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BusinessExcellence Weekly

ISSUE No. 58 | www.bus-ex.com

Ngc Trinidad & Tobago:

Growing gas – a two-way flow How the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago (NGC) looks to fulfil a new mandate to extend its influence internationally

Grindex:

Boskalis Offshore:

perseus mining:

Included The BE Mining Directory showcases leading mining organisations from across the world, ranging from big corporations to junior mines and their supply chains.

Be seen throughout our portfolio of magazines: • BE Mining Directory • BE Mining • BE Weekly • BE Monthly •

Go to page 68 to see this week’s listing To find out how to get involved contact: vincent@bus-ex.com

business excellence

Business John O’Hanlon Editor johanlon@bus-ex.com Will Daynes Editor wdaynes@bus-ex.com Matt Johnson Art Director mjohnson@bus-ex.com Louise Culling Production Designer lculling@bus-ex.com Richard Turner Director of Sales rturner@bus-ex.com

Business Excellence brings you content from leading business influencers and strategic thinkers providing inspiration and guidance to help you and your business grow.

We showcase some of the best examples of successful organisations from around the world giving you a unique insight into how they operate.

Vince Kielty Director of Editorial Research vkielty@bus-ex.com Sharon Rooke Administration & Operations srooke@bus-ex.com Matt Day Head of Technology mday@bus-ex.com Andy Turner Chief Executive aturner@bus-ex.com

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Derek Buchanan CEO of Episys

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issue No.57

6

6 executive insight

Randy Findlay

Randy Findlay, Sentinel Project Manager, discusses his involvement with the Trident project’s flagship Sentinel mine development.

10 operations

getting the message across

10

“Miscommunication is endless,” said JP Rattie.

No, I’d never heard of him either, but he has described, in three words, what happens when words and messages are miscommunicated.

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14 NGC Trinidad

Growing gas – a two-way flow

Speaking to company president Mr Indar Maharaj, we discover how the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago (NGC) looks to fulfil a new mandate to extend its influence internationally.

4 | BE Weekly

contents

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24

24 Boskalis Offshore A century of service

Boskalis Offshore is the driving force behind the offshore energy activities of Royal Boskalis Westminster NV.

32 perseus mining Born to seek gold

Perseus was born to DanaĂŤ after Zeus came to her in the form of a golden shower: auspicious for Perseus Mining as it continues to focus on under-explored gold assets in West Africa, a region it really understands.

60

60 Grindex

THE ART OF STAYING DRY

One of the strongest brands in the world for dewatering pumps, Grindex is an important partner for mining, construction and infrastructure.

BE Directory 68 LEONARD LIGHT INDUSTRIES

Proudly serving the PRECIOUS METAL Assaying, Smelting and Refining Industries since 1959 BE Weekly

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Executive Insight

Randy Findlay Randy Findlay, Sentinel Project Manager, discusses his involvement with the Trident project’s flagship Sentinel mine development, his proudest achievements and what others can learn from the success of Trident Words by

Will Daynes

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Career wise, how did you come to be a part of First Quantum Minerals?

After ending a five year retention based contract with Fluor I had a keen desire to find a company that could offer a better place in which to achieve my long term goals. With three other offers on the table from Kazakmys, Newmont and Fluor, I was contacted by First Quantum Minerals Limited (FQML), upon which I began researching the FQM execution philosophy. What I found was that FQM was unique in that it managed the engineering, construction execution and commissioning phases, before then turning things over to its operations team. It was this that convinced me to join. These dynamics are extremely rare in this industry and what they do is allow me, as a Project Manager, to drive the entire process optimally.

Who has been your inspiration professionally?

There have been a number of people, each for different reasons, but the two that stand out to me are Bob Ellis, Capital Vice President of Duke Energy and Martin Lacey, who is Vice President of Camaco Mining.

What do you consider to be your major achievement (in life or business)?

That would be the development of a target approach towards contracting methodolog y. This incentiv ised approach to contracts puts the mine owner and contractors on the same side of the field, with time and costs acting as the opponent.

When did you first become involved with the Trident project and what were your first impressions of its scope and aims?

I consider myself the initial developer of the Sentinel project construction team execution plan. The key to this plan was the development of a strong schedule, team mentoring and development, providing competent job descriptions and site management behaviours in order to reduce construction time and costs. The overall goal was to develop Sentinel to add revenue stream to the company much earlier than was originally envisaged.

The entire package with town development, housing and commercial areas, schools, banking, shops and power reticulation, meanwhile, is a key

“I consider myself the initial developer of the Sentinel project construction team execution plan. The key to this plan was the development of a strong schedule, team mentoring and development�

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Executive Insight

“Aside from pulling the construction schedule for completion ahead by three months we are also incredibly proud of reaching ten million man-hours without a lost time accident” deliverable to retain labour long term with minimal cost to operations and, most importantly, create a positive effect on the development of Zambia’s Northwestern region.

What do you consider to be some of the bigger milestones reached on the project?

Aside from pulling the construction schedule for completion ahead by three months we are also incredibly proud of reaching ten million man-hours without a lost time accident and, of course, developing a team that has proven to be able to provide excellent bench strength for projects.

What lessons do you think other mine operators can learn from the Trident project?

That schedule and resource development, with frequent, positive and purposeful interaction, provides the best foundation for project execution.

their careers and were part of a team that consistently worked together to achieve excellence.

Which one piece of wisdom would you pass on to your successor?

Always think about what else you can do to gain progress and maintain quality, treat people fairly and spend the time needed to develop and support your team.

What do you personally hope will be the long-lasting legacy of the project?

I hope that people on the team feel they have accomplished the best project of

Coming soon: An in-depth look at First Quantum Minerals - Trident project.

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10 |

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De

F

ar from being a simple moment in time that can be fixed there and then, miscommunication travels, and can be hard to stop. Take for example, the hotel that failed to take down its posters advertising a Burns Night supper, days after Burns night had passed.

Aside from me sharing this story with as many people as will listen, I now have to worry about whether this single lapse is just an unfortunate mistake or if it is indicative of their general management of information. Am I being too harsh?

The truth is, we expect companies to be consistent and accurate in their communications with us and we are less and less tolerant of mistakes.

They used to say, if you have a good experience, you tell ten people, if you have a bad one, you tell 100; well, how about a million, and any number of companies are still regretting the mistakes they made that caused the victim to create a youtube video downloaded by millions of people all over the world.

Reputations take years to build and they can be destroyed in seconds.

While companies that ‘fess up’ to their misdemeanours and publicly apologise will always mitigate the damage more than those who try to tough it out, the truth is, most companies routinely miscommunicate with customers in ways that may not lead to a viral youtube

“Reputations take years to build and they can be destroyed in seconds” 12 |

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video, but do lead to a slow, even initially unnoticeable erosion of trust and of spend. Customer loyalty can disappear with a bang as well as a whimper.

