Modern Mining

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March 2016 MODERN MINING27
COMPANIES
included being Mine Manager at Konkola
copper mine on the Zambian Copperbelt
and Business Leader at Modikwa platinum
mine on the Eastern Limb of the Bushveld
Complex in South Africa. He served as
COO of Rand Uranium for three years and
immediately prior to joining EGMF was
COO of Metorex.
According to Widlake, James approached
Murray & Roberts Cementation around 18
months ago with a proposal for a partner-
ship. “We then carried out a due diligence
– in which we were assisted by one of the
big four auditing and accounting groups – to
ensure that we would be teaming up with
a group with similar values to our own,”
he says. “Of course, the fact that Nick was
known to many of us in Murray & Roberts
Cementation – our company was a contrac-
tor at Konkola when he was Manager – gave
us additional assurance that our values
would be aligned.”
Detailing Murray & Roberts Cementation’s
recent experience in the DRC, Widlake
says the company has executed work at
the Kamoto underground mine, part of the
Kolwezi mining complex (where EGMF
is responsible for the opencast mining of
waste), and has also dewatered Ivanhoe’s
Kipushi underground zinc/copper mine,
located 30 km south-west of Lubumbashi.
He adds that Murray & Roberts Cementation
has a strong presence across the border in
Kitwe on the Zambian Copperbelt, where
one of its main clients is Mopani Copper
Mining, part of the Glencore Group.
Glencore is also active in the DRC through
its subsidiary Katanga Mining, whose assets
include many of the mines and treatment
plants in Kolwezi.
The copper and cobalt mining industry in
Katanga will obviously be an important mar-
ket for Cementation Mining Company, with
several mining companies having plans to
develop underground operations. Ivanhoe,
for example, is continuing with its rehabili-
tation of Kipushi and is also planning a large
underground copper mine at Kamoa, west
of Kolwezi. Beyond the Copperbelt there
is also potential further north in the DRC
– particularly in North Kivu and Orientale
provinces – for underground gold and base
metals operations.
Widlake says Cementation Mining
Company will be able to offer clients a total
turnkey package including underground
mining contracting, underground capital
development and all associated civil and
structural work. He also says that the new com-
pany could potentially provide a platform into
other parts of Africa, particularly the Francophone
countries.
The joint venture is already bidding on proj-
ects in the DRC. “Clearly the mining market
globally is in a downturn but there are projects
around and we believe that our efforts will soon
meet with success. Looking further ahead, we are
positioning ourselves for the eventual turnaround
in resources, which should lead to a very buoy-
ant mining sector in the DRC, which is – without
question – one of Africa’s leading mining coun-
tries,” Widlake concludes. 