Modern Mining November 2019

TECHNOLOGY

Shaft Boring System put to the test by Master Drilling The ‘holy grail’ of fully mechanised shaft sinking has been brought

including CEO Danie Pretorius and Technical Director Koos Jordaan. Since then the concept has evolved considerably – in particular the size and weight of the machine has been considerably reduced – and Master Drilling has now reached the point where the full engineering of the SBS is 95 % complete and manufacture of the complete system is in sight. Briefing the media/analyst group on the SBS, Jordaan said that when Master Drilling had asked clients what issues it should address to enhance productivity in the industry and make projects more viable, at the top of the list was the need to access deep orebodies faster – and more safely – than was possible using conventional techniques. As he said, “Conventional shaft sinking is time consuming and

a step closer by JSE-listed Master Drilling, which is currently trialling the ‘front end’ of its revolutionary Shaft Boring System (SBS) at a site close to its Fochville headquarters on the West Rand. Modern Mining’s Arthur Tassell recently joined a media/analyst group which viewed the machine in action.

T he concept of the SBS was first introduced by Master Drilling, the world’s biggest owner and operator of raisebore rigs, at the 2016 Mining Indaba and attracted keen interest from dele- gates, many of whom attended a presentation on the machine given by Master Drilling’s senior executives,

The media/analyst group which visited the site with Koos Jordaan at centre front.

22  MODERN MINING  November 2019