The Survey House Group of Companies consist of the following companies:
Surface and Underground Check Survey
Specialized Mining Survey Solutions
Total Result Survey
Mine Audit and Consulting
The aim of MAC is to assist in the specialised mining of capital excavations. Through an integrated approach of technical application MAC delivers an end product that will have an enhanced effect on mining efficiency by design.
MAC will help every blast to be correct through structured auditing and reporting.
MAC : Helping you going forward without taking two steps back.
•The Auditing is complete by the surveyor being on the shaft offsetting for over and under-breaking thus saving time and man hours.
•The holes, cropper and potter, are checked. Avoiding extensive over-break and under-breaking
•All offsetting is done before the next blast.
•All offsets are referenced into position thus the allowable over-break can be determined and that of excessive over-breaking and the exact position of the latter.
•Geological features and structures i.e. faults, dykes, and any reef ,ore bodies are located while offsetting
•From the beginning of the shaft sinking operation records are kept thus proving the additional costs caused by over-breaking and under-breaking.
•Reports are sent to the managers so that corrective action can be taken
•This assists with the installation of the curb ring and later equipping of the shaft
Point Cloud of a complete Metallurgical Plant
SMSS cc
Specialized Mining Survey Solutions (SMSS) CC is another one of the Survey House Company’s who specializes in surface and underground Survey work.
SMSS CC specializes in Survey work in South Africa and outside of its borders. SMSS CC has just completed the 1st phase project of three phases for BHP Billiton in Gabon in West Africa. This work entailed a GPS coordination of five different Plateau’s and access routes with the railway turnaround junction in Franceville. The 2nd phase of this operation in Gabon will be the in-depth GPS coordination to determine the”X”; “Y” and “Z” of these Plateau’s and access routes.
SMSS CC did the staking out and designing of the 3010m access road to the main Vertical Shaft at the Balfour project for Great Basin Gold. This entailed the pre-survey of the existing ground level and formation. Once this was Surveyed, SMSS CC designed the road and each 25m chain age and cross section for the construction of this road. The staking out and control elevations were then put in place to construct this road by a private Civil Engineering contractor “Stormline” construction.
SMSS CC is currently busy with the negotiations to do the designing and auditing of the 9km dirt road from the Vertical Shaft turn off to the town of Balfour.
Surface and Underground Check Survey
Surface and Underground Check Survey (SUCS) CC is another one of Survey House companies. SUCS CC specializes in the surface construction of Control Beacons on projects such as the Balfour Mining company in Balfour for Great Basin Gold Pty Ltd.
On new mines or Opencast projects, we establish control Survey systems from the National Trig. Beacons, first doing an orientation on these National Trigg Beacons and then doing a GPS Survey and initialize the transformation onto the newly constructed Control Beacons build by SUCS CC. From these Control Beacons all of the Surface and Underground mining activities are Surveyed in to carry out mining operations for e.g. the setting out of rock dumps; Tailing dams; Vertical or Decline Shafts center points, etc. After the Control Beacons are built Gyro bearing Survey is carried out on selected beacons to generate accurate Survey Bearings from which the mining operations on surface and underground can start from. From the surface Gyro bearings, these bearings are carried onto new Gyro bearings which in turn are carried forward into the workings. This method of Survey, (which is the correct way of doing things), ensures correct future holing and minimizes the risk of miss holings which in turn costs money and ensures that there is no risk of life lost due to these miss holing taking place.
SUCS CC also specializes in the Surface and Underground “check Survey” due to incorrect and poor survey methods being followed to day. The results from this incorrect Survey, results in millions of Rands lost and to be paid out to rectify these miss holings.
We also specialize in the setting out of Shaft Winder bed pinning steel. We have just completed such a Survey for Grinaker in Zambia where they purchased six old winders to be dismantled and brought down to South Africa to be refurbished and resold. We surveyed in all of the pinning steel as there are no engineering plans available on these winders anymore. By us surveying in the existing pinning steel the engineering designers can now re-design new engineering drawings for these winders.
SUCS CC, where required, can also supply accurate volume calculations, in the form of doing scanning of opencast mining operations prior to the opencast mining starting and then any time as it is required once the mining operation is under way. By using this scanning Survey method, very accurate volumes of ore are determined far quicker than the normal Tachy Survey method. This method is also far safer because you don’t need a Surveyor or a Survey aid to try and get as close as possible to the edge of an opencast mining operation to achieve the correct volume blasted. Where with the scanner you are always in a safe position doing the Survey. The results are 100% more accurate and by far safer.
