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MODERN MINING
March 2015
SURFACE MINING
CONTRACTING
feature
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
Moolmans shows its resilience
in
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.
Stuart White, MD of Aveng
Moolmans.
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.”