mined - renico plant hire€¦ · · 2014-08-19business tactics was the first step in renico’s...

[12] QUARRY SA SEPTEMBER 2011

Mined

A: Regeneration planned

Janho Quarry & Crushing, a sandquarry in Muldersdrift nearJohannesburg, has been busy

upgrading since Renico Constructionbought it in 2008. It is one of manycontracting outfits lured into manipu-lating its own supply chains by own-ing its raw materials. Despite thefailure of many of its peers, Renicoseems to be making headway. (Readabout some contractors’ failures inthe quarry sector in the March 2011edition of Quarry SA.) The companyis on a new course of action aimed atreducing resources while adding toits current product offering.

Revitalising an apparentlytapped quarry can be achieved,writes Dominic Uys.

B: Restoring order

QUARRY SA SEPTEMBER 2011 [13]

WINNING

quarry

C: Value-add

D: Righting remains

Photographs by Dominic Uys

REVITALISED

A: Regeneration planned

Effort was exerted in restoringorder on a previously chaotic site.

Development implemented Purchasing a quarry to complementbusiness tactics was the first step inRenico’s plan. However, site-overhaulplanning was imperative and not with-out challenges.


Entrance

Access road

OfficesOld access road


WINNING

Self-provision Acquiring the quarry in 2008, at a cost of R20-million,the company’s rationale for the acquisition was amarked increase in its involvement in the constructionindustry and, at that time, construction activity in thesurrounding area had been on the rise. Purchasing aquarry to complement a construction business seemsto make sound business sense, especially when oneconsiders the fact that Renico is involved in a numberof construction projects around Lanseria, Krugersdorpand Roodepoort.

However, it must be noted that many large contrac-tors have burnt their fingers badly as this approachrequires a thorough understanding of the many disci-plines needed to make a success of a quarry venture.

“Gaining control of Janho Quarry not only ensuresour holding company’s supply of sand and stone in thearea but, importantly, also provides necessary prod-ucts at reduced cost,” says quarry manager LourensSwanepoel. The quarry provides Renico with around 6 000 m³ to 8 000 m³ of sand and stone every month.

“The benefit of having a group of companies, includ-ing Renico Plant Hire and Renico Quarry & Crushing,made the purchase of Janho Quarry a much easierdecision as the group is already fully entrenched inday-to-day quarry activities, plant hire, earthmovingand mining,” Swanepoel adds.

Owning product couldcomplement contractors’businesses.

Owning the supply



B: Restoring order

One end to the other Restoring order to the quarry was one of the main objectives. “Our mainchallenge to date has been changing the formerly chaotic way the quarrywas managed,” says Swanepoel. “Excavation was previously undertaken in ahaphazard manner when the property was littered with excavation pits. Itseems that digging had taken place without planning. We immediately out-lined an excavation schedule beginning at the furthest end of the propertywith the intention of working our way to the other. In addition, we set aboutcreating a rehabilitation plan for the already excavated pits.”

At the outset, the access road had to be relocated. “Load and haul on thisproperty is not particularly complicated and I can’t say that efficiency wasinfluenced much by road access. However, the previous access road cutthrough operations which posed a safety risk.”

Identifying needs The order of the day included estab-lishing methods and resolving chal-lenges. By implementing pro-grammes with a long-term goal,quarry manager Lourens Swanepoelset and met clear objectives.

A proper strategy had to bedevised to rescue the quarry.

Timetable in place

An excavation schedule was necessaryto restore order to the quarry.


One crusher

Mobile-equipment and static plant acquisitions played a significant rolein establishing order at the quarry.


WINNING

Increasing the odds The quarry accumulates stockpiles in a two-monthcycle. Excavation then stops for two weeks so thatmaintenance can be completed. “We have not seen toomuch change in the building sector’s demand in ourarea and, even with maintenance stoppages, we havebeen able to keep up with demand,” Swanepoel states.

Being able to meet requirements, the company hasnot found it necessary to outsource any quarry work,and it does not want to. “In our experience, subcon-tracting tends to have a negative effect on quality,operational efficiency and costs in the long run,” addsSwanepoel. “The large fleet of plant available viaRenico Plant Hire makes it possible to ramp up pro-duction when needed.”

The company is keeping the operation simple whichmeans that the management structure must be as leanas possible. For example, aside from Swanepoel’sresponsibilities as quarry manager, his portfolioincludes logistics and transport management. “Approx-imately 50% of the quarry’s product is transported byour clients which does lessen the responsibility a lit-tle,” Swanepoel states. Other valuable management-team members include a workshop manager, anaccounts manager and two dedicated sales members.

Apparatus

Tight focus


Equipment a priority Another aspect which receivedimmediate attention was equipment.Swanepoel says that most of theequipment in stock had passed itsuseful number of hours or “sell-bydate”. The quarry, therefore,acquired a new 40 t excavator, twoloaders, two articulated dumptrucks (ADTs) and a static crusher.

While information on currentdiesel burn, tyre wear and tear ormaintenance contracts was not dis-closed, Swanepoel did point out thatthe company has always made useof Bell ADTs, has always been satis-fied with these products and sees noneed to change now or in the future.

Running costs for all plant equip-ment is estimated to be R500 000per month.

Two loaders Two ADTs

Accumulating stockpiles in two-month cycles is sufficient tomeet the quarry’s current demand.


