COVER STORY
TOP LEFT & RIGHT Liviero's first process plant under construction
is vibrant, and we believe there is plenty of opportunity to take on new contracts in this specific area of the mining field, particularly in light of the Medupi and Kusile power stations coming on stream in the next two years,” Cloete reveals. And while its main focus remains in South Africa, the company is perfectly comfortable evaluating opportunities and taking on new business across border within the SADC region in countries such as Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique. “The intention is to be smart and patient. Mozambique holds ample opportunity for us, but remains severely restricted by infrastructure challenges. Achieving success in Africa is all about evaluating potential, understanding risk and getting the timing right.” “Ultimately, we have every confidence of becoming a mid-tier opencast mining contractor, focused specifically on coal but open to hard rock mining applications as well.” Nehan Deysel joined Liviero in 2012 as Liviero Mining’s director-in-charge. Deysel is an opencast mining expert, having work previously at Sentula (Scharrighuisen
at the time) and MCC, one of the largest opencast mining contractors in Africa. Liviero may be considered a junior mining contractor, but its fleet is impressive and boasts Liebherr’s largest excavator: a 250 t machine, which is large, even for big multinationals operating in the opencast market. The Vanggatfontein fleet on-site – as new as the contract itself – includes 12 Cat 777 rigid trucks, 100 t class machines recognised for their heavy-duty capabilities and 24 Volvo A40 (40 t payload) ADTs. The majority of its excavators are Liebherrs.
Liviero Plant Cloete says: “Our policy is to own our plant and equipment, which is valued in excess of R700 million. We associate with worldclass brands, including Cat, Liebherr and Volvo, which we believe is key to ensuring Liviero itself is recognised as an outstanding brand. These are global companies with the highest reputations. Their machines are tested in the global market and they deliver high standards of back-up support. “We also have a strategic replacement strategy for our fleet, which includes keeping it modern and in line with current trends and demands. Maintaining our fleet properly to ensure it delivers the best
The perfect combination – Neil Cloete and Luca Liviero Cloete is no stranger to the construction and mining industry, having previously fulfilled the role of MD at Aveng Grinaker-LTA. Liviero chairman, Luca Liviero (the son of the founder, Giosue Liviero), together with his right hand man, Cloete, has grown the company organically in the past two years. “My appointment and position has provided Luca with the time and energy
“We hav have ve every confidence of becoming a mid-t ie opencast mining contractor, mid-tier ffocused ocused do on coal, but open to hard rock m in nin as well.” Neil Cloete, group CEO mining t focus fo ocu on exploring new growth avenues. Working closely to toge eth together, we have also provided the Liviero group with stability and d focused fo and heavily on attracting talent into the organisation and d putting p and the right systems and governance in place. The comb combination of all these business elements enables us to deliv e deliver to our clients’ needs and simultaneously grow the co om company,” Cloete explains.
10 INS I DE MI NI N G 0 9 | 2 0 1 3
production deliverables is, however, equally as important. It is all about finding the right balance; something we are achieving thanks to Liviero Plant, whose sole responsibility is to manage and maintain our fleet.”
Liviero Building and Civils The company’s mining exposure and project work extends to every Liviero operating company, including its foundation business units of Liviero Building and Liviero Civils. “Our civils mining portfolio is also achieving respectable growth levels as our client list ranges from mining juniors to mining majors.” The company is currently building a largescale water processing plant that will convert Witbank coal mine water into a potable drinking product. This project falls on the back of Liviero’s first entire mining process plant project, which it completed a few years back for platinum junior Platmin’s Pilanesburg project on the Bushveld Complex Western Limb. “We successfully completed the civil work surface infrastructure for Wesizwe Platinum’s new Bakubung platinum mine, specifically the heavy civils work for the shaft collars and pre-sink requirements. In addition, we have constructed a 24 km overland conveyor, a 12 km access road and various internal civil works (reservoirs, pipework, platforms, etc.) for Sasol Mining’s greenfield Impumelelo coal project,” adds Liviero Civils’s MD, Stuart Knight. “Ultimately, we want our mining brand and capabilities out there. We now offer the industry a one-stop-shop service through our various business units, from earthworks and civils through to building, mining and even rehabilitation. Unlike some of our competitors, we are small enough to provide our customers with individual attention, but big enough to deliver projects of any scale. We have retained our family business values, which focus on being adaptive, flexible, entrepreneurial, quick on decision-making, safety conscious and less bureaucratic,” Cloete sums up.