Limpopo Business 2017-18 edition

INTERVIEW
New shaft sinking
method prioritises
safety
Head of De Beers Venetia Underground Project,
Christoff Kühn, reports on progress in one of
Limpopo’s biggest projects.
Christoff Kühn
BIOGRAPHY
Christoffel Kühn has Master's
degrees in mechanical engineering
and project management
from the universities of
Potchefstroom and Pretoria
which he has put into practice
in Southern Africa, South
America and Australia. Starting
as an engineer on a gold mine,
he has since delivered several
capital projects in the mining industry.
His experience includes
engineering and project management,
project development
and techno-economic evaluation.
Kühn’s previous post
was head of the project management
support and review
department at Anglo American.
What is the scope of De Beers’ investment into the
Venetia Underground Project?
We committed US$2-billion in replacing the open mine with a new
underground mine. This will approximately double the life of the
mine to the middle of the 2040s.
When do you expect to start producing diamonds?
We start intersecting the kimberlite orebodies in the 2020s. The first
significant production will be in 2021, on a smaller component of
the mine. The open pit will halt all operation in 2023 and from then
on, the underground will become the main source. The open pit is
currently mining three distinct kimberlite pipes. The underground
mine will mine two of those.
How many jobs have been created?
We have about 750 people on the project. At our peak, the numbers
will increase to about 2 000 to 2 500 people – these will decrease as
the project execution comes to an end.
The underground mine will not significantly change the number
of De Beers’ employees on the mine, although there might be different
contractors that are required on the underground operation
from those we used on the open pit because of the changed nature
of the mining.
We forecast that we will stay at similar employment levels as before.
We currently have approximately 1 350 employees, excluding contractors.
The situation with contractors is very dynamic, and changes
as workload alters. It is not consistent work over the life of the mine.
Are local businesses involved?
Some portions of the project are unique, and require established
experienced contractors to deliver. We have gone on a campaign
to try to build to establish as many local SMMEs as possible. There
are a few success stories, such as our partnership with a company
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