong South and two more booster fan stations at Tshepong North Operations on 66 level. 

regular inspections by discipline-specific engineers from BBE and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). A major challenge in executing underground con struction projects is getting material, equipment, and personnel to the underground work areas timeously

34  MODERN MINING  June 2024