Developing an exploration strategy at lime mining operation

MINROM has been actively involved in developing and executing an exploration strategy at a prominent lime mining operation in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The project produces both industrial and agricultural grade lime products. Lime is one of the most important industrial commodities and is used in several different industries.

Geology of the area

The geology associated with the project area consists of the rocks of the Pretoria Group (Transvaal Supergroup) unconformably overlain by tertiary to quaternary age sediments. These sediments contain the CaCO3 mineralisation which is hosted in thick (3-12 m) calcrete beds. These beds contain calcium carbonate grades of 60 - 90% CaCO3. The higher the grade, the greater the purity of the lime aggregate produced.

Figure 1: Project Location and Regional Geology Map

Mineralisation quantification performed

MINROM performed a mineralisation quantification based on previous historical diamond and RC drilling and sampling data for the Mining Rights area. This included the development of a preliminary 3D geological model for the deposit.

Follow-up pitting programme

MINROM performed a follow-up pitting programme within the mine area to investigate the profiles of the subsurface geology and update the previous mineralisation estimates.

Figure 2: Logging excavated pits

The aim was to refine the mineralisation, grade and Life of Mine (LOM). The pitting allowed MINROM to develop various models considering different mineable zones, varying depths, and with several ranges of cut-off grades. This helped minimise the risk of mining blindly and optimised the mining process for our client!

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