Modern Quarrying

October - November 2015

MODERN QUARRYING

with vast African experience. Expat Canadian

Gerhard Hurst is heading up the operation and

representing the company for bidding and busi-

ness development. “We are able to support him

from our Business Development division but also

supported by the company I represent, which is

Afrimat Contracting International.”

“We have a contracting company that does

contract drill, blast and crush work and we have

partially drawn from that resource base in terms of

supervisory and managerial staff and equipment,

which we have transferred to Mozambique to sup-

port the operation. They are providing the services

in Cuamba and thus far in Pemba in terms of yellow

equipment, loaders, dumpers, drillrigs, generators,

etc, and all our in-house manufacturing capacity

will be used to preassemble the plants in South

Africa and carry them over to assemble and com-

mission in Mozambique,” he says.

“We have chosen the freight option at this

stage to remain flexible and because it is also more

inside our knowledge area. We are not really into

shipping and ship freight. Obviously that will come

into play when we engage in larger 60 t capacity

equipment.”

At this stage, Afrimat is utilising 30-40 t

equipment.

Odendaal says the Pemba quarry is Afrimat’s

base and from there it services the Cuamba,

Mitande and Itepala sites which are near Malawi.

The railway line crosses from Malawi into

Mozambique. Afrimat has carried out the first

phase of a ballast production contract in Cuamba

and has moved another unit up to Mitande where

it has a contract to supply some 280 000 t of railway

ballast stone for Mota Engil, a Portuguese group

focused on civil construction, public works, port

operations, waste water and logistics.

Travel into these areas is a constant for

Odendaal and the team, with internet and tele-

phone communication on a par with South Africa.

The challenges are logistics and bureaucracy on

the borders. Using subcontractors for transpor-

tation, he says it is not company strategy to be

involved in transport in Mozambique. “The fac-

tors of risk are too high, the factors of cost are too

high, and the local law in these provinces has its

own set of rules. We have to move between two or

three provinces at a time when our low beds travel

between sites, so we are happy to outsource that

side of the business.

“Obviously this whole Mozambican move is

a key strategy for the company,” he says. “Afrimat

has a very flat management structure but through

that pyramid, we manage this effort very closely.

We utilise our corporate jet when going into the

remote regions. We also don’t hesitate to use the

commercial airlines, which are a much cheaper

option. However, for the sake of convenience and

for rapid response, we have a jet available to fly to

Cuamba where we can support our staff and their

efforts. All checks and balances are done through

site visits and we power this up with visits from our

senior executives.”

Talking further about Gerhard Hurst, he says

Afrimat employed him for his relevant experience

and business acumen in African projects. Hurst is a

professional engineer and business developer and

is supported by various seconded personnel from

South Africa, which include key drilling, blasting

and supervisory staff.“Gerhard’s wife is a very capa-

ble administrator, so we have a sound husband and

wife team managing local affairs.”

Odendaal says Afr imat ’s Contrac ting

International division provides a full package of

drilling and blasting solutions for the construction

and junior mining industries. It offers blast designs

for bulk blasting in quarry and opencast mining and

specialised restricted blasting in built-up areas.“Our

services include mobile crushing, screening, drilling

and blasting and bid preparation and contractual

services. Using our expertise in fields such as drill-

ing and blasting, load and haul, crushing and ready-

mix concrete processing, the division prepared bids

for major clients in the construction industry.

“We strongly believe that the strength

of Afrimat has extended its reach to support

Mozambique’s growing economy, and we are now

laying the foundations for new success by bring-

ing world-class African products to more countries

in Africa,” he says, reiterating that the company

is proceeding cautiously with its expansion into

Mozambique. It is taking the rest of this financial

year to stabilise this business, install the capacity

and get everything up and running. “The moment

we start repatriating profits out of there; once

profits are available to repatriate, then we can talk

about the next move into Africa. We would rather

go too slowly and do it properly than rush in and

burn our fingers.”

Report by Dale Kelly, photographs courtesy Afrimat

ON THE

COVER

The Cuamba stockpile and plant.