Modern Mining September 2023

COVER STORY

UMS brings fresh thinking to shaft sinking Mining and professional engineering services provider UMS Group, which designs and constructs underground and surface works – as well as associated surface infrastructure such as process plants – for mining clients, has earned a reputation for being an innovator. In particular, the company has brought fresh thinking to the highly complex task of shaft sinking, as Robert Hull, Group Chief Operat ing Officer, and Murray Macnab, Group Technical Director, made clear when they spoke to Modern Mining recently.

W ith offices in many countries across the globe, UMS has a healthy order book for shaft work, with three major shaft-sinking contracts on three continents in its portfolio, as well as an important role on a major South African shaft-sinking contract project where it is a key mem ber of the ‘owner’s team’. UMS is also engaged in a number of smaller contracts where it is performing shaft and headgear upgrade and optimisation work. In addition, it is busy with studies on shaft, under ground, surface and process projects for a wide range of clients. According to Hull, one of the main contributors to UMS’s success is the breadth of its service offer ing. “Not only are we contractors but we have a full design, engineering and procurement capabil ity which allows us to offer clients a true seamless service – from initial concept right through to con struction and commissioning,” he says. “Having this full suite of services means we can beat industry norms when it comes to delivering projects, particu larly when clients engage with us at an early stage of project development.” The value that UMS’s broad offering can bring to projects is well illustrated by the company’s current contract at the Ero Copper Caraíba Operations mine in Brazil to sink a 1 500 m deep, four-compartment, vertical shaft as part of a project to deepen the mine. The company will employ the slipe-and-line method to enlarge a raise bore hole. “Our involvement started when we were asked by the client to review a feasibility study for the deepen ing project,” says Macnab. “This initial engagement

6  MODERN MINING  September 2023