The Elandsfontein Phosphate Project is planned to be mined by conventional open pit mining methods, though no production drilling and blasting is necessary due to the sandy characteristics (with only low percentage of thin hard rock lenses) of the deposit. Specifically, a roll over mining method has been employed. The mining will take place in a number of discrete phases, which will reduce the overall mining foot print:
- topsoil is removed and stockpiled;
- soft overburden is stripped and hauled to the softs stockpile for the first two years only;
- phosphate ore is mined, hauled to the ROM tip, and conveyed to the plant;
- the mined-out strips are then immediately backfilled (after year 2) with the soft overburden and tailings sands from the plant; and
- topsoil is returned to the backfilled strips to complete the rehabilitation process.
The mining box cut development includes a ramp to the top of ore. Mining will proceed on several benches concurrently. The mining fleet, consisting of 50 tonne articulated dump trucks, will be loaded by hydraulic excavators in a backhoe configuration. The dump trucks will transport the material to the appropriate destination and return to the excavator in a cyclic manner.
The mining will take place sequentially from the north east to the south west of the mining licence area in cuts with a maximum mining width at the bottom of the cut not exceeding 50 m. This maximum width is to ensure the clay ........
