UK company Ridge Mining plc has moved forward with the first blast at its Blue Ridge mine, located on the Blaauwbank farm, about 30 km south-east of Groblersdal, on the eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex. The blast was remotely detonated by the CEO, Terence Wilkinson, using shock tube and remote detonators.



Ridge Mining GM Chris van Aswegen explains that the mine is now in the development phase and has progressed from the exploration and feasibility phases. The bankable feasibility study for the mine was completed last year after funding from a consortium of banks had been arranged and an equity deal with Imbani had been finalised.



Agreements are currently being finalised with Murray & Roberts Cementation responsible for the mining activities, Bateman for the construction of the concentrator plant, and Fraser Alexander Tailings for the design and construction of the tailings dam. In October 2006, a contract for the development of the bulk infrastructure was awarded to Behaus and work subsequently began on the roads, dams and boxcuts.



The mine will be developed from two main declines, the northern conveyor decline at 12,67� and a central truck decline between 8� and 10�. The concentrator plant and waste dump are planned to be situated next to the northern decline to shorten the conveying distance of the ore and waste. The next step in the develop- ment of the mine is the holing between the two declines, through the first level. The conveyor belt will then be commissioned to convey all the ore and waste from the mine.



Production is due to start in April 2008 and will ramp up to about 120 000 t of ore to be processed a month. Van Aswegen says that production will have reached a level of some 80 000 t/m when the concentrator plant is commissioned in about a year and a half. He notes that about 250 000 t of ore will be stockpiled and used until a steady state of production is reached.



The mine currently has about 120 employees, 100 of whom are from Murray & Roberts Cementation and the rest from Ridge Mining. Van Aswegen notes that at peak production, about 1 500 staff will be present at the operation. Blue Ridge is in the process of converting to new-order mining rights and Van Aswegen is confident that they will be granted by the end of this year.



Ridge Mining, formerly Cluff, began its efforts at Blue Ridge almost five years ago with extensive exploration activities that saw the drilling of 92 boreholes with 155 resulting deflections. Van Aswegen comments that the mine is the first of any value in the area and when efforts began, the reef was largely unknown. The early exploration activities also included high-resolu- tion aeromagnetic surveys, strike and dip trenching and structural mapping. The results were the identification and delineation of the UG2 chromitite reef along a strike length of 3,6 km, extending from the surface to a depth of over 1 km. The life of the mine is projected at 18 years.