MINING CONTRACTORS
Cementation Africa to equip Mindola Shaft for the future of Nkana mine Cementation Africa is leveraging its decades of experience in shaft sinking and underground mining at Mopani Copper Mines’ Mindola shaft in Zambia – paving the way to extend the life of the Nkana mine at Kitwe and to improve its mining efficiencies.
Assembly of the headgear centre columns progresses as key structural elements are positioned on site.
T he scope of work comprises construction and erection of the permanent headgear including the rope-up and commissioning of the winders to enable detailed 3D scanning of the shaft to determine alignment correction and structural reinforcement to ensure safe and efficient conveyance operation. In addition, the project also includes the Installation and commissioning of an overland conveyor system. According to Ben Adendorff, Cementation Africa’s In-Country Executive for Zambia, the focus is on readying the Mindola shaft for production - by sliping and equipping the remaining 500 metres. “To determine the exact degree of misalignment, Cementation Africa will complete a 3D scan of the complete shaft,” Adendorff says. While another contractor raisebored this particular shaft, Cementation Africa successfully completed
the sinking and equipping of Mopani’s Synclinorium and Mufulira Henderson shafts over a decade ago. The sinking and equipping of the 1,280 m Synclinorium shaft - at 7 m diameter - was conducted between 2011 and 2014 and was then equipped for commissioning and handover in 2016 The sinking and equipping of the 1,580 m Mufulira Henderson shaft – at 6 m diameter – was commissioned in June 2020. “Our current work at Mindola includes the removal of the sinking headgear and winders, and the installation of a new permanent headgear, after which we can rope-up and commission the new winders,” he explains. “This will allow us to scan the shaft from top to bottom with specialised equipment, including the length of shaft already equipped above a depth of approximately 1,000 m.” This will allow the verifying of the correctness of the existing
24 MODERN MINING www.modernminingmagazine.co.za | May 2026
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