BL Premium reports that Eastern Platinum (Eastplats) is preparing to resume underground operations at its Crocodile River Mine (CRM) near Brits in North West by the fourth quarter of 2022.
The mine has been opened and shut a few times “due to economic considerations and problems with the mining method”, said Hannelie Hanson, GM for Eastplats in SA. It has been under care and maintenance since August 2013 and restarting operations before the end of this year will require an investment of about $25m. According to Hanson, if the company does succeed in resuming underground operations at the mine, it will create about 1,400 new mining jobs. In 2021 an underground long-term plan and mine design study was completed, and a restart business execution plan got under way with the board’s approval and mandate to seek funding arrangements to restart underground operations at CRM in the second half of 2022. The restart of underground operations will be at the Zandfontein section of the mine, which has reserves of 1.7-million ounces with an overall mine life of 22 years. Some of the changes to the mining method, which the company believes will make the operations more viable compared to previous operations, include on-reef development instead of on the footwall below the reef, and switching to hydro powered drilling for in-stope drilling, which is more energy efficient than the compressed air drilling previously used.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Denene Erasmus at BusinessLive (subscriber access only)
- Read too, Eastplats positions new mining method to reopen CRM before year-end, at Mining Weekly
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