Ivanhoe Mines Executive Co-Chair Robert Friedland and President, Marna Cloete, have announced at the African Mining Indaba Conference, the completion of the Shaft 1 production changeover at the company’s tier-one Platreef palladium, rhodium, nickel, platinum, copper and gold project in South Africa.
Shaft 1 will serve as Platreef’s initial production shaft and is approximately 450 metres away from the first high-grade area of the Flatreef orebody scheduled to be mined during Phase 1 production. On April 22, 2022, Ivanplats celebrated the first blast at Platreef’s 950-metre level, marking the commencement of lateral mine development, with first production anticipated in the third quarter of 2024.
Underground mine development will use battery-electric M2C drill rigs and 14-tonne load haul dumpers being manufactured by Epiroc, a leading mining equipment manufacturer, at its facilities in Örebro, Sweden. The partnership with Epiroc for emissions-free mining equipment is an important first step toward reducing the carbon footprint of the mine, with learnings to be applied across all of Ivanhoe Mines’ operations.
“The completion of changeover is another noteworthy milestone in the growth of Ivanhoe Mines into a major, diversified miner; one with top ESG credentials and an industry-leading portfolio of tier-one assets,” said Ms. Cloete. “Given our string of successes at Kamoa-Kakula, Platreef, Kipushi, and Western Foreland, it is a great time to be part of the exceptional Ivanhoe team, and continue our track record of delivering world-scale projects on schedule and on budget. I’m extremely proud of how we all work together to keep things on the right track.“