Frankfort Gold Mine

 farm, mine

This is one the producing mines from Simmer and Jacks TGME operations. Transvaal Gold Mining Estate Limited (TGME), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Simmer & Jack, situated in the Pilgrim's Rest/ Sabie goldfields approximately 450 kilometres North East of Johannesburg is the operational focus of the company's Mpumalanga operations. Another Simmers subsidiary, Sabie Mines Limited, houses various mining and prospecting rights in the area and is managed by the TGME team. Frankfort Gold Mine is MR 83 (Mpumalanga) which is held by TGME and occupies the entire Farm Dranfort 509KT. It was granted February 20-2008 for minerals copper, gold, silver, and stone aggregate for 30 years from the date of execution.

Scene of South Africa's first gold rush in 1873, the Sabie/Pilgrim's Rest area yielded 6 million ounces of gold before lack of capital and increasingly disinterested shareholders reduced a once proud operation to less than 10 000 ounces of gold per annum in 2004.

As part of Simmers' turn-around programme, two of TGME's underground mines, Frankfort and Beta Mine were targeted for an intensive recapitalization project aimed at developing the resource potential of these mines. As a result, Frankfort Mine is now a highly mechanized underground operation capable of producing relatively high volumes of ore. Erstwhile narrow and restricted tunnels have been transformed into trackless access ways, resulting in a steady increase in production. Efficient conveyor systems for ore transport have been installed and LHD's have been introduced for efficient cleaning operations. High pressure water jets have also been introduced to move rock and boost production.

Access to the mine is provided by a 6.5m wide, 2.0m high main decline. The decline is equipped with a conveyor belt for transport of ore from inside the mine to a 300t silo outside the mine. An access way for mine vehicles joins the conveyor decline a short distance inside the mine and continues into the main decline. Stoping is by means of a modified breast mining layout. Advance Strike Drives (“ASD’s”) are developed ahead of the mining faces and maintained at a minimum distance 8.0m ahead of the stoping face. The ASD’s are large enough to accommodate a Load Haul Dumper (“LHD”) for cleaning purposes. The mining span of the stoping faces and the ASD’s together does not exceed 30m based on rock engineering recommendations. The panel length is a maximum of 25m long and the adjoining ASD (gully) is 3.8m wide. A 3.0m strike pillar is maintained on the downdip side of the ASD with ventilation holings every 6.0m. The stoping panels are mined by conventional pneumatic rock drills and cleaned through a combination of water jets and winches. A double blasting barricade is maintained at 6m and 9m from the face to contain
the bulk of the mining ore with the cleaning zone. The barricades are moved forward after every 6m of face advance and the back areas are brushed and water jetted to remove the last remaining fines. The stope support is by means of 110mm sticks that are pre-stressed against the footwall using jackpots.

Mining Schedule:

Production at Frankfort is planned at roughly a 11,500tons/month and comprises both stoping and development tonnage. Stoping production consists of 8 mining panels in a month with an average faceadvance of 19 meters per panel.

Recovery rates however have been disappointing owing to the highly refractory ore. For this reason, funding has been earmarked to improve plant recoveries from the current 45 % to between 60 and 70%, which will take effect by December 2007. The improved recovery will yield an additional 22.5kg per month, which translates into additional revenue of R3.6 million per month, or R43.2 million per annum. The Frankfort Mine plans to increase production to 25 000 ounces per annum by 2010.


Reference for information:
www.simmers.co.za/sjfu/view/sjfu/en/page49
www.simmers.co.za/sjfu/action/media/downloadFile?media_...