Published: December 19, 2018 |

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Platreef’s underground mine development team includes three members from local communities.
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Ivanhoe Mines’ co-chairmen Robert Friedland and Yufeng “Miles” Sun, and Ivanplats’ managing director Dr. Patricia Makhesha, said that Platreef’s shaft 1 has reached a depth of 850 metres below surface and development work has begun on the 850-metre station – the second of three horizontal mining access stations planned for shaft 1.

The first mining access station has been constructed at the 750-metre level, following earlier development of a water-pumping station at the 450-metre level. The third mining access station will be developed at a mine-working depth of 950 metres. Shaft 1 is expected to reach its projected, final depth of approximately 980 metres below surface, complete with all four of the stations, in early 2020.

The 29-metre mineralized intersection in shaft 1 yielded approximately 3,500 tonnes of ore that will be used for bulk-scale metallurgical test work. Based on the estimated resource grade of the pilot hole for shaft 1 (GT008), the 3,500 tonnes are expected to contain more than 400 ounces of platinum-group metals (PGMs).

Ivanhoe Mines indirectly owns 64 percent of the Platreef Project through its subsidiary, Ivanplats, and is directing all mine development work. The South African beneficiaries of the approved broad-based, black economic empowerment structure have a 26 percent stake in the Platreef Project. The remaining 10 percent is owned by a Japanese consortium of ITOCHU Corporation; Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation and Japan Gas Corporation.

Long-term wastewater agreement has been finalized to supply most of the bulk water needed for the first phase of production at Platreef.

Ivanplats, led by Dr. Makhesha, said that it has finalized a long-term agreement with the Mogalakwena Local Municipality for the supply of local, treated wastewater to supply most of the bulk water needed for the first phase of production at the Platreef platinum-group metals, nickel, copper, and gold mine now being constructed in South Africa.

Ivanplats signed a memorandum of agreement earlier this year with the Mogalakwena Local Municipality for the supply of a minimum of five million litres of treated water a day for 32 years, beginning in 2022, from the town of Mokopane’s new Masodi Treatment Works. Last week, the agreement was officially approved in a signing ceremony in Mokopane.

Ivanplats expects to begin receiving a small quantity of processed wastewater early next year after the Masodi plant has been commissioned. Further treatment will be conducted at the Platreef Mine’s on-site filtration plant to ensure compliance with Ivanplats’ quality standards. The initial supply will be used in Platreef’s ongoing underground mine development and surface infrastructure construction.

Ivanplats estimates that it will require approximately 7.5 million litres per day (Ml/day) of bulk water during the first-phase of steady-state production. A water-balance model developed for the mine calls for the bulk water for the first phase of production to consist of five Ml/day from the Masodi treatment plant, with the balance provided from ground water from local, licenced boreholes, and rainwater collected in storage ponds at the mine.

In July 2017, Ivanhoe issued an independent, definitive feasibility study (DFS) for Platreef covering the first phase of production at an initial mining rate of four million tonnes per annum (Mtpa).

The Platreef DFS was based on the development of a large, mechanized, underground mine with an initial, four Mtpa concentrator and associated infrastructure. Platreef would rank at the bottom of the cash-cost curve, at an estimated US$351 per ounce of 3PE+Au produced, net of by-products and including sustaining capital costs, and US$326 per ounce before sustaining capital costs.

The thick Flatreef orebody at the Platreef Project is ideal for bulk-scale, mechanized mining. As underground development progresses, the mine plan calls for the addition of large, mechanized mining equipment, such as 14- and 17-tonne load-haul-dump machines and 50-tonne haul trucks to support the planned long-hole mining method.

The mineral resources used as the basis of the Platreef DFS were those amenable to underground selective mining.

To read more specifics in the company’s press release, CLICK HERE

About Ivanhoe Mines
Ivanhoe Mines is a Canadian mining company focused on advancing its three principal projects in Southern Africa: the development of new mines at the Kamoa-Kakula copper discovery in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Platreef palladium-platinum-nickel-copper-gold discovery in South Africa; and the extensive redevelopment and upgrading of the historic Kipushi zinc-copper-germanium-silver mine, also in the DRC.

To stop by Ivanhoe Mines’ website, CLICK HERE

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