Modern Mining September 2020

to deliver first ore in H2 2022

Above: Miner entering the underground portal at the VUP. Right: Venetia Underground Mine shaft. Right below: The twin headgear of the new underground mine at Venetia viewed from the eastern open pit viewpoint. Both shafts are largely sunk. The development of infrastructure has commenced and is progressing well. “Both shafts have reached their final depth of 1 080 m. Equipping of the production shaft has started. The production ramp has reached the top level access. We are now starting to develop the sec- ond surface decline access, which is important to the overall project,” explains da Costa. Da Costa adds that, having been on the project for six years, one of the major milestones achieved to date is the intact safety record. “We are proud of the safety record on site and we plan to continue in that vein until the completion of the project,” he says. Competitive edge Da Costa is really proud to be associated with a proj- ect of this magnitude and feels that it is an honour for MRC to be part of a team that is enabling this huge investment into the South African mining industry. Commenting on MRC’s competitive edge, Da Costa says the company’s successful track record in sub-Saharan Africa in terms of executing this type of project was one of the factors taken into account in the award of the Venetia Underground Project. MRC, he says, is also part of the bigger global mining engi- neering and construction group, Murray & Roberts Mining Group, which provides access to global ini- tiatives, developments and critical skills that can be sourced from other parts of the world.

Rodel says that there are many factors to take into consideration when selecting a contractor for such a huge and challenging project. “A large com- ponent has to do with the safety performance, shaft

September 2020  MODERN MINING  21