Modern Quarrying April May 2015

AT THE QUARRY FACE WITH MIDMAR

‘Effecting change through more than a vision for Midmar

H eading directly for the Midmar Crushers quarry, MQ drove past an impressive brick building and premises before realising that this was in fact the group’s headquar- ters. Meeting up with managing member Derryn Fourie and his dynamic wife Cassy once again was an absolute pleasure and it was good to feel the en- ergy and excitement as they took me through the expansion. Midmar Crushers has been the enabling fac- tor in allowing the directors to expand and grow the company into what is now the Midmar Group, consisting of Midmar Crushers, Midmar Concrete Products, Canton/Taylors Halt Quarry and Midmar Building Supplies. “It was our excess dust at Midmar Crushers that started us looking at the Concrete Products have been tough for the quarrying industry in recent years, and Midway Crushers has gone through a fair amount of challenges. Modern Quarrying last visited Midmar Crushers in March 2011 and came away then with the sound belief that this was an honest operation in every sense of the word. On my recent drive from King Shaka International to Howick, I wondered if this operation’s vision had changed somewhat. Times

Managing director Derryn Fourie and his wife Cassy, who is business systems development manager.

division together with the problems associated with the small block yard we started for the local community several years back,” Fourie explains. “We had started the development and enhance- ment of local block yards. We first assisted with funding, mentorship and training of local yards to improve the quantities and quality, but it never satisfied the demand. We then bought out one of the small block yards, put in bigger machinery and offered it to a local entrepreneur to run for a one- year period, but even that was unsuccessful. So we

Man with a vision: Midmar Group director Louis Fourie. Below: Increased efficiency: Midmar Concrete Products’ VB2

block making machine. Centre: Impressive block stockpile on the Midmar Concrete Products site.

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MODERN QUARRYING

April - May 2015