How Engineers Carved a $2.3B Vertical Highway at Tanami Gold Mine

Summary

The video explains the engineering behind the Tanami mine shaft expansion in Australia, a project costing more than $2.3 billion to sink a 1,460-metre shaft. The shaft is designed to replace long underground truck journeys—which reportedly took up to three hours—with an automated lift that can bring ore to the surface in under three minutes.

Why a Shaft Was Needed

Ore was hauled through 8–10 km underground ramps by diesel trucks. As mining moved deeper, slow transport cycles, equipment wear, heat and exhaust made trucking increasingly costly and difficult to ventilate.

Shaft Construction and Ground Stability

Engineers drilled a pilot bore from the surface to the underground workings, attached a large reamer below, and pulled it upward to widen the shaft. This method let broken rock fall to the lower level, avoiding the need for workers to excavate beneath unsupported rock.

Strong horizontal stresses in the surrounding rock caused parts of the shaft wall to crack and spall. Crews installed 7,947 anchor bolts and lined the shaft with concrete. Of the reported 21,016 m³ of concrete, about 6,700 m³ was used to fill irregular voids behind the lining.

Groundwater, Worker Protection and Ventilation

Crews used high-pressure grouting with cement and chemical resins to seal water-bearing cracks. A steel overhead barrier protected workers below from falling objects.

The video describes heat from the surrounding rock and air warming as it descends the shaft. A surface cooling plant chills water and cools incoming air before it travels underground, helping manage heat and provide breathable ventilation.

Ore Handling and Hoisting

Near the 1,400-metre level, an underground jaw crusher reduces large rocks to a more uniform size. Measuring equipment loads about 13 tonnes of crushed ore into each skip. A multi-rope friction hoist carries the skips at speeds of up to 16 m/s; the video reports that the trip to the surface takes less than three minutes.

Expected Impact

The shaft is intended to lower the cost of moving ore and extend the mine’s operating life. According to the narration, the project will provide access to additional gold reserves and resources and support continuous production beyond 2040.

Video Context

The video is an engineering explainer, not a product review or step-by-step tutorial. It focuses on the project’s construction methods, operating systems and geotechnical challenges.

Main speaker/source: A single narrated voiceover from Ultimate Mega Builds. The project discussed is Newmont’s Tanami shaft expansion; no interviewees are identified.