Hydropower

Hydropowered equipment is used for drilling and cleaning operations. The application of hydropower reduces electricity consumption as a result of reduced compressed air and water pumping requirements.

Water is cooled on surface to approximately 5°C and sent underground in highpressure pipes. The water is used to drive the rock drill machines being used in the underground workings. In addition to the above, the chilled water also aids cooling in the work places, maintaining temperatures within the required limits. The same hydropower system is now also employed as a fire fighting system on all conveyor belts underground.

About 1.2m of the reef is drilled and blasted over variable face lengths. Broken rock is aqua-jetted down the face to the gully, scraped in the gully to the slusher gully and then down to the ore passes for loading into battery-powered trains. These transport the rock to the appropriate shaft transfer passes that ultimately load through to conveyors that feed the skip boxes at the shaft.