Expanding Venetia diamond mine's infrastructure
Bateman Engineering was awarded an R82 million contract by De
Beers in July 2005 in terms of the established partnership model between
the companies. The project is expanding the infrastructure at the
Venetia diamond mine near Musina (formerly Messina) in the Limpopo
Province, RSA. Progress is good and it is likely that most of the
work will be completed ahead of the scheduled completion date in June
2006.
The project has seven main components, being pit dewatering; storm-water
control; sewage pumping; workshops with offices, meeting rooms and
toilet facilities; change house; perimeter access control and overhead
power reticulation.
The pit-dewatering system has to cope with flood conditions resulting
from a possible 20-year storm to ensure continued mining operations.
This is a dual-stream system, each comprising three pump stations
and a barge with interconnecting piping. The pumps have a capacity
of 100 l/s against a head of 120 m and are movable, so they can be
removed from the pit during dry seasons and during blasting in the
pit to avoid damage.
A new dam and pump station will store both storm water and the water
from the pit, from where it can be pumped to the on-mine water-storage
dam. In the rainy season, the latter dam supplements the water pumped
out of wells close to the Limpopo about 60 km away.
A new sewage pump station is being established alongside the storm-water
dam, as the future mining operations will eventually encroach on the
existing sewage-pipe network.
The mining-equipment service facilities are being upgraded to cope
with the increased stripping of overburden which requires an enlarged
mining fleet of larger trucks and more drilling equipment.
This involves extending the existing load-and-haul workshop and installing
two additional 50 t electric-overhead-travelling (EOT) cranes with
10 t auxiliaries. A new tyre-bay workshop is being equipped with a
10 t EOT crane and the existing gantry handling new tyres is being
extended. A new drill workshop with a 3 t hoist is being built and
the existing drill workshop provided with storage facilities and a
new 5 t EOT crane with crane girders.
These service facilities are being enhanced with prefabricated offices,
meeting rooms, eating areas and toilet facilities, and the existing
drill-workshop office area remodelled.
The change house is being expanded using a prefabricated modular building
to house 250 people and a new boiler and additional laundry equipment
provided.
Outside of the high-security area, parking has been expanded, the
entrance road widened and 2 km of the perimeter fence upgraded and
access provided for abnormal loads and the landing strip. Low-level
access control for the main gate and pedestrian turnstiles will be
maintained from within the existing security-control room. The main
overhead power supply, which passes over land which is to be mined
out, is being relocated without interruption of operations at the
mine.
Additional information is available from either
James Nieuwenhuys or Vincent Diesel on +27-11-899-9111 or
email diamonds@BatemanEngineering.com.
