Arnot OpCo

ARNOT OPCO

2 | Africa Outlook issue 91

MINING

B

roadly speaking, the mining industry in Africa is gigantic.

The continent is a major producer of several minerals, such as gold, diamond, iron ore, copper, and bauxite, from a number of rich reserves spanning multiple countries.

Thanks to its station as the second largest continent, encompassing approximately 11.7 million miles of land and consequently a large u q antity of resources (accounting for around 30 percent of global reserves), mineral mining industry is in fact the largest on the globe.

Mining remains key to the economic growth of many countries, and within the continent, the e D mocratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a N mibia, iZ mbabwe, and South Africa, stand as hosting the largest mining production industries above all others.

COMMUNITY

COAL

htiW -elpo cirtne seulav ta eht traeh fo sti ,snoitarep ew kaeps ot Boeltn Ap,enah CEO fo Arton OpC,o tuoba eht ynapmoc dna sti ciro t s h t nemhsilba sa eht t s rif -ytinumoc denwo laoc enim ni htuoS Afacir

rW iter: Marcus Käpä | Project Manager: Joshu

Africa Outlook issue 91 | 3

ISO 9001 certified

16 years of experience Offers a comprehensive range of services to mines, power stations, government agencies and corporate clients across SA and neighbouring countries PRODUCTS & SERVICES INDUSTRIAL CLEANING, ENGINEERING & MAINTENANCE, DESIGN & MANUFACTURE, PURIFICATION,

CIVIL ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION, PLANT HIRE.

+27 (0)12 6641614 | info@mmakgogegroup.com

ARNOT OPCO Within South Africa, the mining sector remains one of the world’s largest producers of many resources (chrome, platinum and manganese to name a few), as well as being within the top five largest exporters of coal as of 2020. In the country’s coal mining space, open-pit mining accounts for around 50 percent of all operations, with the other half being subterranean, owned and operated by various coal mining companies.

SOUTH AFRICAN MINING: A HISTORY Due to its subtropical climate and varying topography, South Africa has always been a country rich with natural resources. In fact, the growth of the nation’s early economy in part stemmed from the discovery of diamond and gold reserves, such as those in the northeast region of Cape Town and were of such importance that the annexation of these resource-rich areas factored towards the First Boer War, leading to South African independence at a later date.

At present, despite South Africa’s diamond and gold mines having waned proportionally in the industry from the late 1800s, the nation still has an abundance of alternative resources that are used both internally and exported throughout Africa and overseas. Coal is a prime example of this, and it not only makes up a substantial amount of the nation’s mineral exports, but also provides the large majority of South Africa’s energy needs.

6 | Africa Outlook issue 91

Arnot Coal Mine was transferred under the new ownership and management of Arnot OpCo (Pty) Ltd in 2019

ARNOT OPCO Previously owned by Exxaro - one of the leviathans of South African coal mining - Arnot OpCo stands as a unique player within the space.

The Arnot Coal Mine, located in Middelburg, Mpumalanga Province, with reserves amounting to 192 million tonnes of coking coal; one of the largest coal reserves in Africa and the world, was transferred under the new ownership and management of Arnot OpCo (Pty) Ltd in 2019. At present, 1,038 retrenched employees now hold a stake in the Arnot Colliery, and the mine is driven towards the future of holistic sustainability within the mining industry.

“Arnot OpCo is a coal mining company with one of the best remaining ore bodies in the country,” Bontle Aphane, CEO of the company, explains. “The quality of our ore body enables us to produce multi products

that can be sold to both the domestic and the export market.

“Our transport infrastructure (rail and conveyor belt) gives us a significant competitive advantage from a pricing point of view in the market. We sit in a unique position in that we can compete with the majors from an infrastructure and multi-product point of view, and at the same time compete with the juniors from a cost production point of view.

Our lean and flat organisational structure allows us to be agile from a decision-making perspective, which is extremely important for cost control.”

The Arnot Coal Mine, the years-long coal supplier to the nearby Arnot Power Plant, resumed operations in 2020, following the closure of the mine in 2015 after a coal supply agreement with Eskom expired. With the expertise surrounding the colliery now coming from the recognised mining company Wescoal Holdings, the Arnot Coal Mine broke new ground in the South African mining industry when 50 percent of the mine’s ownership was transferred to former employees on Workers’ Day 2019.

