IN THE STOPE
achievement is never having a performance guarantee being
cashed in over 30 years.
What other business entities form part of the GeoGroup?
The other businesses that form part of the GeoGroup are
Geomech Africa our BEE drilling company, Geo Pile Africa,
our piling company, and Terra Monitoring, who we eventually
bought out in 2013 and is our geophysical instrumentation
business.
Looking at the equipment on site here in your Lanseria base of
operations, it is clear you offer a wide range of services, could
you tell us a bit more about the type of projects you take on
here at the GeoGroup?
We take on geotechnical investigations for dams, hydropower
schemes, bridges, roads, railway lines, power lines, pipelines,
buildings and harbours. These involve a host of different types
of drilling and testing services as mentioned below.
Looking at the map, you have a large footprint in Africa
with previous projects. What innovations has the GeoGroup
developed to overcome some of the challenges of working in
these remote locations?
We have become the specialists in our industry at taking on and
succeeding with difficult and challenging projects.
The second important aspect of our success is accessing
and occupying the areas in which this drilling and testing is
to be carried out. We have developed our own designs and
methods of building drill rigs to operate more efficiently,
tracked undercarriages and jack up-river barges, which has
allowed us to produce meaningful results in otherwise very
challenging access conditions. These include difficult to
access hydropower and dam projects on rivers and gorges
– moving equipment and people using helicopters; pipeline
investigations for intake works and harbour investigations;
drilling on jack up barges and tracking long distances over
sand dunes and rough terrain.
Successful sites require comfortable camps, with insulated
and electrified accommodation, flushing loos, good food
and internet in sometimes freezing conditions as well as in
the sweltering heat. All of these differing scenarios require
specialist equipment and skills which we have acquired over
the last 30 years.
Your offices, drill yard and workshop are impressive, what is
the nature of the work you do here?
Our yard and offices form the brain of the organisation. Here
we plan and plot our successes by providing compliant and
competitive bids, control our expenses and maintain a positive
cash flow, manage and pay our people with dignity, keep a
very high standard in HSE and quality control issues, maintain
and distribute honest and accurate records of our operations,
store and maintain equipment to first world standards and
manufacture plant and machinery to high standards for our
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There are two important aspects which we have focused on
and which we believe sets us apart from our competitors. One
being the technical side of producing meaningful results, which
includes the use of state-of-the art sonic drilling, large diameter
triple tube rotary core drilling, CPTU testing, reverse circulation
drilling with Jean Lutz, Symmetrix overburden drilling, production
water wells, mud rotary and a host of in situ testing methods
such as Menhard pressure meter testing, Lugeon testing, pump
testing as well as many different types of instrumentation used to
provide meaningful results to our clients.
Dave Rossiter, non-executive director of GeoGroup.
operations. We maintain a positive spirit with our employees by
enjoying regular social activities together at these facilities.
The regulatory environment in Africa is getting more complex
with each passing year. Have you seen it impacting on the
drilling services?
Gone are the days when one could keep a small infrastructure
and hope to be a successful contractor. There are many more
areas of complexity and compliance in business today than
there were 30 years ago, and as a result, we have had to grow
with the regulatory demands and are proud of our team we
have built and their achievements.
What does the future hold for the GeoGroup?
I see the brand making a greater and more permanent
international presence felt and I see it further diversifying into
other associated services. Given that a fertile local investment
environment is generated, I see further growth in the local
South African market.
For more information on GeoGroup’s service offerings,
e-mail: [email protected] or phone +27 (0)11 966 7760 /
+27 (0)861 436 6324
African Mining
African Mining February 2020
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