Modern Mining March 2025

MODERN MINING 20 YEAR CELEBRATION

Early technology adopter drives safe productive mining methods in Africa It has been 20 years since Murray & Roberts Cementation forged its current brand, building a global contract mining services company from the merger between Murray & Roberts RUC and The Cementation Company (Africa).

decades or so, he cites numerous milestones. On the shaft sinking side, the business has sunk 21 shafts – a total of 15 000 m of vertical sinking – since 2001, and significantly 15 of these since 2012. Equally impressive are the raiseboring figures, which reflect that it has conducted some 72 000 m of raise drilling – or 300 m a month on average. “We have embraced various technologies to achieve this productivity, including the Rotary Vertical Drilling System (RVDS) from Micon in Germany,” he says. “In fact, we successfully completed 93 projects using this well-proven equipment and methodology.” Among the standout applications of RVDS in South Africa was the 950 m deep ventilation shaft at Ivanplats’ Platreef project in South Africa’s Limpopo province. Achieving a remarkable 99,95% accuracy over the full length of the shaft, the deviation from target was only 500 cm. “We are also very proud to have worked with clients on four major greenfield projects where we built up operations over a few years and then handed them back to the client to run as owner operators,” says Chamberlain. “These transitional projects are known for their challenges, so it has been professionally very satisfying to successfully complete so many of these.” Underpinning much of its progress has been the company’s commitment to training; the South African mining sector saw a rapid decline in training as the industry contracted and mining houses unbundled. In terms of skills development, the Murray & Roberts Training Academy at Bentley Park in Carletonville grew its capability to train for artisanal, supervisory and management level including the courses necessary for the blasting ticket and other government tickets of competency. “We have filled this gap in the mining sector to the extent that the blasting ticket examinations are actually conducted by the Department of Mineral Resources at our Bentley Park facility,” he explains. He notes that mines’ formal investment in

Nurturing a culture of safety has reaped rewards for Murray & Roberts Cementation.

I n a happy coincidence, this important event was featured as the cover story in Modern Mining’s very first edition in March 2005, observes Graham Chamberlain, New Business Director at Murray & Roberts Cementation. “In that first edition, our Group Executive Director at the time was interviewed about the prospects for the business in its early days, and it is exciting to see how the company has made the most of the bold direction it took two decades ago,” Chamberlain says. “This merger, combined with a number of other strategic acquisitions around that time, allowed us to offer myriad specialist services for which we have become well known.” He highlights how Murray & Roberts Cementation has grown well beyond its roots as a traditional mining contracting company into a high-tech provider of a wide range of value-add mining services. To quantify its output over the past two

24  MODERN MINING  www.modernminingmagazine.co.za | MARCH 2025