MINING advance rate , at the same time as training a local workforce in the skills needed for high speed mechanised development . An innovative contract was devised to spread the risk between owner and contractor in recognition of the uncertainties of the project and the fact that the advance rate was at the threshold of previous mining practice . It still couldn ’ t have been done without the deployment of a massive 21 tonne LHD . “ We lowered the machine using our existing shaft infrastructure , and that is the biggest piece of mobile equipment that has been lowered in a shaft in Africa ,” recalls Nick Fouché . “ We had to do some clever engineering . We built a special skeleton for the machine so that we could stay within the loading limits of our winder . This kind of initiative really energised the project : we are doing things here that are pushing the boundaries of conventional mining .”
An additional uncertainty was injected in 2013 when Rio Tinto withdrew from Palabora and PMC was acquired by a consortium
www . palabora . com 65