WINNING
tyre damage. External roads leading to and
from the premises are kept clean by utilising
a road sweeper. Dust control is critical
to our continued operation, and we add
water on our tipping points and between
conveyor belts to ensure dust control in the
processing of the granite. We have a 20 000ℓ
ADT water truck watering road ways on the
operation as well as the pit area.
“We are fortunate that the current pit has
water available for internal consumption.
We are not using any municipal water
supply for production activities, and all
dust suppression (for production as well
as road maintenance) is done utilising
internal quarry water. We install energy
efficient lighting in the operation, and
there is a power factor correction that was
done to ensure optimal use of electricity.
Consumption is continuously tracked
through an internal sustainability report,
being updated and submitted monthly,”
says Celliers.
“All high walls are constantly changing
due to mine expansion and blasting
taking place. They are inspected daily by
supervisors in possession of a ‘competent
A’ certificate to ensure that the high walls
of the benches are stable, and if not, to
ensure defects are noted and corrective
actions are taken with regards to risk
assessments and making safe. Periodic
independent rock engineer assessments
are conducted on the entire pit.
“We perform concurrent rehabilitation
throughout the year with regards to alien
invasive species to ensure that we comply
with environmental rehabilitation and that
financial provisioning is set aside annually
for the operation to rehabilitate once
mining is finalised. It is audited by the
DMR,” he says.
Loving the challenge
Celliers is a mechanical engineer by
training and education; his studies were
sponsored by AfriSam through its engineer
in training programme.
“What pumps me up about this job is
that every day is a new challenge: every day
is something new in managing the quarry.
Equipment does break down from time to
time, and I enjoy investigating to find out
why, what went wrong and so prevent it
happening in the future. At AfriSam we’re
quite emphatic on maintenance of the plant,
with processes in place to ensure upkeep.
Daily challenges vary from a breakdown or
production issues, to the occasional customer
complaint which requires investigation to
find out what happened or where the fault is.”
Running a quarry is a generalist
occupation, he explains, as he works with
people from every discipline in managing
various projects. It is this all-round
experience that enabled him to rise to a
position of managing a large quarry by
2018, having started working in 2008.
“The other thing that retains daily
interest in my job is people. Safety is of
course a big focus in this industry, and the
Minerals Council introduced a practice
to separate pedestrians and yellow metal
machines completely by 2020. We’ve already
implemented walkways with specific places
workers can cross the road where there is
machinery, and pedestrians are not allowed
to walk into the pit except to access it using
a bakkie to take them directly to the drilling
and blasting bench,” says Celliers.
the past few years: an electrical upgrade on
the medium voltage side of the operation
aimed to make it safe; while AVA online
tracking is a trial in progress to optimise fleet
management as well as safety with regards
to the tracking of vehicle movements and
interactions with other machines.
Maintenance priorities
All internal roads are established as non-
surfaced haul roads, being maintained to
the highest standards, in order to ensure
production and so that sales vehicles have
a safe and efficient road network inside
operational areas. Grading and watering of
the road network is done continuously.
“Internal roads are graded, watered and
kept free from debris to minimise potential
www.quarryonline.co.za
Depending on fluctuating market demand, Jukskei Quarry is capable of producing in excess of one
million tonnes a year.
QUARRY SA | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019_21