Apart from realising significant profits within the first six weeks
of operation at Durban Roodepoort Deep’s (DRD) new Harties
gold-mine in the Free State, further benefits have been identified
with regard to sharing services with Buffelsfontein.
The Harties underground production volume is over three times that
of Buffels, effecting a more significant demand for support
services from Harties.
“Unfortunately, when scaling down operations, you do not see
the reverse side of the economies of scale, and a lot of things
need to stay in place,” states chief operating officer Derek
Steyn.
Operationally, it is also not always possible to get all the
reductions in line with the percentage cut in production
underground.
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This has resulted in DRD having under-utilised services at both
Harties and Buffels that are separate.
DRD launched an investigation into the possible synergy between
support services, and found that several could be amalgamated in a
single facility to support both mines.
The synergies included both mines having heat-tolerance testing
facilities, assay laboratory facilities and medical facilities,
which could all be combined into the Harties services.<br sand washing and screen plant uk/>
Previously, Buffels outsourced its workshop facilities, while
Harties had kept its facility running.
“We adjusted some of the standards in the workshops to
specific items, moving away from cosmetics,” says Steyn,
adding that DRD is there to keep operations functional, make it
work, and to make money out of it.
In order to optimise operations, Harties will be taking on work
from both Blyvoor and Buffels, effecting a reduction in unibelt conveyor for sand washing plantt cost,
as well as realising savings in other operations.
“We have managed to get costs down from an actual figure of
R58 000/kg to below R48 000/kg within a month of taking over at
Harties,” enthuses Steyn, adding that the company is far from
finished.
He believes that there is the potential to realise significant
savings of b elow the R48 000/kg level, as mine plans and
production profiles speak the same language.
Significaused crushing plants mobilent changes have been effected at Harties, with which
employees may have been uncomfortable in the beginning, as it has
worked to certain rules that have been in place for more than 20
years.
“It is great to be able take over a facility that is in top
nick, and to apply a different culture and a different way of doing
things,” says Steyn.
He adds that he has had comments from management that the change
has been ‘amazing’, and that operations had just mobile quarry crushing plant price in jamaicanever
been perceived in that way before.
Steyn has spent around six weeks at Harties, and feels that he has
had nothing other than support from trade unions and associations
thus far.
He notes that there was a strike at Harties during the acquisition
period in August, as employees wanted Avgold to pay out severance
packages, which was not realised.
As a result of the strike, DRD had the opportunity of sitting with
the organised labour unions over a period of six days.
The mine finance and business strategies were explained in order
for employees to appreciate the need to restructure the mine if
there was going to be an opportunity for employment in the
future.
Steyn reports that 85% of the restructuring involving employees has
been completed, without any problems from organised labour.
“We are busy with another phase of voluntary retrenchments
that will be followed by the completion of our mining plans,”
says Steyn.
He adds that, although there has been uncertainty, there have also
been comments that maybe it is a good thing for Harties to have
gone through this process of a radical shift in thinking in order
to become a profit-making business.
“It is a total business focus of realising the potential of
the company, and I think that Harties is going to be one of the
assets of DRD ,” c oncludes Steyn.