Raise Drilling a 1,892 m deep Service Shaft in Zambia
Tok Bester, Redpath Mining; Francois Huyser, Redpath Mining; Bennie Burger, Redpath Mining; Lawrence Schultz, Redpath Mining
This paper deals with raise drilling a 6.1 metre diameter vertical service shaft in Kitwe, Copperbelt Province, Zambia. The scope comprised establishing a shaft collar, pre-sink to -90 metres and raise drilling the shaft from surface to a final depth of 1,892 metres underground, in four separate lifts of approximately 500 metres each. Equipping of the shaft steelwork, headframe erection and commissioning the shaft for hoisting. It describes the initial challenges faced, the safe methodology developed and the execution thereof. In addition, it deals with the hurdles encountered during execution and the corrective actions taken to overcome these hurdles.
Keywords:
Challenges, safe methodology, corrective action, hurdles overcome