The irony is that companies have never had more ways to communicate with their customers; social media, newspapers and magazines, advertising hoardings, telephone, catalogues, the Internet, stores and restaurants, smartphones. The irony being, here are new ways to get the message across, but at the same time, more opportunities to get it wrong. The problem is often not the message as it is communicated through one channel, but how it is communicated across multiple channels.

Consumers don’t think in terms of channels; they almost certainly don’t care that the company has worked hard for consistency and accuracy in each and every channel, if they don’t actually deliver. This, I believe, is where the battleground is now – how companies can see themselves through the eyes of their customers and still satisfy the varying requirements of each part of the business that is responsible for different channels.

Interestingly, the obvious candidate for managing the flow of information is the CIO, as he/she has the word information in their title, but it falls to a range of people in the business, a range that is broadening with the growth in the number of channels – a certain recipe for greater miscommunication.

Communications are a senior management issue, backed by technology that is able to manage the dissemination of words and messages, visual and audio,

Operations

in print and digitally, in ways that make it easy for everyone in the business to deploy.

This is well beyond the capabilities of the traditional corporate standards manual, which can impose the standards but is unable to respond to constant changes in market conditions.

Once companies have control of their communications, they will need to ensure compliance by their staff in how they are deployed and managed. “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place,” said the playwright George Bernard Shaw.

How common is it for retailers to impose rigorous standards in terms of labelling, promotions and pricing, only to see the individual stores deploy either incorrectly, inconsistently or without due care over the life of the stock, with the result that price tags may be wrong or even missing.

Ultimately, it is the customer who is now in control and they will make decisions not to buy even at the very last minute.

For instance, some fashion retailers have discovered that customers will try on a garment in the changing room, find it fits, want to buy it but then dump it once they emerge from the changing room to see a long queue at the checkout.

Communications at this level is a much more demanding science, because it requires an understanding of the

“Once companies have control of their communications, they will need to ensure compliance by their staff in how they are deployed and managed” customer journey, both in-store and online, and it is not a predictable journey that can be easily mapped, with a route from A to Z. The truth is, the customer now navigates around a supplier in ways that are entirely known to him but often puzzling to the retailer. Added to which, the customer is now communicating in the other direction through social media in an unstructured fashion that can create a deafening white noise of feedback that even the largest and most responsive company can struggle to manage.

I’m the last person to say that the answer to these challenges is simple, but I do recognise that the rewards for companies who get it right are enormous.

How else to explain that, in the teeth of a recession, some companies are posting record sales, while others are going out of business. Communications are one of the major differences between these two types of company.

About the author Derek Buchanan is CEO of Episys, a global information technology company with clients in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australasia that include such names as Fortnum & Mason, GlaxoSmithKline, Procter & Gamble, Sears and Waitrose. The company provides expertise, products, services and support for signage, labelling and mobile systems. www.episys.com

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Growing gas – a two-way flow

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NGC Trinidad & Tobago

How the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago (NGC) looks to fulfil a new mandate to extend its influence internationally

written by: John O’Hanlon research by: Robert Hodgson

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Installations at NGC’s Beachfield facility

NGC Trinidad & Tobago

W

elcoming delegates to the 2013 Energy conference in Port of Spain in January, the Minister of Energy and Energy Affairs Kevin Ramnarine set out his vision for NGC to be the vehicle for growth through which the country can expand its footprint at home and abroad. NGC should be encouraged, he said, to become to Trinidad & Tobago what Statoil is to Norway or Petrobras to Brazil.

The man charged with overseeing that transformation is Indar Maharaj, who was appointed NGC’s President in April 2012.

Maharaj, a chemical engineer by training, knows the industry intimately from the downstream perspective, having worked in it for more than 30 years, many of them with Point Lisas Nitrogen Limited (PLNL) on the Point Lisas Industrial Estate, home to most of the heavy gas-based industry in Trinidad.

The years ahead are certainly going to be a time of change, he agrees, but NGC has all the experience and the energy it will need.

NGC was formed in August 1975 because the government of the day needed an entity to manage the natural gas purchase contract with Amoco and to transport the gas from Amoco’s fields off the east coast of Trinidad to the Trinidad & Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC) for power generation, as well as to other smaller customers. At the time the company was formed there were just a few miles of 16 inch pipeline transporting about 300 million cubic feet a day of gas. Today some 38 years later the company operates 1,000 kilometres of pipeline and has assets of over US$5 billion, making it one of the

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largest companies in the Caribbean and Latin America measured by assets. “The existing NGC business model, which has worked well, will however not provide the accelerated growth that is desired,” said Ramnarine.

“The question now for NGC becomes one of capital efficiency and growth. Companies we are told grow through pursuing a strategy of diversification, divestment, acquisition and internal growth or combinations of these strategies. The time has come for NGC to consider the forward and backward vertical integration of its business and seek investment opportunities outside of this country.” The Minister pointed out that NGC is already in discussion with three multinational companies in Trinidad and Tobago for the acquisition of all or part of their assets, and that it is also examining investment opportunities in Africa.

For NGC this means taking a new direction and dramatically broadening its horizons beyond its core business of natural gas marketing and transportation.. While NGC has invested in upstream oil and gas ventures, these have been limited to Trinidad and Tobago. As Maharaj explains it: “NGC has always been an inward-looking organisation - that is to say that all our investment has been made in Trinidad and Tobago. We now

think it is about time we did two things. One is to get ourselves more involved in both the upstream and the downstream as an investor; the second is to start looking outside of Trinidad & Tobago for opportunities to invest in the energy sector.”

Downstream opportunities include programmes like the provision of compressed natural gas (CNG) for transportation, and the supply of gas to the light industrial

“We are encouraging investors to look downstream, and... we will always be looking to see if there is an opportunity for us to take a stake” 18 | be weekly

NGC Trinidad & Tobago

NGC Tobago pipeline gas receiving facility

and commercial sectors the industry will be boosted by developing another hub at on the islands. “We are the Union Industrial Estate encouraging investors to look downstream, and where in La Brea on the south-west they do see an opening we peninsula of the island. “We will always be looking to see will develop the infrastructure if there is an opportunity for industrial development NGC’s current asset base and we have a priority to get for us to take a stake.” In less than 20 years, he adds, investors in there so we can Trinidad and Tobago has expand the markets for gas. been able to create one of the world’s most We are now putting the structures and the groups in place that will allow us to go and diversified natural gas economies.

The thrust of the government in the next start looking for those investments.” phase of the country’s industrial development Here serious progress has already been is towards a more robust downstream industry made. In April, seven entities including the that focuses on projects that will go beyond Ministry of Energy and Energy Affairs, and first-level gas conversion, as well as further the Japanese firms, Mitsubishi Corporation LNG expansion. The greater diversification of and Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company

$5

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signed a project development agreement for the establishment at the Union Industrial Estate of Trinidad and Tobago’s first Methanol Dimethyl Ether (DME) plant. The initial investment for phase one of the project is estimated at $850 million with completion envisaged in 2016. According to Minister Ramnarine, this project, which could include further phases, “presents several distinct but unique opportunities for Trinidad and Tobago with respect to the further diversification of the energy sector, growth of the economy,

development of the South Western peninsula, regional energy and local content.”

