2017-01-silhouette-men-walking-through-tunnel

Keeping a gold mine cool

Keeping A Gold Mine Cool

  • The Challenge

    Emergency cooling at 2.4 kilometres underground

  • The Impact

    Business as usual and a smooth transfer to the new system

  • The Solution

    A complete, temporary cooling system ready within days

Client:Harmony Gold Mine Company

Location:Free State, South Africa

Sectors:Mining

The Challenge

Delays to the Phakisa mine cooling system

Harmony Gold Mining Company had commissioned ice-making plants to cool their 2.4 kilometre-deep Phakisa mine. When they discovered the plants wouldn't be ready on time, they asked us to step in and find a way to bridge the gap, fast. With summer on its way, the mines wouldn't be safe without comprehensive cooling –but downtime would mean disaster for the business.

3,000 kWrCooling delivered with backup
3,700 kWrSurface-cooled plant
2.4 kmDepth of Phakisa gold mine
Zero downtimeWith our temporary cooling system
seriously, which is why we have brought in Aggreko to provide us with a turnkey package, which can be delivered quickly to the mine. The knowledge and experience Aggreko can provide in this area will play an integral part in the operation of the mine until the in-house cooling system is operational.

Marius De Leeuw , Product Design Engineer , Harmony Gold Mine Co. Ltd

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The Solution

A complete cooling package in days

Within days, we surveyed the site and delivered a complete, temporary cooling system, which would keep the mine in perfect operating conditions until the new plant could take over. Bringing in equipment from our South Africa depots meant we could get it on site quickly, and our technical team was on hand to operate the system until the new cooling plant came online.

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