Modern Mining Marchh 2017

MINING News

In his commentary on Northam Platinum’s results for the 2017 financial half-year, Chief Executive Paul Dunne says that the standout feature of the first half of F2017 was the good operating performance at Northam’s Booysendal mine on the Eastern Limb of the Bushveld Complex and the pace at which growth is being achieved. “The production run rate of 100 000 PGM ounces in the first half significantly exceeded the mine’s nameplate capac- Standout performance by Booysendal ity. From the original mining footprint we believe we have created capital efficient, scalable growth opportunities with long- term benefits for all stakeholders,” he says. “Both the deepening project on the UG2 mine, and work on the Booysendal South mine continued apace. The first blast for the boxcut at Booysendal South was completed in early September 2016 and the mining contract has recently been awarded to begin underground

operations in March 2017. The Merensky module at Booysendal North is now com- plete and producing at 25 000 tonnes per month.” Commenting on Northam’s Zonder­ einde operation on the Western Limb of the Bushveld Complex, Dunne notes that both tonnages and production ounces were affected owing to operational reorganisation measures underground, following the discharge of 357 employ- ees after labour disruptions in June 2016. “This situation is being addressed and we expect to be back to full complement by March 2017. The drop in milled tonnages was exacerbated by an 18-day outage resulting from a mill bearing failure in the UG2 concentrator.” Dunne says that the development of Booysendal South continues. “With a relatively modest capital programme and small footprint, this brownfields expan- sion will deliver 250 000 PGM ounces per annum at steady state.” Dunne also refers to Northam’s pro- posed acquisition of the Eland platinum mine near Brits from Glencore Operations South Africa for R175 million. “We believe that the Eland orebody, together with the established infrastructure, presents an attractive, low-cost opportunity and a medium-term option for growth,” he says. Eland’s surface and underground infra- structure includes a concentrator with a nameplate capacity of 250 kt/month; a chrome spiral recovery plant; a tailings storage facility with a capacity of 100 Mt; and two decline systems. Its assets also include a substantila mining fleet in excess of 100 vehicles.  Toby Bradbury, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “The excellent exploration results from Nkuluwisi once again show- case the geological potential of the Lupa goldfields. Furthermore, after resource upgrades at Elizabeth Hill in 2015 and Ilunga in 2016, Shanta’s exploration team continues to demonstrate its ability to convert its knowledge and experience into value-creation through the drill bit. “The grades and thicknesses of the mineralisation at Nkuluwisi are very encouraging. The deposit remains open at depth, and strike, and we are confident that further exploration will add to the forthcoming expected maiden resource at Nkuluwisi due in Q2 2017.” 

The Booysendal platinummine (photo: Northam).

Shanta drill holes intersect “encouraging mineralisation” AIM-listed Shanta Gold has provided an update on its ongoing exploration pro- gramme within and surrounding the New Luika Gold Mine (NLGM), located in the Lupa goldfields of south-west Tanzania. Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling at the Nkuluwisi mineralised target, located approximately 12 km north-west of the NLGM’s central processing hub, has inter- sected encouraging mineralisation which is open along strike and at depth. 120 m below surface. Exploration to date has covered a strike length of about 900 m and significant portions of the regionally prominent Nkuluwisi Shear Zone remain untested and exploration work is ongoing. The drilling results are currently being modelled and will be submitted to Shanta’s independent resource consultants for resource estimation purposes in the near future.

Drilling highlights include: 13 m at 6,31 g/t gold from 60 m in hole SGR090, including 5 m at 10,81 g/t; and 19 m at 3,58 g/t from 22 m in hole SGR178, includ- ing 10 m at 5,3 g/t.

A total of 44 RC drill holes comprising 5 833 m of drilling has been completed at Nkuluwisi, identifying mineralisation down to vertical depths of approximately

14  MODERN MINING  March 2017