One of the mandates for NGC at the time of Mr Maharaj’s appointment was that the organisation should be prepared to get involved not only in local projects like the Methanol to DME project But also projects outside of Trinidad and Tobago. Of particular interest is the continent of Africa, both east and west. A relationship is developing rapidly with Tanzania, where large gas deposits have recently been discovered

“The question now for NGC becomes one of capital efficiency and growth”

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NGC Trinidad & Tobago

The change from a local to offshore. NGC has already a global operator will not be been providing technical services to Tanzania, and in without its growing pains, but 2012 NGC, National Energy the policy is in place and NGC’s and the Tanzania Petroleum management is now in active Development Company negotiation for the purchase of an interest in upstream signed a Memorandum of Phase 1 investment assets. The Trinidad Gas Understanding (MOU) for in DME project Model of Development has a co-operation between both framework that emerging gascountries’ energy sectors. rich economies would love to Tanzania finds itself now where Trinidad and Tobago was in the replicate. Success in this area will allow NGC, 1980s, he says. “Hydrocarbon deposits were for the first time, to provide its employees being found and were ripe for development with international experience. Discussions but no infrastructure was in place. We have continue on prospective investments in Ghana been through that experience in the recent and Tanzania and the Eastern Caribbean Gas past and I believe we have a lot of experience Pipeline Project, he says. “The Tobago pipeline and know how to monetise those resources.” will provide the staging point for the proposed

$850 million

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“We will encourage people to switch from liquid fuel to natural gas in their vehicles” Eastern Caribbean Pipeline Project, which is expected to supply approximately 119 million cubic feet of natural gas per day to Barbados, and potentially to other islands in the eastern Caribbean.” He is referring to a 55 kilometre natural gas pipeline from the BHP Billiton Gas Export Platform (GEP) in the Angostura Field off the north-east coast of Trinidad to a receiving facility on Tobago. The Tobago pipeline started operation in November last year. “In another decade I would like to see NGC being an organisation that is involved in

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most of the natural gas and energy value chain, both in Trinidad and Tobago and overseas.”

For this to happen, people will be crucial, he emphasises. “The human capacity within this company has been developed to do what we have been doing for many years; that is accumulating gas, distributing and selling it. The things we want to do now call for a different approach. We need to start retraining people and we need to start looking for new talent to bring in to the organisation to complement the huge experience we

NGC Trinidad & Tobago

already have.” To do this he wants to target people of Trinbagonian origin working in the international oil and gas industry. Given the new opportunities NGC can now offer he is convinced that many will respond. After all this is a great company to work for, as evidenced by the low turnover among its 800 strong workforce: “I can say for sure that once they come they don’t go!”

At the same time as gaining recognition in the international arena, Maharaj concludes, NGC is on the verge of becoming more deeply involved in the daily life of the nation than ever before. One of the major developments that is happening on his watch is delivery of a CNG transportation revolution in Trinidad and Tobago that the government wants to see come about. “We will encourage people

to switch from liquid fuel to natural gas in their vehicles. That we think will touch most of the population. We are a national gas company, looking to expand our CSR programme and integrate it with the fabric of society by looking at areas where there are developmental needs, sport development, health, culture and education so that people can identify with us more than they have been able to in the past.” It is a prospect that excites him, as the leader of a company mandated to expand and, crucially, with the financial resources it needs to make that happen.

For more information about NGC Trinidad & Tobago visit: www.ngc.co.tt

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written by: Will Daynes | research by: Adam Kalynuk

Boskalis Offshore is the driving force behind the offsho activities of Royal Boskalis Westminster NV, one of the figures within the maritime sector for the last 100 year

A century of s 24 | be weekly

Boskalis Offshore

k

ore energy leading rs

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Boskalis Offshore

E

Removal of an offshore platform

ven since a group of families went about setting up a new dredging business in 1910, Royal Boskalis Westminster NV has built itself a commanding reputation for being a leading global maritime services company operating in the fields of dredging, inland infrastructure, towage, salvage and offshore energy.

Operational in more than 75 countries across six continents with an employee base of around 15,600 people and a fleet of more than 1,100 vessels and equipment, Boskalis’ main clients today include port operators, governments, shipping companies, mining companies, international project developers and oil companies.

Boskalis Offshore is a part of Royal Boskalis Westminster NV, and in its own right is a leading expert in offshore contracting and services. The company supports the activities of the international energy sector, including oil and gas companies and providers of renewable energy such as wind, by offering its customers innovative and competitive solutions, including new installation and improved workability concepts.

Today one will find Boskalis Offshore involved in the development, construction, maintenance and decommissioning of oil and LNG import and export facilities, offshore platforms, pipelines and cables, as well as offshore wind farms. In conducting its work the company leverages its vast expertise, which covers offshore pipeline, cable and rock installation, heavy transport, lifting and installation work, as well as diving and ROV services.

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The work that Boskalis Offshore is doing falls in line with its impressive track record of project delivery that includes a variety of highly demanding energy projects. This legacy of stepping up the challenges of its customers remains intact to this day and was the driving force behind the decision to expand further through the incorporation of the former heavy lift and subsea activities of its subsidiary SMIT in 2012. This move represented another step towards Boskalis Offshore becoming very much a one-stop solutions provider that can provide services across each phase of a project.

Boskalis Offshore’s services are performed by its four subdivisions, these being Subsea Contracting, Subsea Services, Marine Services and Marine Contracting. The company’s Subsea Contracting team works specifically with landfall solutions, trenching and backfilling, and rock and cable installation, while Subsea Services focuses on tasks such as air/saturation diving and ROVs, subsea construction and removal and inspection, repair and maintenance works.

The company’s Marine Services subdivision serves the market with chartering of anchor handling tugs (AHTs), barges and sheer legs, and complementary maritime project management and engineering. Finally the

Marine Contracting section of the business offers clients an integrated package on the basis of transport and installation (T&I) or engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of marine infrastructure and decommissioning projects. Such projects include fixed offshore structures like platforms, offshore wind farms and tidal installation, and floating offshore structures including SPM buoys and FPSOs.

“For the near term we have a well-filled order book with many projects across all of our disciplines” 28 | be weekly

Boskalis Offshore

Bosk a lis Of fshore’s Schoenmaeckers, Manager marine contracting activities for Oil and Gas, “involved the bring together various removal and disposal of two platforms and one subsea fields of expertise to create comprehensive, cost-effective dome in the North Sea as a Countries that Boskalis is solutions that are specifically major contractor on a lump present within today tailored to the customers’ sum basis. Decommissioning is a key focus for the Marine requirements. All of its Cont rac t ing business. endeavours are based on maintaining close contact with its customers We believe that with our knowledge, and a consistently high level of service to experience, and assets we can play a create a mutually beneficial and productive key role in the coming decommissioning requirements from the market.” working environment.

