Pilansberg pipeline

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July 2009 News

Thuthuka pipes water to platinum mine in record time.

Thuthuka Group (TGL) has just completed the design and implementation of a 30 km, 750 mm diameter, steel water pipeline between Padda Junction and Tuschenkomst for the Pilansberg Platinum mine. TGL was awarded the contract by Barrick Platinum SA and Boynton Investments on behalf of Magalies Water.

The resident engineer on the project, TGL’s Vivian Pullen, says, “This project was characterised by an unbelievably tight schedule that was not assisted by Mother Nature – we had as much as 100 ml of rain on any given day throughout the duration of this project!”

The pipeline will provide potable water to two new platinum operations started by Barrick Platinum SA and Boynton Investments and forms part of a three-phase project. The water treatment works at Vaalkop dam have been upgraded and a pipeline built between the dam and Padda Junction. TGL’s portion of the pipeline tied in at Padda Junction and extends to Tuschenkomst. The project also includes a 35 megalitre domed reservoir that will upon completion feed not only the mines but also the local community, at the discretion of Magalies Water.

Pullen adds, “Boynton Investment was under a tight schedule to complete the mine, and as water forms such an integral part of the mining process, TGL was under even more pressure to get water to the mine as quickly as possible. The actual pipeline was built by Cycad Pipelines, allowing us to complete the project on time and to supply the mine with water on the prescribed date.”

“Local community involvement was essential to the success of this project,” explains Pullen. “The 30 km of pipeline passed through many local settlements, and the local labour had to be trained to work on that portion of the project. Local community buy-in was very important as we were working to such a tight deadline. At one stage we employed as many as 180 local community members to work on the project. We had an agreement with the Bakgatla tribe that we would hire its people wherever possible and feasible.”

The pipeline was completed in 32 weeks and the first water arrived at the Pilansberg Platinum mine on Monday 16 February 2009.

For more information contact Tom Marsden, Thuthuka Group, +27 (0)11 466 9788, www.thuthukagroup.com

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