On June 7, breakthrough was accurately achieved 14 days ahead of schedule between the BShoot South mining area and the decline of main mining area at Wassa Gold Mine, marking another important achievement in the underground construction of the project.
The decline has an average gradient of 14.3% and features 10 bends of 180° in its design. It serves as a critical passage connecting the B-Shoot South mining area and the main mining area – two core operational zones. Wassa project has completed over 1,800 meters of development, during which challenges were successfully overcome such as survey control, dewatering, and ventilation associated with long-distance single end development. Regular re-surveying and joint surveying of reference control points, together with methods such as resection and traverse surveying, were adopted to ensure survey efficiency and breakthrough accuracy. The dewatering scheme was optimized by adding large-capacity pumps and tanks. For ventilation, three return air connection drives were successively developed, and the original 110 kW fan was upgraded to a dual-110 kW motor fan, providing reliable support for long-distance development.
This breakthrough represents an important milestone in the underground construction of Wassa project, creating favorable conditions for subsequent mining operations and optimization of the transportation system. Following the breakthrough, the underground ventilation system has been further improved, with significantly enhanced airflow delivery capacity, helping to improve the working environment and safety. A direct transportation link established between the two areas enables efficient access for trackless equipment, thereby increasing equipment utilization and production efficiency. In addition, the decline has provided convenient conditions for improving the underground emergency evacuation and rescue, as well as for the subsequent construction of power supply, dewatering, backfill, and communication systems.