Boskalis Offshore Marine Contracting While the company is more than capable of certainly has a strong track record when providing integral decommissioning packages it comes to the decommissioning of both including preparatory removal works with floating and fixed offshore structures. its diving support vessels (DSVs), lifting and “A recent project,” explains Michiel transport of the platforms with its sheer

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The platform is brought to shore for decommissioning

Boskalis Offshore legs and marine vessels, and disposal with its partners, challenges do remain.

“The main challenges stem from obtaining complete and accurate data of the current facility status,” Schoenmaeckers continues.

“Many assets have had several owners throughout the value chain, and consequently facility data regarding installations and alterations can be difficult to retrieve.”

Nevertheless, the company is striving to overcome these difficulties and in doing so has placed itself in a strong position for both short and long-term growth. “For the near term we have a well-filled order book with many projects across all of our disciplines,” Schoenmaeckers states. “This includes the West of Duddon Sands offshore wind farm project in the Irish Sea for DONG Energy and Scottish Power Renewables, various rock installation works for companies including Statoil, subsea inspection and maintenance contracts for companies like Maersk Oil, and a substantial offshore contract with Impex for the Ichthys LNG project in Australia.”

Meanwhile moves have been made by Boskalis to further strengthen and expand its range of services for the offshore energy sector through the acquisition of Dockwise, a provider of maritime services including transport services to the offshore and onshore industries and installation of extremely heavy

offshore platforms, and is now planning to incorporate this into its business.

The combination of activities will place Boskalis in a better position to service clients with the optimal deployment of people and equipment, and enable it to fast track its ambition to enhance its capabilities with regard to transport and installation projects. It goes without saying that at the same time Boskalis Offshore will work to stay true to the qualities and strengths that have defined Royal Boskalis Westminster NV for over a century.

For more information about Boskalis Offshore visit: www.boskalis.com

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Perseus Mining

Born to seek gold

Perseus was born to DanaĂŤ after Zeus came to her in the form of a golden shower: auspicious for Perseus Mining as it continues to focus on under-explored gold assets in West Africa

written by: John O’Hanlon research by: Robbie Hodgson

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Molten gold in crucibles following a gold pour at Perseus Mining’s Edikan Gold Mine

Perseus Mining

P

erseus Mining Limited is a company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and based in Perth; however despite its Australian accent it is an African specialist, specifically focused on the gold producing countries of West Africa. Over the years it has forged a reputation as one of the world’s most successful gold explorers, with a quarter of a century of involvement in Ghana and its neighbours coming into fruition very recently, starting commercial production on 1 January 2012. : as one of its founders Mark Calderwood has described it, Perseus Mining is an overnight success that was 25 years in the making!

Calderwood, the current chairman Reg Gillard and executive director Colin Carson have been taking an active interest in the under-explored mineral deposits of West Africa for that long, but it was not until 2004 that, having secured a couple of gold bearing deposits in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and the Kyrgyz Republic that they formed a company and floated it on the ASX. Despite a couple of years of quiescence while world markets were depressed progress has been steady since then. In 2006 Perseus acquired the tenements that today host its Edikan Gold Mine formerly known as the Central Ashanti Gold Project (CAGP) and Ayanfuri, though exploration and feasibility work could not really get under way till 2009. By 2010 though the company had successfully recapitalised, obtained a positive full feasibility study and started to build its flagship project, the Edikan mine in Ghana’s rich Ashanti gold belt.

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Phone: (+233) 0303 310976 Email: info@skylimitsb.com www.skylimitsb.com

Need a lift? Call

SKY LIMIT Nothing too heavy, nothing too high!

Perseus Mining

SKY LIMIT STRUCTURE BUILDERS LTD Sky Structure Builders Ltd. and Equipment Rentals can be described ad “the specialist of the extraordinary’. We strive to make your experience using Sky Limit dependable, efficient and satisfying; making customer satisfaction our virtue. Our name says it all; we’re into Equipment Rentals and Commercial & Residential Construction.

Equipment Our fleet consists of: Cranes (500Tons30tons), Forklifts (28Tons – 2.5Tons), Telescopic Forklifts (5Tons), Reach Stackers (45Tons), Trucks mounted with hydraulic cranes, Tower Cranes, Low Loaders, Low Beds, Back Hoe, Excavators, Bulldozers , Cherry Pickers, Generators, Water Pumps, Tower Lights, just to name a few.

Construction Perfection, by definition, is unattainable but by its very nature, worth pursuing.

Throughout Sky Limit’s history and preceding, we’ve had a strong background in Commercial & Residential construction.

We have pursued perfection in our buildings, our relationships and our conduct across the countless communities in which we live and

work. Its is something we aspire to on a daily basis. How we reach for this lofty goal is what sets us apart, it’s what makes us different. It’s our unwavering commitment in our pursuit of building perfection.

Sky Limit’s Success = Its’ Spirit Enterprise Our Mission Because of our permanent focus on the future, we have a highly skilled multilingual crew and very advanced & dependable equipment to satisfy the often “extra ordinary” needs of our customers.

Availability, dependability, accessibility, rapid/ on-time delivery and response are just part of making our work unique and special. With the opening of borders, we expanded from Ghana into the West African market with a lot of self-confidence. It brought our company explosive growth, extending our services into neighboring countries.

Prevention and security are priorities to Sky Limit, we’d better be safe than sorry when it comes to personnel injuries and damages to material or our environment. Sky Limit has set the example for its competitors and still takes the leading position in this field. Our vision and expertise are what make Sky Limit a successful fully indigenous company, evolving into an international company. We build our future on the foundation of a rich past. We are now an outstanding West African market player in construction and equipment rentals.

E. info@skylimitsb.com www.skylimitsb.com

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WEIR MINERALS WEST AFRICA LIMITED Weir Minerals are specialists in delivering and supporting slurry equipment solutions including pumps, hydrocyclones, valves, screen machines and screen media, rubber and wear resistant linings for global mining and mineral processing, the power sector and general industry.

Our products strength lies in the superiority of our hydraulic designs and wear and corrosion and abrasion resistant materials.

