WRITTEN BY JOHN HARVEY

Now that years of construction work are complete, Khumani mine is aiming for operational efficiency, employee empowerment and excellent levels of engineering.

EFFICIENCY, EMPOWERMENT

ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE

&

“In the late 1990s, Assmang, jointly managed by JSE listed

African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) and Assore, realised it was

running out of resources at the Beeshoek mine and could not

grow the business based on future anticipated capacity,” notes Willem.

Therefore, the company started initial feasibility studies to establish

the new Khumani facility, which was approved and commissioned

approximately six years ago.

With great optimism and belief about the new project, Assmang

immediately expanded the mine by installing a Whims (wet high-

intensity magnetic separation) plant and extra jigging capacity.

These successful additions now mean Khumani mine produces

14 million tonnes of iron ore per annum, adhering to the capacity

allocated by the Transnet Limited railway line that runs down to

Saldanha Bay. However, there is the possibility of increasing output

even further according to Willem.

“We are considering an additional jig plant, which will be able to

exploit more of the lower grade material available in the area and

extend the life of the mine,” he reveals.

“There is no definitive answer on capacity, because this depends

on discussions and negotiations with Transnet, but we will go through

a pre-feasibility process before finalising any design, which should

start any day now.”

Focusing on efficiencyFrom the commissioning of the mine and approval of the jig

plant expansion to the inclusion of the Whims plant, there has been

constant construction activity at Khumani. Now that these have been

completed, Willem is concentrating on making the mine as efficient

as possible.

“For the first time since commissioning the operation, we can now

concentrate on steady state conditions and are working very hard on

fine tuning the available facilities in terms of improving efficiencies,”

he notes. “This has been underway for the past year and consists of

minor projects, all of which have been successful.”

Despite doing everything in its power to run a smooth and

coherent operation, factors outside of Assmang’s control threatened

to disrupt the Khumani mine’s efficiency. During the summer months

in South Africa, there were some problems with the supply of water,

which even led to intermittent shutdowns.

“With the expansion of mining operations in the Northern Cape,

“Our employees are certainly valued and it is very important for us to have happy people and fully trained staff. We need to make sure we are doing our bit to make sure they can carry out their duties and are happy from a personal point of view in terms of circumstances, housing and schooling.”

KHUMANI MINE ASSMANG MANGANESE

Last month, Endeavour magazine spoke to Willem Grobbelaar, Divisional Manger at Assmang Limited, about its on-going commitment to staff and the various mines currently in operation. Interested in finding out more information about past, present and future projects, in particular the Khumani mine, we picked up the phone and talked to Willem once again. Here is what he had to say.

Endeavour Magazine | 67

there are more demands on the Gamagara system and the Sedibeng

Water board,” says Willem.

“Water comes from a place near Kimberley on the Vaal River and

supplies all of the mining operations as well as towns, municipalities

and even some local farmers.”

For this reason, Assmang remains committed to conserving water

wherever possible and strives to re-circulate every drop so it does not

have a negative impact on the environment and production processes.

Taking advantage of existing operationsBefore the water pipeline receives necessary re-capitalisation

to bring it up-to-date, Assmang has still managed to continue with

operations thanks to its existing infrastructure.

“We actually managed to make up losses during the dry period

and catch up in terms of production,” asserts Willem. “The Beeshoek

mine is still operating, despite virtually shutting down for a year after

Khumani was commissioned. For a year, no production took place

apart from available stockpiles that were utilised to supply local

customers.

“This has been gradually ramping up again and will be given a new

lease of life with just over 2 million tonnes of iron ore being produced

per annum.”

In addition to this valuable

revenue stream, the close

proximity of both mines has also

enhanced operational flexibility,

as resources can be shared

between the two.

“This assisted us during some

problematic months, but both

mines managed to achieve their

production targets at the end of

the financial year in June,” boasts

Willem. “Moving forward, we are

looking to enhance this flexibility

and are revisiting our strategy

to see if there is anything

else we can do. This includes

exploring the lower grades

available, improving efficiencies

and possible expanding plant

facilities.”

Employee benefitsAs mentioned in our previous

discussion with Willem, staff play

a pivotal role in the organisation

and as such, Assmang offers

employees the opportunity

to own their own home. “We

subsidise our employees very

heavily, but they will be the

owner of that property and

benefit from capital growth over

time,” he reveals.

Housing remains one of

the Northern Cape’s greatest

challenges, but Willem believes

that providing solutions for a

dedicated workforce is of great

benefit for the individual and the

company as a whole.

“Overall, our housing

policy has been instrumental in

KHUMANI MINE ASSMANG MANGANESE

securing a very stable workforce,” he says. “We have an extremely

low labour turnover, albeit in the background of some very scarce

engineering skills in the country.”

Staff encouragement and rewardOn the subject of South Africa’s skills shortage, Assmang has been

proactive in its approach to recruiting talented members of staff by

setting up a training centre, with plans for construction now being

finalised.

“The primary objective of this training centre is to provide

technical expertise to our mining operations in the Northern Cape,”

notes Willem. “However, there will be additional capacity for us to

train other industry workers in the region, or even the country for

that matter.

“Before now we have had to send our artisans to other training

institutions, so this will make life better and have a positive impact on

the local community as well. We can also train people in life skills that

might be of value if they decide to leave the mining industry.”

As part of its license to operate, Assmang is obliged to conduct

certain sustainable economic development projects, an undertaking

that Willem is more than happy to carry out.

“We cover processes as

diverse as brick or even coffin

making and there is a lot of

infrastructure projects in various

towns, namely Kathu, Kuruman

and Postmasburg,” says Willem.

“Our employees are certainly

valued and it is very important for

us to have happy people and fully

trained staff. We need to make sure

we are doing our bit to make sure

they can carry out their duties and

are happy from a personal point

of view in terms of circumstances,

housing and schooling.”

With the possibility of

increased capacity, an upgraded

infrastructure and highly trained

staff, the future certainly looks

bright for Assmang Limited and

the Khumani mine.

KHUMANI MINE ASSMANG MANGANESE

0027 53 751 5555

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