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GLOBAL ENGINEERING
International shaft
sinking excellence
T hese are shafts that the
Underground Mining platform is cur-
rently busy with, deepening existing
shafts to ensure mine sustainability
or designing and building a Greenfields pro-
ject. This level of activity and global reach is a
clear indication of the capacity of the Murray
& Roberts Group,” Widlake says.
The Group has sunk the deepest single-lift
shaft in South Africa (at South Deep), the
deepest single-lift shaft in the USA (at
Resolution) and the deepest shaft in Canada
The Murray & Roberts Underground
Mining platform not only has growth
in its order book, but with 22
active shaft projects underway
globally, is the single most
active shaft sinking group
in the world outside of
China. This is according
to Allan Widlake,
business development
executive of
Murray & Roberts
Cementation. (at Kidd). It is also currently sinking what
will be the deepest shaft in the US, namely a
winze, at Lucky Friday.
“Over and above that, the platform is also
conducting a fair amount of engineering
on shafts, where we are either busy with
feasibility studies or detailed engineering for
various clients,” Widlake says.
The platform comprises the following
businesses: Murray & Roberts Cementation
(Johannesburg based); Cementation Canada
(North Bay based); Cementation USA (Salt
Lake City based); Cementation Sudamérica
(Santiago based) and RUC Cementation
Mining (Perth based).
“Murray & Roberts Cementation is a world-
class mining contracting company that
has served the mining industry for over a
century,” Widlake says. “The business is the
reputed leader in shaft sinking, contract min-
ing and raise drilling and specialised mining
services. In addition, Murray & Roberts
Cementation has a strong record of success-
ful mine delivery worldwide, as it provides
services for clients in Africa and abroad.”
Its full suite of mine development functions
include vertical and decline shaft sinking and
equipping, mine haulage development and
tunnelling, underground chamber excava-
tion and support and equipment installation
and shaft refurbishment. “Murray & Roberts
Cementation introduced the concept of
Sinking headgear
at the Gloria Shaft
in South Africa
48 MINING REVIEW AFRICA
| JANUARY 2015
contract mining,” Widlake says.
“Services comprise mine design and
planning, specialist prefeasibility and
feasibility studies, mining equipment and
fleet maintenance studies, underground
infrastructure design and installation, mech-
anised and semi-mechanised development
and stoping.”