In slurry pumping, processing and control applications where the cost of ownership often outweighs capital cost as a priority, we help our customers address such issues as longevity, capacity, efficiency of operation, and maintenance. We partner with our clients to understand their need for specific equipment, in order to supply the most efficient equipment for their operations. Weir Minerals has been committed to delivering market-leading services and products. Our whole product and process solutions are designed to meet both the commercial and technical challenges of customers operating within the global mining and minerals processing industry. Weir Minerals delivers end-to-end solutions for all transportation, waste management, processing and mining activities. With over 13 years’ experience in Ghana and across West Africa, we have been excellent partners in mineral processing across the West African sub-region. www.weirminerals.com

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Perseus Mining

A view of the Edikan plant and conveyor belt

It was just before the start of project development that Jeff Quartermaine joined the team as CFO. Up till then, he says, the company had been brought forward by a team whose main expertise lay in exploration and business development – and they were good at it, having grown the resource from about 130,000 ounces of gold at the time of

acquisition to almost eight million ounces today. But they were not blind to the fact that along the development curve different skills are needed. In 2011, shortly before Edikan went into commercial production, the team was joined by Jon Yelland as Chief Operating Officer and in February 2013 Quartermaine succeeded Mark Calderwood

“In three years we have come from being a junior to a fully integrated mid-tier gold producer” be weekly | 39

Telephone: +233 24 410 2524; +233 20 126 5124; +233 20 811 7058 Email:admin@newgiftventures.com; ikofintiri@newgiftventures.com www.newgiftventures.com

TIMELY SOLUTIONS THROUGH MINING SUPPORT SERVICES BUSINESS SERVICES: • Supply Equipment for mining activities.

• Construction and maintenance of Haul roads and mining site access roads.

• Construction of Tailings Dam. • Construction and maintenance of Mining Site Offices, Workshops and Residential accommodation.

• Security Fencing construction and maintenance.

• Stabilization of clayey lateritic soil with Claycrete Stabilizer Solution.

• Kleenoil Filtration for Fuels and Engine oils.

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Duis aute ofirure my initial assessment the Excepteur sint occaecat this is aManager, caption Michael cupidatat non sunt people Perseus turned dolor behind in reprehenderit in This is a caption Environment Sackey, onproident, the revegetated main embankment of the qui tailings storage facility out dead right it is acillum firstin culpa officia deserunt voluptate velit –esse rate team. thing Perseus dolore eu One fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur produce 51,000 ounces ofadipisicing gold in Q4elit, at has without exception to alwayssunt try to sint done occaecat cupidatat nonisproident, in deliver culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id an sed all-in do esse epteur occaecat non site cost sint of $1,060 ancupidatat ounce, well to on its promises.”

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NEWGIFT VENTURES LIMITED Newgift Ventures Limited has since May 2011 been providing mining support services such as supply of heavy equipment for the construction of tailings dam, haul roads and access roads to Perseus Mining Limited and

other mining companies in Ghana.

We also undertake the construction and maintenance of security fencing, site offices, workshops and site residential accommodation.

With our desire to provide prompt and customer tailored mining support services, Newgift Ventures Limited has transformed from a sole proprietor enterprise, beating the stiff competition in the industry to become a major mining support service company.

Newgift Ventures Limited has as an annual turnover of about USD 10 million.

E. admin@newgiftventures.com www.newgiftventures.com

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GRACO ENGINEERING LIMITED Complete Solutions for low voltage electrical systems

We provide electro-technical Services, Sales and Support for residential, commercial, telecommunication and manufacturing facilities.

To ensure the adaptation of the highest standards in the execution of projects and supplies, at reasonable and affordable costs.

Telephone: +233 277406628, +233 243670778, +233 302935382 and +233 312098781 Email: ncommey@gracoengineering.com, info@gracoengineering.com www.gracoengineering.com

Perseus Mining continuing remediation work Graco Engineering Limited on the plant notwithstanding.

Graco Engineering Limited has been operating in these The mine has continued to areas for the past years; produce well in the difficult • Panel building and supply of accessories. trading conditions that have • Installation and commissioning of capacitor banks and notoriously hit the gold other power electronic component for power management. market during the second • Customized control systems for Millers, Extruders, Compressors, Crushers, etc for the Mines and other. quarter of 2013, with the Industrial Facilities. plunge in gold prices since • Sales and Supply of Mennekes Industrial Plugs and our last report on Perseus in Sockets.

March.

• Sales of industrial control components i.e. Circuit With prices beginning to Breakers, Contactors, Relays, etc from leading European rise already and industry brands like Schneider Electric, Siemens, ABB, EATON, watchers predicting a ORTEA, etc.

• Sales of Electrical fixtures and Installation Accessories. recovery to last year’s record www.gracoengineering.com levels and beyond when the mechanisms for gold price discovery are placed on a more realistic footing, prospects for the rest of the year are good. As it stands, Edikan managed to produce a total of 104,744 ounces in the six months ended 30 June 2013, which was in line with its target. “With the recent strengthening of our operating management ranks at Edikan and a very sharp focus on cost efficient production, we are well placed to undertake the task of restoring market confidence in our ability to consistently

“we are confident in our ability to produce profitable ounces of gold”

Molten gold being poured

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WE’LL NEVER LET YOU DOWN. Market leaders in heavy lifting equipment sales, rental and aftermarket care in West Africa.

T: +44 1273 625969 | sales@patersonsimons.com | www.patersonsimons.com

PERSEUS Perseus MINING Mining Perseus Miningounces feature consectetur adipisicing elit, produce profitable of text tosays goQuartermaine. here..... Lorem sed do eiusmod tempor gold,” incididunt ut labore et dolore ipsum sit Africa amet, Ghana,dolor and West magna aliqua. Ut enim ad consectetur adipisicing elit, generally, is not such a risky minim veniam, quis nostrud sed do eiusmod tempor place to do mining business incididunt labore imagine. et dolore exercitation ullamco laboris in as youutmight magna aliqua.

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PATERSON SIMONS Paterson Simons are a UK based company with subsidiaries throughout West Africa. We are market leaders in the sale, rental and aftermarket care of heavy lifting equipment throughout the region. Our newly built parts warehouse in Accra provides original parts and advice, as well as swift sourcing at a moment’s notice. We also offer full service and maintenance contracts, which mean our customers can rely on their lifting equipment to work where and when it has to.

We provide mining companies throughout the region with turn-key crane solutions across their mine’s operations. We begin by making sitespecific recommendations around a customer’s lifting requirements. Our on-site engineers will then issue a comprehensive assessment to mine management on their mobile cranes, overhead cranes, telehandlers, forklifts and container

handling equipment needs including the siteing of hard standing areas for critical maintenance lifts. We will also assess and recommend any refurbishment of existing lifting equipment. As West Africa’s Grove dealership we will then go on to supply the entire mine’s required mobile (Grove) and overhead cranes (Konecranes) and rigging gear. Our team of safety inspectors, trainers and engineers additionally provide: • Assessment, training and certification of operators • Maintenance and periodic inspections of equipment • Annual certification of lifting equipment • Assessment, training and certification of riggers and rigging gear • Assessment and training of supervisors and key managers.

T. +44 1273 625969 www.patersonsimons.com

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Technodraft & ENGINEERI N G Quality and safety are the hallmarks of Technodraft.

Try us and we shall deliver.

