Two acronyms were drummed into new mining entrants in the days of yore - GIK and WAR.

GIK is short for 'grade is king' and at the opposite end of the scale, everyone was urged to declare war on WAR, which is short for 'waste as reef'.

Putting 'grade is king' on the highest of pedestals can elevate mining operations to the highest of performance levels - and if war is not declared on WAR, waste as reef can kill a mine stone dead, particularly in the current low-priced environment.

Interestingly, one major company that is spotlighting GIK with the brightest of bright lights is the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed diversified mining company African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), headed by executive chairperson Dr Patrice Motsepe.

To drive GIK with all the force at its disposal and significantly flatten WAR in the process, ARM is implementing innovative reef boring technology developed with its two partners, Herrenknecht, a German company known for its excellence in designing and manufacturing tunnel boring machines worldwide, and Master Drilling, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed South African company that specialises in reef boring solutions.

Three overlapping cut heads in one frame innovated by Herrenknecht provide three times the volume of rock per metre plus consistent fragmentation, which simplifies and reduces downstream materials handling infrastructure requirements.

Moreover, the rectangular cut profile provided by Master Drilling maximises upper group two (UG2) extraction, minimises waste and helps to achieve the highest grade possible.

Both of the inventive concepts crown grade as king and summon waste to the lowest rung of hell and ARMs Bokoni platinum group metals (PGMs) mine is seem as the ideal location.

"We're implementing it as we stand here today, and hopefully in six months, we can give you an update on that," was the comment of an upbeat Mike Schmidt, ARM executive of growth and strategic development in the executive chairperson's office, in response to Mining Weekly during the company's latest results presentation.

ARM explored various mining methods and ultimately chose reef boring as the best solution in that it not only optimises GIK and declares war on WAR, but shows convincing promise of achieving the same productivity, safety and cost performance as a mechanised, low profile board-and-pillar operation in a narrow tabular orebody.

Bokoni PGM mine's UG2 is being grasped as the opportunity to rollout what is perceived to be a paradigm shifter that will take people out of the stopes, open the way for explosion-free mining, lift grade sky high and even shrink tailings requirements.

Complete remote operation will mean that there will be no need for employees to be at the rockface, which offers major safety advantages.

The reef boring method has the potential to deliver PGM grades of up to 60% better than with a conventional mine by maximising the UG2 reef extraction while minimising the inclusion of the low PGM content waste from the hanging wall and footwall.

But beyond just improving grades, this technology is also well suited for mechanisation and then ultimately to automation, which can lead to further improvements in productivity and lower mining cost per ton.

When the higher PGM grades are combined with the lower cost per ton, a major improvement in cost per PGM ounce comes forth.

The key challenge, however, is obtaining necessary monthly production volumes, and ARM will be verifying achieving of essential production targets as it deploys this game-changer at Bokoni.

In addition, the high grade of the reef mining justifies the cost of placing backfill underground into previously mined stopes, which increases the extraction percentage of the orebody to greater than 90%, extends the life of mine, improves the stoping to development ratio, which then enhances the run of mine grades, and reduces the amount of mining development required.

In turn, the ability to place tailings underground, combined with mo...