The underground
haulage system described on page 324, Vol. I, is beĀing superseded by
two other systems. In De Beers and Kimberley Mines, where the blue
ground has not to be trammed very far before it is dumped into the
passes, side tipping trucks, holding 20 cubic feet of ground and drawn
by an endless wire rope, are used. The trucks are drawn up an incline
as they get near to the shaft and are then detached from the rope and
run by gravitation to the shaft, where they are both tipped and righted
again automatically.
In
Dutoitspan, Bultfontein, and Premier Mines, where the distances to tram
in the mines themselves are much greater, the 20-cubic-feet trucks will
be drawn by electric locomotives, which will be installed under the
trolley system. The tipping into the chutes at the shafts will be done
automatically, as described above.