Contact T: +233 246 220 874 E: techno.draft@yahoo.com

Seen When professional and safe logistics are required

Email: contact@stlsgh.com, ghass@stlsgh.com Tel: +233 208 206957 Cell: +233-244-310180 STLSGH is a Ghanaian transport company that is specialised in handling and disposing of hazardous & none hazardous chemicals

Contact us today and put your company in the spotlight!

vincent@bus-ex.com

Perseus Mining forward-looking regime when it comes to co-operation with Technodraft are specialists when it comes to steel works the mining companies. design and the detailing of steel structures used across In reciprocation Perseus various civil projects. Technodraft’s team of highly has been assiduous in doing experienced technicians are experts in constructing the right thing by the host minor turn key projects that meet and exceed a client’s country. Because Ghana technical specification standards. These technicians also work to ensure that the highest levels of quality and safety has a longer history of are maintained during all tasks that take place on-site. mining than many other Technodraft also supplies major construction firms with a countries, it suffered more number of other support services. when the mining boom On behalf of Perseus Mining, Technodraft is carrying out hit South Africa and other a range of vital tasks including steel works, civil works, countries on the continent painting and the erection of steel pre-fabricated buildings and all round the world. Its and laboratories. techno.draft@yahoo.com best brains were drained, tempted by the high salaries being offered. This created a shortage of experienced professionals back home, and Perseus is trying to redress this by actively trying to recruit Ghanaians from the diaspora into senior jobs.

Of course it would be unrealistic to seek experienced personnel in the surrounding community, so it is remarkable to learn that approximately 50 per cent of the workforce at Edikan is drawn from the five villages nearest the mine. “We could have drawn staff from mining operations elsewhere in Ghana,”

Technodraft

170,000 ounces

Projected annual yield from Sissingué Water quality monitoring at Edikan Mine

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MULTI VENTURES LIMITED GENERAL MERCHANTS • CONSTRUCTION WORKS • HIRING OF HEAVY DUTY EQUIPMENTS & PLANTS • PROCUREMENT • PHARMACY • CONSULTANCY SERVICES

We engage in wide range of operations including Building and Road construction, Transport Haulage services, hiring of equipments, Catering Services, Car Rentals, Procurement and general civil engineering works.

P O Box 100 - Bibiani, Box 1818 - Kumasi Telephone: 03221- 99949, 024-4624417 | E-mail: ffjk2010@hotmail.com

K. NYAME MULTI VENTURES

HIRING OF HEAVY DUTY TRUCKS & EQUIPMENTS • SAND • CAR RENTALS • PROCUREMENT GENERAL CONSTRUCTIONAL WORKS • CATERING SERVICES • CONSULTANCY SERVICE ETC

We engage in wide range of operations including Building and Road construction, Transport Haulage services, hiring of equipments, Catering Services, Car Rentals, Procurement and general civil engineering works.

P O Box 100 - Bibiani, Box 1818 - Kumasi Telephone: 03221- 99949, 024-4624417 | E-mail: ffjk2010@hotmail.com

Perseus Mining

Staff onsite at the Edikan Gold Mine

“Exploration of both Kanadi and Bélé will be followed up as a matter of priority by our exploration team” says Quartermaine, “but we decided that while recruiting locally meant we’d have to spend more on training, it would put money into the local community and increase their engagement with the operation.”

Training local people from scratch has the added advantage that they understand how Perseus operates, he adds. “We went out and did aptitude tests to identify who would be best suited to the challenge of working in

our operation. I was fortunate to be on site the day the first trainees arrived and had the honour of welcoming them to the site.”

There were around a hundred young men and women, he says, all mightily enthused at the opportunity to become a part of a serious operation within their own community and at having the chance to learn new skills.

Quartermaine believes the best way to generate sustainability is through education

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LEADING THE ADVANCEMENT OF CUTTING AND GAS CONTROL SOLUTIONS WA R R

A

Y

5-Y

AR

NT

E

®

ADVANCED DESIGN | OUTSTANDING FLOW PERFORMANCE | UNSURPASSED SAFETY

CIGWELD WELDING, CUTTING AND SAFETY EQUIPMENT HIGH QUALITY FOR TOUGH CONDITIONS

AUTHORISED DISTRIBUTOR FOR GHANA TAKORADI GAS LTD • P.O. BOX 1050 • TAKORADI, GHANA

Website: www.takoradigas.com Email: tgl@tglgh.com

Tel: 031-202-1159/ 202-1167 • Hot Lines: 0244 330 594 / 0244 354 394 / 0240 777 575 / 0244 479 142

PERSEUS Perseus MINING Mining Perseus Miningpeople feature tempor incididunt ut labore because it equips to et dolore magna aliqua. Ut make ownhere....Lorem choices. Over text their to go enim ad minim veniam, quis the last dolor two years ipsum sit Perseus amet, has sponsored 90 students at nostrud exercitation ullamco consectetur adipisicing elit, laboris nisi ut aliquip ex Kumasi sed do Technical eiusmod Institute tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore (KTI), instituted a scholarship ea commodo consequat. magna Ut enim ad scheme aliqua. for students in the Duis aute irure dolor in minim quis nostrud Edikanveniam, communities to reprehenderit in voluptate exercitation laboris further theirullamco education in velit esse cillum dolore nisi ut aliquip commodo second and ex in ea the future, eu fugiat nulla pariatur. consequat.

Duis auteinirure tertiary institutions the Excepteur sint occaecat dolor reprehenderit countryin and announced in a This is a caption this is a caption cupidatat non proident, sunt A view the Edikan plant in culpa qui of officia deserunt voluptate esse cillum six-month velit apprenticeship dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur.

Excepteur mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor programme to train 120 amet, consectetur elit,process sed do young people incupidatat masonry, non carpentry, electrical promised, or at least adipisicing planned. The sint occaecat proident, sunt sit in culpa quiand officia deserunt mollit anim id eiusmod incididunt ut labore et dolore installation plumbing. plant willtempor be upgraded to increase throughput estMeanwhile laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, Ut enim veniam, quis his objectives for this year magna from itsaliqua. present level ad of minim 5.5 million tonnes consectetur adipisicing dohas eiusmod exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut remain firmly to deliverelit, on sed what been nostrud per annum to eight million tonnes per annum

TAKORADI GAS LTD Takoradi Gas Ltd (TGL) a company in the business of manufacture and distribution of high quality industrial gases. TGL was incorporated in 1994 and has been in operation since then as a successful, dependable quality conscious manufacturer of industrial gases with its manufacturing facility in Takoradi and distribution depots in major regions. TGL is one of the biggest industrial gas manufacturers in Ghana. TGL supplies industrial gases to a wide variety of industries providing vital support for Ghana’s industrial base and development. Our ONE STOP SHOP offers total solutions to all Welding & Cutting Industry needs.

