Cementation Africa–Tharisa underground shift: design and cost notes for mine engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on International Mining – News
30 Second Briefing
Tharisa Minerals has fired the inaugural underground blast at its Bushveld Complex chrome and PGM operation, initiating the transition from open pit to underground mining scheduled from 31 March 2026. Cementation Africa, the contracting partner, will be central to developing the new underground infrastructure, including access declines and associated services, to extend mine life and access deeper ore. The shift will alter geotechnical design demands, ventilation and ground support requirements, and could change the mine’s stripping ratio and cost profile over the medium term.
Technical Brief
- Tharisa’s underground phase is located within the western limb of South Africa’s Bushveld Complex.
Our Take
Cementation Africa’s new underground work for Tharisa Minerals in South Africa’s Bushveld Complex follows its Mindola shaft upgrade for Mopani Copper Mines in Zambia (copper), signalling that the contractor is consolidating a regional portfolio of deep-level base and precious metal projects rather than specialising in a single commodity.
With chrome and platinum group metals appearing in only a handful of keyword-matched pieces in our database, this Tharisa Minerals underground start stands out against a gold- and battery-metals-heavy project pipeline, suggesting PGMs/chrome underground expansions are comparatively scarce in current African project news.
The recent coverage of Cementation Africa’s strategic fleet management for raiseborers and LHDs implies that the Tharisa underground project is likely to benefit from a pre-optimised, shared equipment pool, which can materially reduce schedule risk on complex Bushveld shaft and development work.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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