en.Wedoany.com Reported - South Africa's Sarira Mining is advancing its strategic transition from open-pit to underground mining at its Sarira mine near Rustenburg in the North West Province, completing its first underground blast just after 14:00 on March 31. The 650 kg of explosives broke the first rock, accessing the underground resources located on the western limb of the Bushveld Complex. Shortly after the first blast, the company also detonated explosives in an area of the open-pit operations, which are expected to continue operating for another seven to nine years.
This milestone marks a new era for the mine. Sarira Mining is unlocking at least 60 years of additional life for platinum group metals (PGMs) and chrome ore. The open-pit resources are expected to be depleted by 2034. Over the past 18 months, the company has been preparing the site, ensuring highwall safety, and establishing the entry point for the first blast. Sarira CEO Phivos Ploulis, while inspecting the mine to witness the first blast, stated that the company has been an open-pit operator for over 16 years, successfully extending the life of the open-pit mine, thanks to the economic value derived from the co-production of PGMs and chrome, which has proven resilient throughout commodity cycles. He added that the company had always envisioned a transition to underground mining, and that moment is now. This is a milestone event for the company as it signifies the future of operations. By moving underground, the company has unlocked at least 60 years of mine life.
Sarira Mining's mining right was granted in September 2008 for an initial 30-year term, covering an area of over 5,475 hectares near Rustenburg, allowing extraction of the MG chromitite layers. Operations are supported by three production plants: Genesis, Vulcan, and Voyager. The mine life extension by several decades ensures a continued supply of PGMs and chrome concentrates to global markets, aligning with a completed and board-approved feasibility study for the first ten years of underground mining, focusing on the MG2 and MG4 chromitite layers at a depth of approximately 450 meters. The group feasibility study shows declared resources for the initial ten-year underground mining scope of 60.7 million tonnes, averaging 19% chromium oxide (Cr₂O₃), classified as Measured and Indicated Resources (1.71 g/t 6E PGMs); declared reserves total 30.4 million tonnes, with an average grade of 16.4% Cr₂O₃, classified as Proven and Probable Reserves (1.45 g/t 6E PGMs). The feasibility study assumed a PGM basket price of $1,633 per ounce.
The company plans to invest over $500 million over the next decade to sustain optimal production of over 200,000 ounces of PGMs and 2 million tonnes of chrome concentrates annually. Sarira Mining Managing Director Vulela Macuni added that the company is creating long-life and predictable growth, deploying capital in a very sensitive manner, phased and spread over time. The company has conducted extensive drilling to define and ensure geological safety and de-risk the project, enabling a ramp-up to a steady-state monthly production of just over 250,000 tonnes within 31 months.
The underground mining geometry is ideally suited for mechanized room-and-pillar mining methods, supported by a fleet of appropriate trackless mining machinery, including load-haul-dump machines (LHDs), underground trucks, drill rigs, roof bolters, scissor lifts, shotcrete machines, and graders. Sarira has previously emphasized that the shallow orebody enables more efficient on-reef mechanized development, delivering cleaner run-of-mine ore and significantly reducing waste rock, capital intensity, and environmental impact. Due to the minimal off-reef development required, a smaller fleet, and on-reef development, the underground operation has a lower carbon footprint and utilizes existing infrastructure.
As a key development partner for the underground project, Cementation Africa will be responsible for early works, the main development program, and the production ramp-up, according to its Managing Director, Japie Du Plessis. Following the first blast, Sarira announced on May 7 the formal signing of a five-year contract with Cementation Africa to execute underground mining development and construction works, adopting an alliance contracting model based on an open-book, cost-plus fee approach and aligned principles, rather than a traditional risk-transfer model.
The underground development is expected to cost $547 million, involving the development of two declines – Apollo on the west and Orion on the east – which will eventually connect, achieving a total monthly production of 510,000 tonnes. Sarira has commenced construction from the western Apollo portal and will progressively ramp up to a steady state of 255,000 tonnes per month over the next three years. The capital cost for the Apollo portal development is $363 million. Ploulis explained that once steady state is reached, development of the eastern Orion portal will begin, at which point the two underground workings will connect, with the full transition to underground operations completed by 2034. The Orion portal development will require $184 million, scheduled to commence in 2031, targeting first ore in the fourth quarter of that year and steady-state production by the third quarter of 2033. The east and west operations will mirror each other, each producing 255,000 tonnes, equivalent to over 6.2 million tonnes annually. This provides some processing capacity headroom for the mine and opens up options to increase processing capacity.
Sarira Mining Operations Executive Roy Murley stated that as the western pit is expected to provide approximately two more years of mining, the company will jointly develop the underground resources while depleting the remaining open-pit reserves in the west pit. Surface infrastructure for the underground operations will be completed in the coming months. Through Cementation Africa, plans are being developed to upskill the mine's existing operators and transition them from open-pit to underground operations. Cementation Africa will support personnel reskilling through its training academy near Carletonville. The project also includes significant skills development and workforce mobilization. Ploulis stated that a fully equipped smart mine, supported by a technical partnership with Dwyka Labs, has been established, capable of leveraging emerging new technologies. The company is testing emerging technologies in this real operating mine environment, such as using a robot dog named Spot to enter areas for remote inspections after blasting. He said the company's vision is to redefine resources, challenge conventions, do things differently, and innovate purposefully on a sustainable basis, marking just the beginning of a multi-generational journey.
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