Under ONE STOP SHOP, we offer • Industrial Gases (Oxygen, Acetylene, Nitrogen,

Argon, Mix gases, Co2, Helium, LPG etc) • Quality imported Refrigerant Gases (Freon) European brands/ TGL brand • Welding Consumables (all types of Electrodes) from HILCO, Holland (Authorized distributor in Ghana) • Welding & Cutting Accessories from Cigweld Australia, Victor Technologies,US. TGL is the Authorized Distributor for Cigweld (Australia) and Victor Technologies (US) for all welding & cutting accessories.

Perseus Mining is exclusively working with Takoradi Gas Ltd since the beginning of their operations in Ghana. We are proud to be associated with Perseus Mining Ltd. www.takoradigas.com

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NEW PRECIOUS RESOURCE DISCOVERED

Click here to visit our dedicated homepage for the mining community www.bus-ex.com/mining BEST PRACTICE IN MINING

Perseus Mining

Edikan plant staff

by July 2013. From that point he expects Any spare energy is being diverted to the gold production to go forward at a rate of Sissingué Gold Project in north-east Côte some 250,000 ounces a year, with costs kept d’Ivoire. Only perhaps 300 miles apart, they low so that the company can generate a are very different. If Ghana is switched on substantial cash margin. Gold prices may to its resources, its neighbour has less of a be past their peak, but following this policy mining tradition though Quartermaine thinks will keep Perseus in business where high cost it could vastly benefit from development. producers crash out, benefiting proportionally Following a very difficult and unsettled era, when prices rally. the country is now working With the world class very hard to upgrade its Edikan mine at full throttle, mining code so it presents a the subsidiary property in more attractive investment than its neighbours. But late the Ashanti belt, Grumesa 20 kilometres to the east, is last year, when the Perseus Students sponsored at taking a back seat though board was preparing to give KTI in two years the green light to construction drilling continues there.

90

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EDERICK LIMITED Ederick Limited is the manufacturer’s representative for Whirlpool home appliances and also sole agents for Taurus, Candy Hoover, EDK and also distributes some electronic appliances for Sony and Panasonic. Some of the appliances that we specialise in include air conditioning units, refrigerators, chest freezers, washing machines, tumble dryers, cookers, microwaves, ovens, hoods, extractors, dishwashers, home entertainment systems, LED & LCD TV’s, blenders, irons, kettles, toasters, rice cookers - to name but a few.

Ederick Limited is proud to be associated with many of the mining companies in Ghana including Perseus Mining where we do substantial business. We offer all the solutions to the mining industry’s procurement and service challenges to enable them concentrate on their core business and to maximise their profits. Ederick Limited’s client base includes diplomatic missions, manufacturing companies,

hotels, restaurants & holiday resorts, government agencies, non- governmental organisations and individuals. Over 27 years of quality experience has made Ederick Limited one of the leading home appliance companies in Ghana. We pride ourselves in protecting our environment by ensuring that all our appliances are 100% compliant to energy efficient standards and also supply nothing short of top quality merchandise to our customers. Needless to say, we have the most competitive prices which make our appliances very attractive and affordable. Ederick Limited’s warehouses (including bonded) are dotted around Accra and Kumasi (Takoradi and Tamale coming up soon) to ensure that we always meet and exceed demand to supply our appliances. We offer free delivery of all purchased appliances within the Accra & Tema metropolis and also in Kumasi. All our appliances come with a 12 month warranty on manufacturer’s defects. Our showrooms have service centres attached to them which are equipped with diagnostic facilities and also stock spare parts for repair work to ensure that all parts needed for after sales services are readily available. Our on-site service centres at all our locations ensures that all our customers have the after-sales support they require in maintaining/servicing or repairing all appliances – we also offer service contracts with various institutions for the maintenance of all their office appliances. In an economy like what we have in Ghana, customers expect to have peace of mind with their purchases of home appliances and that is what Ederick Limited represents absolute peace of mind! www.ederickltd.com

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Perseus Mining

A bar of gold being weighed

of the fully permitted and funded Sissingué project, the Ivorian government started to talk about a super profits tax.

While not denying their need to benefit from their resources, developing governments sometimes overlook the need of overseas investors to see a fair

return. So Perseus along with the rest of the world’s mining community is waiting to see what the awaited mining code will contain. However Sissingué is projected to yield 170,000 ounces of gold a year, at low cost. Adding this project to Edikan would firmly establish Perseus among the

“Adding thE Sissingué project to Edikan would firmly establish Perseus among the leading West African gold producers” be weekly | 57

Gold Room Operator cleans slag residue from a bar of gold

Perseus Mining leading West African gold producers. And there has been positive news since we last looked at Sissingué. Quartermaine is keen to proceed with building the $160 million (fully funded) mine this year with a view to starting production in the second half of 2014, gold prices notwithstanding – he says the price would have to fall many hundreds of dollars below current levels to cause problems to Perseus.

Meanwhile the company has been actively pressing forward with other drilling prospects that it hopes will sustain production in West Africa well beyond the 20 year mine life of Edikan. It has just announced encouraging results from recent exploration in Côte d’Ivoire. Its Mbengué tenement is close to the country’s largest known gold deposit and significant mineralisation has been discovered there.

Additionally early drilling at Bélé has been highly encouraging, he says: “Exploration of both Kanadi [on the Mbengué permit] and Bélé will be followed up as a matter of priority by our exploration team, as both tenements are located within trucking distance of the proposed Sissingué Gold Mine plant site. While it is still early days at both Mbengué and Mahalé these drill results appear to be very material, and if the prospects can be advanced with further drilling, it could create significant value for our shareholders.”

For more information about Perseus Mining visit: www.perseusmining.com

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grindex

THE ART OF STAYING DRY One of the strongest brands in the world for dewatering pumps, Grindex is an important partner for mining, construction and infrastructure: as part of the Xylem group it has a truly global reach

written by: John O’Hanlon research by: Marcus Lewis

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G

rindex was founded in 1940 by two Swedish engineers.

Among its earliest products was a rock grinding machine: this established the firm in the mining and construction markets; however when co-founder Bรถrje Kristensson was out selling the grinding machine, he came across a new product on the market, a submersible drainage pump. The problem with submersible pumps in the early 1960s was that they were heavy and could not run dry. Kristensson set

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about developing a lightweight pump that could run dry, thanks to a patented air valve.

The rest, as they say, is history. Grindex retained its name, but by the 1980s sold the grinding machine business and positioned itself as a specialist in dewatering pumps for many applications. Today the company is a global leader in submersible pumps for demanding applications such as construction, mining and rental. Grindex products are exported all around the world through more than 50 regional distributors.

Grindex

In 1989 Grindex set up a USA subsidiary in Chicago. The company’s current Managing Director Per Rehn went out there in 2009, two years after he joined the company, to manage a strategic expansion into the Canadian market. Having overseen the growth of sales in North America from $6 million to $10 million in the course of two years, he returned to Sweden where he now heads the global activities of Grindex AB. The year 2008 saw a major restructuring of the company. “At that time it was decided

to optimise the synergies between the different specialist pump manufacturers in the ITT group and to develop a platform upon which to develop the Grindex range along with others within the corporation,” says Rehn. This reduced the amount of overlap within the group’s product ranges, as well as introducing the sound automotive industry principle of utilising common components wherever possible.