Academy
OPPORTUNITIES (TRAINING TO BE A SURVEYOR)
Surveying is the technique and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three dimensional spaces, positions of points as well as distances and angles between them? It may also be defined as the art of making accurate observations and measurements in the field to determine the relative positions of points on the earth’s surface.
SURVEY HOUSE
Group of Companies:
Would like to offer a training opportunity, for a career in Surveying, mining and civils
The potential interested candidates must have matriculated within the last three years (Grade 12 with mathematics and science).
Will be trained for four to five months full time both theoretically and practically.
The following is supplied to the Students:
Basic and Elementary Survey Manuals
Mathematical Equipment
Hands on training at the Academy and different mining facilities
And if successful with the national examination a possible job opportunity.
The candidate has to send in a CV and attend an Initials Entrance Examination after which he /she will be interviewed and then selected for the program (only Nine candidates are accepted per semester)
The initial Maths examination is a general maths examination consisting of Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Solutions of triangles, Volumes and Areas.
TRS cc
TRS (Total Result Survey) cc, our BEE Company, is one of the forerunners in the mining industry with regards to Shaft sinking and any underground Survey.
Survey House at present has a vast knowledge of Survey experience in the mining industry as well as surface civil Survey (See profile “A” being serviced by TRS CC) experience. We regard ourselves as one of the best Shaft sinking Surveyors in the world. We have developed new technological Survey methods in Vertical Shaft Sinking unused before, that result in a high form of accuracy. On the Mine Engineering Survey side there is nothing we cannot do. Winder pinning steel, Hoists, Headgear alignment to within mm’s of accuracy.
It is a known fact that there is a massive shortage of good accurate Shaft sinking Surveyors at present in Africa, at this moment in time. Survey House only employs trained and accurate Surveyors in the above mentioned fields. TRS CC is currently servicing a brand new mine called Burnstone which is a subsidiary of the holding company South Gold Exploration which is part of Great Basin Gold Pty Ltd a Canadian Gold mining company who’s mining operation is situated in Balfour, East of Heidelberg in South Africa.
TRS CC initiated a Blue Print system covering all of the Surface and Underground mining and civil work currently taking place on this mine. This covers all of the production reporting systems, e.g. production “Pie” charts, month end measuring report systems, graphs and initiating the total Surface and Underground Survey System as per the DME requirements in Chapter 17.
The Burnstone project entails New Rock and Tailings Dams, Roads a Decline Shaft 2800m long as well as a Vertical Shaft going down 300m. At a later stage two more Decline Shafts will be sunk to access another Gold ore body at a different Level.
The Survey and reporting system being used on the Burnstone Balfour Gold Mine project is of such a nature that a “Blue Print” of this project will work on any new mine in South Africa and abroad of a similar mining nature.
TRS CC only uses Leica or similar quality Survey instruments which are of the most accurate being used at present around the world.
If Survey House is using one of its companies e.g. TRS CC who places Surveyors on a site in South Africa, TRS CC will supply the following:
TRS CC Surveyor will do all of the referencing and setting out of the main shaft surface work, which will be correct the first time implemented.
All Tape, Steady brackets, lining up of Rings and Bunton Sets during the shaft sinking process.
Act as an Auditor for the mine (the client) checking any other Survey related work done by other contractors.
Any check surveying on surface or underground be it stoping or development and or Vertical/decline Shafts.
Reporting on a daily, weekly, monthly or as requested by the Management of the mine.
All Shaft scheduling for sinking process and or development planning for future of the mine.
We have seen the result regarding inaccurate survey that was done on a shaft where the hoist chamber room was set out at the wrong angle and the Main shaft was also set out in the wrong place. The loss of the future production and escalation costs resulted in an estimated additional cost calculated at R14m per month over a six months period due to the contract extension to rectify this problem.
There are a few requirements placed by us before any Survey work will be carried out:
Before any quote is submitted by any of our companies, a feasibility/ job assessment will be carried out prior to us submitting a quote. This assessment / feasibility cost will be for the account of the client)
We will supply our own labour and instruments for any work to be carried out for the project.
We will first check any previous Survey base, from where our future Survey work will be carried out, prior to us starting any of our new Survey contract work. If the client signs off this previous Survey work as been deemed correct, no responsibility will be placed on our company for any discrepancy resulting from all future Survey work to be done.
Survey House and its companies take pride in all of our Survey work and only the most accurate closures in any of our Survey work is acceptable to us
