By: Brindaveni Naidoo 8th June 2011 TEXT SIZE JOHANNESBURG...

By: Brindaveni Naidoo
8th June 2011
TEXT SIZE



JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) ? Operations and production at the Sub Nigel 1 shaft have been temporarily halted, after pumping at the nearby Grootvlei mine was stopped, Gold One spokesperson Ilja Graulich said on Wednesday.

The underground training centre at Sub Nigel, which forms part of Gold One?s Megamine assets to be transferred to Goliath Gold, would be closed because of the risk that rising water levels pose to employees.

The company would relocate its training centre to Gold One?s Modder East mine.

Goliath Gold said in a statement that pumping at Grootvlei stopped in February, with the removal of the mine?s underground pumps. Goliath Gold and Gold One believed that it was unlikely that the pump station would be reinstated in the near future.

The Grootvlei mine was managed by struggling Aurora Empowerment Systems on behalf of the provisional liquidators of the Pamodzi Gold group of companies, up until May 30.

In December, the water level at Sub Nigel was some 106 m below the level where training and stoping operations were undertaken.

?While the water level at the Sub Nigel mine has not yet reached a critical level, Goliath Gold together with Gold One, estimates that the water level at the Sub Nigel mine will reach a critical point around August.?

?Once it reaches a critical point, the water would start to enter the operation, which is why there was a need to move the training centre, which is some 700 m below surface,? Graulich told Mining Weekly Online.

He added that even if Sub Nigel was to produce 100 oz/m, in the long-term, ceasing operations would not affect or majorly impact on operations.

Sub Nigel mined a total of 3 940 t of which 1 483 t were milled, resulting in gold production of 165 oz for the March 2011 quarter.

Goliath Gold was also investigating, in conjunction with Gold One, the plugging of the Sub Nigel 1 Shaft, just below the Kimberley Reef horizon, in order to preserve certain underground workings for future use.

Goliath Gold would host Gold One?s medium-depth mining assets, collectively known as Megamine, located east of Johannesburg. Megamine comprised the operating Sub Nigel mine and the Vlakfontein, West Vlakfontein and Spaarwater prospecting areas, totalling 16 056 ha.

Meanwhile, Solidarity deputy general secretary Gideon du Plessis also confirmed that pumping came to halt at Grootvlei in February. He said that Aurora initially removed the pumps with the aim of eventually restoring and rebuilding the pump station.

"However, this did not happen and it is alleged that some of the pumps are missing," Du Plessis told Mining Weekly Online.

He also said Solidarity had addressed a Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources in April, and indicated the urgency to rebuild the pump station. "At that point, the committee indicated that water levels were not that high, but we now believe that the water levels are rising faster."


http://www.miningweekly.com/article/sub-nigel-shaft-closed-as-east-rand-basin-water-levels-rise-2011-06-08