profile
A
frimat is an open pit mining company that supplies
construction materials and industrial minerals.
Since its listing on the JSE in 2006, the company
has grown substantially, and is focusing on
expanding its portfolio to ensure another continued success in
the coming decades.
Robyn Grimsley (RG): Give a little information about yourself and
your background.
Andries van Heerden (AvH): I have a degree in mechanical
engineering from Potchefstroom University, and I started
my career at ISCOR Mining, in the section that today would
probably be called Exxaro. I worked there for seven years and
was a mid-level engineering manager when I left to join APL
Cartons as operations director. I spent 3.5 years there learning
about all the other non-engineering-related aspects of business
– financial management, marketing, HR, among others.
In 2001 I left APL Cartons to join Prima Klipbrekers in
Worcester. This was my first entry into the quarrying industry,
and I worked there until April 2005, when I left and put
together a consortium, which bought Lancaster. I moved to
Vryheid in KZN in September 2005 and in May 2006 we decided
to merge Lancaster and Prima, which resulted in a listing in
November 2006. Afrimat was formed through the merger of
Prima and Lancaster, and I became CEO of Afrimat.
RG: Afrimat celebrated its tenth anniversary of listing on the
main board of the JSE last year. What are the company’s biggest
achievements over the past 10 years?
AvH: It’s difficult for me to highlight a single event because
it’s a total effort over a long period of time, and over and
above the listing, which at the time I thought was quite
an achievement – not only to be listed, but to get market
acceptance for the listing. I think the two things that I would
generally point to are, firstly the growth, the business has
grown quite dramatically from relatively small beginnings,
and secondly the consistency in delivery of value for our
shareholders. I would say these are our two most important
achievements. In the same vein, I would also say Afrimat’s
ability to adapt in changed strategic environments over the
past 10 years is also a significant achievement. We managed
to survive the 2008 worldwide crisis with relatively little
disruption, and we’ve managed to keep the business on track
and grow from there.
Our success is definitely a holistic accomplishment, and
it’s not easy to point to specific achievements as standing out
from the rest. Of course, none of this would have been possible
without the quality of people that we have, because in my view
the business would never have been where it is if we didn’t
have the best people in the country working here.
RG: What do you have planned – broadly – for the next 10 years?
Where do you foresee Afrimat’s biggest growth areas and are you
planning to expand into Africa?
AvH: Our plan is to focus on growing our resource base.
We will definitely be looking at expanding our commodity
portfolio and growing our product offering. As a company,
we decided a while ago to focus on expanding our business
QUARRY SA | MAY 2017 _ 33