In the stope
What about the rest of Africa? There are many opportunities in West Africa, especially in Nigeria. We are hopeful for a few projects in Nigeria, where the government has been driving diversification away from oil. I hope we can increase our presence in Nigeria over the next few years and we intend opening an office in West Africa soon.
The rest of West Africa is very attractive. This region remains a key part of VBKom’ s diversification strategy. Our operation is well established in the Southern African Development Community( SADEC), and we foresee a lot of activity in these two geographical areas in the next five to 10 years.
Growth in the mining industry has been stifled for several years; has that prompted you to venture into the rest of Africa?
Not really. Although we are South African, and most of our business takes place in South Africa, we had an African vision from early on. We started feeling the pinch after Marikana in 2013, though, and knew that our South African exposure and niche offering( opencast mining) made us vulnerable— we realised that we had to diversify. But Africa was always part of our plans. Soon after we established the company, we undertook projects in Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of the Congo( DRC), Mozambique, and Zambia, and we are still involved in these countries. Since then, we have added several other African countries to our portfolio. VBKom is currently involved in 30 – 40 projects across Africa.
In which African countries does VBKom have it biggest footprint?
Copper and cobalt in the DRC and copper in Zambia, although not on the same scale as in the DRC. We are also involved with a few projects in Namibia and Botswana, and in Mozambique we are looking at gold, ruby, industrial minerals, and coal projects. There are many discussions about projects in Mozambique, and there are many new opportunities.
What is your opinion of automation, mechanisation, and technology? How will it play out in the next few years?
Technology and mechanisation are fundamental to the South African mining industry. The mining industry has been slow in accepting new technology. The downward cycle, however, has forced many mining companies to seriously start looking at technology, and accept that they will have to change.
With the massive amounts of data, I think the biggest opportunities in terms of technology are to manage this data more effectively and gain more intelligence and knowledge from it. This will enable a company to manage the business more efficiently.
Companies are integrating loose-standing projects so there is one platform with integrated information that they can use to make informative management decisions. There is also a strong focus on safety and how to employ technology to ensure safe practices.
We have moved past the theoretical practice of technology. The question is now, what will technology do to my bottom line? If I do invest in technology, how will it affect my costs? How will it improve my outputs in terms of the product?
What will the effect of technology and automation be on Africa, its development goals, and the continuous efforts to create jobs?
The reality is that our number one goal in Africa should be to create employment. There is a fine balance between using new technology and safeguarding jobs. For me it does not make sense to replace people with machines on the African continent. Maybe in other places in the world. In Africa, we should look at communities and creating jobs for these communities, and at the skills mining projects will be able to develop. The mining industry is well positioned to create jobs and they have a social responsibility to do that. From a strong Western, capitalist angle, technology has its place. But Africa is uniquely
The reality is that our number one goal in Africa should be to create employment. There is a fine balance between using new technology and safeguarding jobs.
positioned as the centre point between the west and the east. There is a big opportunity for development and it starts with the basic stuff, basic job creation— so we need to develop projects that can create jobs.
What, in your view, are the major challenges in Africa?
In the past few years, the big constraint, without a doubt, was a clear shortage of investment. There is just not enough money that flows to the mining industry to take the projects forward. Hopefully, we will see a change this year. In good times, the investors return. The other big challenge is the lack of appropriate skills in Africa.
Manie, you have had a long career in the mining industry; what were special highlights for you?
After obtaining a degree in mining engineering from the University of Pretoria, I worked underground at Vaal Reefs in Orkney, before moving to an opencast mine at Samancor. I spent time in Germany where we built and commissioned a processing plant and I used that knowledge two years later when I assisted with the development of a silica processing plant close to Delmas. The biggest highlight was the six years I spent working on diamond projects in the Richterveldt in the Northern Cape, where I developed an exploration project, got involved in production development, and eventually became general manager at the mine. b
[ 28 ] MINING MIRROR MAY 2018