Modern Mining March 2015

SURFACE MINING CONTRACTING

Moolmans shows its resilience in

The severity of the downturn in mining is such that it has left many open-cut mining contractors desperate for work, with the result that competition for new contracts is intense with bids being cut to the bone. One company, however, that is weathering the stormwell is Aveng Moolmans, which probably ranks as the biggest surface mining contractor in Africa. Says its MD, Stuart White: “We remain profitable and we certainly have no intention of indulging in the practice of ‘buying’ work. Obviously, we need to put in competitive bids but there has to be a limit to how far this goes. At the end of the day, the mining industry needs a healthy, well-resourced and professional mining contracting sector and this can’t be achieved if work is taken on at sub-economic levels.”

W hite points out that Mool- mans, which has been in business for 65 years (it was founded by brothers Mike and Cedric Moolman in 1950), has survived multiple recessions over the years and has learnt to take them in its stride. “The key thing is not to do anything stu- pid or anything reckless,” he says. “Like every­ one else, we’ve experienced a drop in turnover. But we have a relatively healthy order book – with certain contracts still having several years

to run – which will see us through the down- turn. In the meantime, we are focusing inwards on efficiencies and the quality of earnings. In the contracting business, you’re probably go- ing to get eight out of ten contracts right. In a normal market, you can live with the two that aren’t performing on all cylinders. In the cur- rent market, however, you need all 10 contracts to be firing. This is where we’re placing the em- phasis on ensuring that every contract is pro- ducing to plan and to budget.” He adds that Aveng Moolmans probably

Stuart White, MD of Aveng Moolmans.

A 500-ton RH200 (now the Cat 6050) shovel belonging to Aveng Moolmans at work at the Sishen iron ore mine. This is the largest machine in the company’s mining fleet.

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38  MODERN MINING  March 2015