A family identify for shaft sinking in Africa’s mining sector, Murray & Roberts Cementation has over the many years developed a large portfolio of mining providers – some higher identified than others. “Via our fixed innovation throughout a spread of fields, constructed on the experience of our extremely skilled workers, we preserve creating very attention-grabbing responses to buyer’s challenges,” says Pieter Oosthuysen, Senior Mission Supervisor at Murray & Roberts Cementation.
Among the many sector’s rising challenges has been the criminality related to unlawful mining actions. The corporate has developed options to stop cable theft – together with the encasing of cables in grout-filled pipes – and to seal off outdated areas utilizing grout packs that create everlasting boundaries.
“Water administration has additionally grow to be a key situation for mines, particularly within the mature deep-level gold mining sector,” says Oosthuysen. “Right here, their points are about guaranteeing accountable water administration in addition to decreasing pumping prices from dormant or mined-out mining areas. This usually requires that outdated underground areas be sealed off to include the huge water pressures at depth.”
That is under no circumstances a brand new situation, after all, however Murray & Roberts Cementation has been on this area for therefore lengthy that they actually ‘wrote the e-book,’ he notes. The corporate was a part of the staff that developed the Code of Apply for designing and developing excessive strain bulkhead plugs, and has a monitor file courting again many years with plugs and water doorways.
“Our staff collaborates with plug designers to ensure that the plug’s design and placement are constructable,” he explains. “The profitable development and pumping of those plugs depends on the usage of our cellular grout vegetation to beat logistical obstacles.”
It demonstrated this capability a few years in the past, when the corporate’s intervention saved the West Driefontein gold mine from flooding again in 1968. Since then, it has pushed the boundaries of expertise to realize a profitable plug at over 2,800 m deep at ERPM’s 68 Stage – the place it additionally positioned its longest plug section at a formidable 24 m.
Managing water within the underground atmosphere shouldn’t be the one place the place the corporate has excelled. As the general public highlight has targeted on the protection of tailings dams, Murray & Roberts Cementation helps mines with the essential job of draining water from these amenities.
“If drainage pipes from the penstocks are broken over time, these must be changed to make sure correct drainage to help the soundness of the dam,” he says. “Whereas the mine installs new penstocks and drainage, we wash out these outdated pipes, set up intrusion pipes and seal them off to make sure no leakage.”
Behind these achievements is Murray & Roberts Cementation’s pioneering function within the area of grout vegetation. It was the primary to design and implement a excessive strain pumping system that would convey grout from a floor plant to workings underground; the distances recurrently lined by these programs have been between three and 7 kilometres.
With additional functionality in features together with elevate drilling, silo and settler development, blind gap boring, vent passes and ore and shaft rehabilitation, the corporate presents an unmatched portfolio, in accordance with Dirk Visser, who can also be a Senior Mission Supervisor at Murray & Roberts Cementation.
“It’s these extra help providers that make us actually distinctive available in the market,” argues Visser. “Most different gamers will concentrate on one or different facet of this work, however we give clients the benefit of an built-in answer – permitting us to imagine extra undertaking threat and relieving clients of great coordination accountability.”
For that reason, the corporate can handle tasks that demand drilling and cementation, for example, whereas additionally offering the raiseboring and distant shotcreting capabilities. The capability to ship these choices, he emphasises, calls for abilities and expertise which requires appreciable funding.
“The core expertise in our division has a mean size of service between 12 and 18 years – with many workers reaching 30 to 40 years inside the enterprise,” he says. “We additionally constantly replenish our abilities pipeline with up-to-date, related coaching which incorporates state-of-the-art coaching amenities together with mock-ups for a grout plant, drop elevate and lift drilling.”
The required {hardware} can also be an vital a part of any profitable undertaking, and the funding by Murray & Roberts Cementation has additionally been vital. There may be an in depth fleet of machines for the raiseboring a part of the enterprise, with greater than 8 km of drill pipe out there.
“All that we do is underpinned by our complete Murray & Roberts Cementation security system, which has been developed by taking finest observe and enhancing our personal CRM programs,” he concludes. “The effectiveness is our security dedication is demonstrated by our monitor file – with over seven million fatality-free shifts.”
