NORTHAM Platinum said on Tuesday that it had completed drilling of its No 3 Shaft at a world record depth of 1 382 metres at the group’s Zondereinde mine in the western bushveld, extending the life of the mine to more than 30 years.
Northam CEO Paul Dunne said: “This project milestone was delivered on time and on budget by the Zondereinde team, in collaboration with our project service provider, Master Drilling. The resultant long-term stability and life of mine extension delivered by this project will have a beneficial impact on the mine, its stakeholders and the local economy for decades to come.”
Work on the No 3 shaft started in early 2020, and was a quality resource block containing 21 million ounces of platinum group metals (PGM) within the high-grade Merensky and UG2 orebodies.
Northam said the resource was purchased in 2017 for R1 billion. The addition of the Western extension improved operational flexibility at Zondereinde and will permit annual PGM output to increase to 350 000 ounces 4E by 2026.
The development of shaft would secure the jobs of Zondereinde’s current employee complement of 10 700, as well as an additional 600 permanent positions, the mining firm said.
BUSINESS REPORT