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18
MODERN QUARRYING
January - February 2015
AT THE QUARRY FACE
• Product extender: 9,0-37% slag and 3,0%
gypsum.
On the production side, the ball mill at Raw Mill
5 has a capacity of 95 t/hour. The ball mill at Raw
Mill 6 has a capacity of 117 t/hour.
On the packaging and logistics side, De Hoek
has two packing machines which process 2 900
bags/hour each. There are bulk loading facilities
by road and rail, and a cement storage capacity of
20 000 t. “We can pack in excess of 1,4-million bags
of cement a month,” Vorster tells
MQ
, adding that
De Hoek can sell some 26 000 t of cement/week.
Vorster, who has been general manager at De
Hoek for a year, has a long history with PPC and
the cement industry in general, having been man-
ager at Riebeeck for one year and Saldanha for
four years. He has also worked at NPC Simuma and
Newcastle, managing the Durban operation for
eight years. He was at Newcastle for eight years,
four of these as manager.
Asked about his personal philosophy, he says
it is about aligning with the group’s strategies. “I
try to interpret that into a local content. A cement
The shale stockpile is in the region
of 5 000 t.
The De Hoek village seen from
the N7. The village consists of 75
houses. The houses, which have
been upgraded over the years, still
incorporate the solid thick walls,
foundations and fireplaces built
so long ago. The gardens and
facilities are beautiful with well-
kept facilities, green lawns, fauna
and flora. The village includes a
well-equipped recreation facility,
with a large swimming pool, and
of course, a nine-hole golf course.
operation is about managing costs and not just
that; in an isolated area that we are in, it is about
keeping the Vincents of this company happy. And
once they are happy and they understand the
strategy, they are able to execute it. I have tried
to establish this over the past year. Everyone must
understand the big picture, and this year is the year
of refining what was established last year.
Discussing the social and labour plan, he says
PPC De Hoek is in the process of establishing two
local POP centres (Path out of Poverty), which
are managed through a trust, at a total cost of
R5-million. “The one will be located in Porterville
and the other in Piketberg, and we will build them
in that order. Besides that, our corporate social
investment spend is in the region of R300 000/year.
“PPC established a POP centre in Riebeeck
West, and that is an example for government to
care for the youth in the afternoons, and take them
off the street. There is skills transfer; they do their
homework and there are various supervised activi-
ties. This has been running for about four years
through the trust, with government assisting us.”
The Riebeeck West POP centre has been
extremely successful and has created a path for
similar centres in the future.
Looking at skills training from a De Hoek per-
spective, Vorster says there are skills classes that
will start running again in February. “These are
basic skills from welding, woodwork, painting,
motor mechanics, and art, among others. This is
run in town and we fund it. We sponsor the lectur-
ers and the necessary equipment and tools.” This
has been running very successfully for the past four
years.”
The other CSI spend is on education, and PPC
recognises the Dux learners from each school.
Discussing the loss of skills in terms of expe-
rienced industry people retiring, he says PPC
has frequent succession discussions within the