The Longevity of Current Mines programme is aimed at improving mining practices and procedures, particularly for established mines that are already constrained by their infrastructure. The aim is to prolong the sustainability of the mines, thereby maintaining current jobs.
The objectives of the programme are to:
1. Improve occupational health and safety performance;
2. Increase the efficiency of extraction; and
3. Reduce costs.
The objectives will be achieved through the use of more efficient systems of the mining cycle. The work will entail processes of documenting and analysing the challenges and issues (within the mining cycle) experienced by mining companies within the gold and platinum sectors.
The programme is geared towards identifying gaps in the mining cycle that prevent the achievement of one quality blast per day. A quality blast in this context is a blast that meets mine standards, which include: the rate of advance, breaking accuracy, the quantity of explosives used, safety, fragmentation of rock, and the shape of the face.