C: Value-add

Meticulous deliberation To ensure that plans to revitalisethe exercised quarry are imple-mented properly, mobile and pre-viously constructed resources hadto be considered carefully. In addi-tion, decisions to expand the mainoperation were implemented andprogress is under way with fur-ther strategic business opportuni-ties under consideration.

Aiming to produce 140 000bricks per day is feasible.

Improvements

To complement the addition of newmobile resources, and in line withthe company’s strategy, a new washplant has been built and a modern100 000-unit-per-day brick-makingplant has been erected – a markedimprovement from the 60 000 unitsproduced by the old plant daily. Theplant is on target to increase pro-duction to approximately 140 000bricks per day by 2012.

“At the moment, we are only pro-ducing around 60 000 to 70 000bricks of 7 MPa on a daily basis but,with our investment and the oldplant which we will continue to use,we are well on course to increasethis,” says Swanepoel.

A plant to bag sand in 40 kg quan-tities is also on site. Although thisoperation is not owned by Janho orRenico but a private contractor,Chris du Toit, it contributes to thequarry’s overall profitability. Thisplant is capable of bagging 400 bagsof sand and mixes per hour.

The companyowns its supply ofaggregate andsand, and it pro-duces bricks.

Hardware stores andlarge retailers benefitfrom a sand-baggingoperation.

Bricks and bagged sandsupplement offering



D: Righting remains

Water of the essence One of the more important initiatives is recyclingprocess water on site. “We use a lot of water in variouson-site operations,” says Swanepoel. “All water used inour sand-making operation, for example, is routed backto on-site reservoirs for reuse.”

However, he points out that all water used cannot berecycled. “Water for dust control, for instance, is lost.We use about 10 000 m³ of water – around 8 000 m³ isrecycled which equates to an approximate loss rate ofonly about 3% per month.” The procedure is simple buteffective. Water for the brick plants is drawn from aborehole and accumulated rainwater is used in the washplant. The water is then diverted into settling pondswhere the solids are collected. Solids-free water ispumped to a main operation to enable continuous watersupply to the entire operation.

Waste not

Settling ponds collectsolids before water isrerouted for reuse.

Loss not tolerated Janho is trying to reduce itsresource use and become envi-ronmentally conscious. It isfocusing on conserving its rawmaterials and water resources.


WINNING

Looking at recycling The brick-making plants on sitecould prove exceedingly usefulto Janho’s rubble-recyclingoperations when up and run-ning. While bricks made fromaround 80% recycled aggregatewill never be adequate for theconstruction of paving or retain-ing walls for reasons of strength(25 MPa to 30 MPa required)and aesthetic properties, recy-cled aggregate bricks can beadequately strengthened to amaximum value of around 14 MPa which would serve thepurposes of general construc-tion. It must be noted, however,that many who have undertakenrubble recycling point out thatrecycling is not a cheaper alter-native at all. The additional timeand labour poured into sorting,crushing and quality control(which are essential) negatesany cost benefits.

For some operations, the moti-vation to recycle has been theelimination of reject or rubblestockpiles. Going “green” is alsoa consideration and, for Janho,the long-term survival of thequarry is the driving force. Oneremains dubious, however,about the simplicity of thisquarry’s plan!

Reutilising rubbleControversialviews

Waiting for the recyclingpermit is holding the company back from goingahead with its new venture.

A new market Another measure with more practi-cal than environmental motivationsis a building-rubble recycling opera-tion being erected at the quarry.Swanepoel says: “Over the nextyear or so, we anticipate a signifi-cant amount of building rubble andconcrete will need to be managed,mainly from Lanseria and surround-ing areas. We’re, therefore, in theprocess of obtaining a recyclingpermit from local government.”

Janho will adopt a very simple andstraightforward approach to rubblerecycling. It could be termed“labour intensive” with pre-crushing sorting done by hand. Thismay, of course, create furtheropportunities for employment. “Asfar as necessary equipment is con-cerned, we will, more than likely,add a mobile crusher and mobilescreen to our small contingent ofmachinery although we are stilllooking at a number of options interms of equipment which isentirely dependent on the intendeduses for the product we derive fromthe rubble to be recycled,” saysSwanepoel. He points out that animportant factor, still to be estab-lished, is the quality of the rubble.The company is hoping to produceG5 quality. “We intend selling thecrushed material along withrefined river sand,” he adds.

“This will extend the quarry’soperations to well beyond the 10years of excavation we have left.”Although neither the only quarryin the vicinity nor the only opera-tion considering recycling buildingmaterial, Swanepoel believes thatpotential supply is sufficient toafford other quarries the sameopportunity. “I must add that, atthe moment, no quarries in thisarea process building rubble.”Having a service radius stretchingfrom Lanseria to Soweto, project-ing approximately 300 m3 of build-ing materials entering the quarryeach day, combined with its newequipment purchases and construc-tion, in addition to an ideal locationnext to Mogale City, the outlook forJanho Quarry is bright. MogaleCity’s future plans include thesubstantial development of itsHekpoort Precinct just beyondKrugersdorp which will includeconstruction of at least 738 low-cost housing units between 2013and 2020. In addition, develop-ment of 18 538 m² of retail andoffice space in 2013 and 2014 isplanned as well as substantial sup-porting infrastructure develop-ment in various areas around theprecinct. Time will tell if this con-tractor will prove the “men” in theindustry wrong. Quarry SA will bewatching this space keenly. ■


mined - renico plant hire€¦ · · 2014-08-19business tactics was the first step in renico’s...

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