The company closed its old office and moved to new premises in Stockholm. At

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$50 million Grindex 2012 turnover

the same time the manufacturing facilities were rationalised as well. Grindex closed its Stockholm factory and moved production to an extended manufacturing facility at Emmaboda in the Småland district of southern Sweden, with dedicated lines for the Grindex ranges. Divested of the need to run a manufacturing facility Grindex now concentrates on its sales, marketing and logistics functions and on extending its reach in overseas markets.

The new set up has been very beneficial for Grindex’s sales, its top line growing from DKK 210 million, or around $33 million in 2009, to DKK 332 million in 2012 – a little over $50 million. It will be observed that the growth in business both in the USA and globally under Rehn’s watch was achieved in the face of a global recession. However he is quick to admit that it was helped by the fact that the mining sector, one of the principal applications for the range, has expanded as softer markets have contracted.

The company, leaner after its reorganisation, retains the key advantages that established the brand. “Having been in the market since the 1960s we have a legacy of satisfaction from our customers, and of knowledgeable, experienced people working in the company.” This legacy has positioned Grindex as one of the very few

64 | be weekly

Grindex

truly global brands, its major competitors the Japanese manufacturer Tsurumi and ABS pumps, recently acquired by Sulzer.

In 2011 the water management businesses within the ITT group were combined and the new group was named Xylem – as every schoolchild should know, xylem are the waterraising filaments in trees and plants!

To illustrate the power of Grindex pumps when faced with a really challenging problem, one of the best examples comes not from Africa or Asia, but on Grindex’s doorstep in Sweden, says Rehn. In 2011 the locks of the Trollhättan canal in central Sweden needed to be upgraded, and new gates installed.

Each lock can accommodate ships up to 4,000 tonnes: they are 89 metres in length, 13 metres wide and 5.4 metres deep and hold more than 6,000 cubic metres of water.

Four locks needed emptying, so powerful and reliable pumps that could operate around the clock were essential.

Staff from Grindex’s technical department assisted the contractor Sjuntorps Industri Support AB with the sizing of the pumps.

With 37 million litres of water to be drained before work could get started, three slurry pumps, 22 drainage pumps and a sludge pump were recommended. After 25 days the project was successfully completed and the

“we have a legacy of satisfaction from our customers, and of knowledgeable, experienced people working in the company” be weekly | 65

“I think local knowledge is very important if you want to build a good relationship with the mine management� canal re-opened to shipping: the pumps were given a standard service and put back into storage awaiting the next rental project.

Mining companies are now increasingly turning to Grindex to cope with harsh conditions underground. In the largest underground copper mine in the world in Chile, Grindex Inox pumps able to pump 50 litres per second paid for themselves within months when installed to replace conventional

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end-suction pumps that were pumping only 15 litres per second and had spare part availability problems. The mine needed to reclaim copper from the water rather than just send it to the treatment plant. Grindex’s exclusive distributor for the Chilean market, Santiago-based ACH, provides a maintenance contract where the pumps are pulled out for preventive maintenance every 2,000 hours and replaced by stand-in pumps. The

Grindex

preventive maintenance avoids unscheduled stops and more expensive repairs and the total maintenance cost is cut drastically.

To keep up not just with the volume growth in mining but also its geographical expansion, Per Rehn wants to refocus his team and his resources onto emerging markets. This approach has paid off in Latin America through hiring people resident in Sweden but born and raised in Central and South America. “They are versed in the culture, know the local languages and understand the way business is done in these markets. I think local knowledge of this sort is very important if you want to build a good relationship with the mine management.”

There are Australian, Russians and people from South-east Asia in Grindex working

alongside local distributors to penetrate these markets. “It is our strategy to make full use of distributors in most of our markets – we do not have our own sales teams in the field except in USA and even there we appoint regional distributors too.” Appointing a distributor is a long-term commitment, he adds. “We consider ourselves very entrepreneurial, and we like to encourage a similar spirit in our distributors. In response we try to listen to them and respond in a flexible way when they suggest improvements, something they appreciate.”

For more information about Grindex visit: www.grindex.com

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proudly serving the PRECIOUS METAL Assaying, Smelting and Refining Industries since 1959

A 3rd generation family owned business with a proud and long standing tradition of being an innovator in the industry and a manufacturer of quality, reliable equipment and consumable products

T

he “KEEGOR”® brand name is registered to Leonard Light Industries (Pty) Ltd, and has become synonymous with the quality, durability and efficiency that the precious metal Assaying and Refining industry demands of its suppliers, ensuring their integrity and reputation is upheld to the highest order (both as individual clients and as an industry combined).

Designing and manufacturing our “KEEGOR”® brand products, we have

“ We provide on-site start-up assistance and commissioning of our equipment on 6 continents” 68 | be directory

steadily grown to become a leading supplier both locally and worldwide.

We relish a challenge and recent unique milestone achievements include: • Design and commissioning of a multipour Assay Crucible system which pours a full furnace batch (up to 84 pots, dependent on size), in a single automated operation (simply at the push of a button). A single rig can service multiple furnaces, making it a cost effective option - especially for larger laboratories.

• Complete containerised gold mine laboratory installation.

We have a diverse range of products including equipment and consumables for Assay Laboratories & Smelting and Refining.

LEONARD LIGHT INDUSTRIES (PTY) Ltd

ASSAY LABORATORIES: • Assay Laboratory Equipment From small laboratory furnaces, consumables and hardware to complete containerised laboratories.

• Fusion Furnaces Electric, gas or diesel fired – in a range of sizes.

• Cupellation Furnaces Electric, gas or diesel fired – in a range of sizes.

• Sample Preparation Equipment Sample Drying Equipment, Crushers, Pulverisers, Sample Splitters.

• Consumables Cupels and other consumables.

SMELTING AND REFINING: • Calcining/Drying Ovens In a range of sizes and configurations.

• Smelting Furnaces From small gas/diesel fired Smelters to Induction and Arc Furnace Installations.

• Molten Metal And Slag Handling Equipment Bar Moulds, Slag Moulds and

Slag Granulation Systems.

Leonard Light Industries (Pty) Ltd P.O. Box 5080 Benoni South, 1502 Republic of South Africa T + 27 11 421-0711 / 2 / 3 E info@keegor.co.za www.keegor.co.za

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Included The BE Mining Directory showcases leading mining organisations from across the world, ranging from big corporations to junior mines and their supply chains.

Be seen throughout our portfolio of magazines: • BE Mining Directory • BE Mining • BE Weekly • BE Monthly •

To find out how to get involved contact: vincent@bus-ex.com