Union Tin Mine, Mookgophong, Modimolle-Mookgophong Local Municipality, Waterberg District Municipality, Limpopo, South Africai

Regional Level Types
Union Tin Mine	Mine
Mookgophong	Town
Modimolle-Mookgophong Local Municipality	Municipality
Waterberg District Municipality	Municipality
Limpopo	Province
South Africa	Country

13 km west of town.

Union Tin

The tin-bearing lodes at the Mine form an irregular stockwork, which occurs in shales in the vicinity of their contact with the overlying felsites. The pattern is so irregular, and the lodes and veins so difficult to locate, that constant sampling and underground panning are required.

Development

The major tin lodes traverse the mine from east to west, and the main drives are advanced along these lodes on each level. From these drives, diamond drilling is done into the hangingwall and the footwall to pick up any enrichment.

Stoping

Two types of stoping methods are used.
(1) Flat stopes (0 to 35 degrees). A raise is developed from the reef drive to the level above to provide ventilation, access for people, pipes, cables, etc., and a dip scraper path for the removal of broken rock. Since the rock is very competent, no timber packs are required for support, mine poles being used to support brows, slips, and faults. Pillars of rock 2 m by 2 m are left in situ at positions determined according to the prevailing hangingwall conditions.

(2) Steep stopes (35 to 80 degrees). The full extent of the lode is opened up by 2 m wide raises developed at 4 m centres. On each raise a wooden Chinaman box is installed to collect the rock for tramming purposes. The raises are inter-connected by strike drives, also at 4 m centres on dip, which leaves a series of 2 m by 2 m pillars in the stope. Once the extent of the lode has been exposed, the pillars can be extracted on a retreat basis and, if hanging conditions permit, an extraction of 100 per cent can be achieved.

Drilling

Tungsten-tipped drill steel 1 m by 35 mm is used for both stoping and development. The sludge from the holes is collected individually, and those holes containing tin as determined by panning are marked with a cross; barren holes are marked with a circle to inform the miner whether there is enrichment of the hangingwall or footwall, or the possibility of an offshoot from the main lode.

At the end of the shift, the total day's sludge is collected and sent to the assay office, where the blast value for the area is determined. The payability of the ore is determined to a large extent by the iron content since, the higher the iron, the lower the recovery. Some blocks of mineralized ground have been left in situ because of the high iron content.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References