M

makgoge Group is a woman-owned sole proprietary that was established in 2005. The company offers a comprehensive range of services under one unifying umbrella. The company’s head office is situated in Centurion, with branches in Rustenburg, Witbank, Gauteng, Lephalale and Free State.

Mmakgoge Group offers a 24/7 service to it’s clients across South Africa as well as neighbouring African countries, following a zero tolerance approach with regards to safety, while further striving to maintain the highest standard of service to ensure optimal client satisfaction. The company is run based on a foundation of faith, with the values of integrity, dignity and honesty at the core of its operations. We also value diverse cultures and respect each other’s differences.

Our mission is to establish and maintain the company as a leader in the construction, logistics and industrial cleaning and engineering sectors. The products and services we offer are as follows:

INDUSTRIAL CLEANING • Plant cleaning at power stations • Dam cleaning, desludging & dredging • Ponds (oil & water) cleaning • Mechanical maintenance

ENGINEERING & MAINTENANCE • Power Stations & Mines plant maintenance • Conveyor Structure installation & maintenance • Conveyor belt maintenance • Pumps & valve refurbishment • HVAC, boilers, turbine, dust plant, electrostatic precipitators, smelters, furnaces • Water treatment plant • Cooling Towers • HP heaters & condenser tubes • Fire systems

DESIGN & MANUFACTURE • RO and water treatment plants • Ion Exchange processes • Design, manufacture & commissioning of chutes, ash hoppers and bunkers • Dust handling plant • Activated sludge processes

CIVIL ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION

PURIFICATION • Water treatment • Mining activities • Operation of plants • Industrial effluent processes • Solar powered plants

• Building works for schools, office blocks, commercial and industrial buildings • Lining of dams • Maintenance of roads • Earthworks • Storm water and drainage system • Refurbishment of schools, hospitals

PLANT HIRE • Vacuum trucks • Skid steers • Front-end loaders • Pumps • High pressure machines

Some of our previous projects completed include the construction of RDP houses in Gauteng, boiler repairs and maintenance as well as maintenance, repairs and servicing of HVAC systems for the Free State department of Health. We also worked on the construction of a multi-storey building for Garankuwa Nursing College, oil purification services at Eskom power stations as well as construction of sewer and stormwater reticulation and roads for Gauteng department of Human Settlements. We also run an engineering workshop that handles structural work and pipe fittings, replacements and fabrications.

Mmakgoge Group is a level 1 Generic BBBEE company Mmakgoge Group is a level 9MEPE, 9GBPE and 8CE with CIDB Mmakgoge Group is ISO 9001 certified

T +27 (0)12 664161

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E info@mmakgogegroup.com

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www.mmakgogegroup.com

ARNOT OPCO UNIQUE IN THE INDUSTRY For the first time in the history of South Africa, a mine is owned by its former employees and community.

Arnot OpCo have a shared value model in terms of integrating with the community, green energy and partnerships with all other stakeholders. The company’s unique BBBEE structure allows it to have support from both government and local communities, resulting in a stable operation with little to no community and employee unrest.

“Since we took over operations in February 2020, we have not experienced any community or employee unrest, which is an achievement we are extremely proud of given the current economic climate in the country,” Aphane elaborates.

“At the moment, nothing is as normal.

With COVID-19, the pandemic has had a significant impact on businesses, the economy and healthcare at large.

With this came significant challenges not only for the mining industry, but a lot of closures of retail, transport companies and lots of retrenchments happened because of this.

“It is now more critical for entrepreneurs to create opportunities to help the government create jobs.

It gives me pride to be where we are today as a company - we chose to transform and participate actively in the ownership of the sector we operate in. A major obstacle for junior mining companies in South Africa, is the issue of raising finance. Funders see you for what you do not have rather than for what you have to offer which is the drive to succeed. We can fix our issues if we do not give up – if we work together and push ahead.”

This notion of collaboration runs deep in Arnot OpCo, and alongside this, the health and wellbeing of people associated is a core aspect of the company. Arnot OpCo is

Ritluka Current projects Underground projects – Ritluka has been at Exxaro’s Underground Coal Mine for over three years, providing excellent and valuable services.

These services have included the following : Roof and Pillar Support; Belt Maintenance; Road Building and Maintenance; Dyke Drilling and Blasting; and Contract Mining.

CSI Projects Ritluka prides itself on the uplifting of the communities in which it operates.

Late last year Ritluka participated in the donations of sewing machines and car washing equipments to a local sewing company and local car wash.

RUWO is a women’s organisation that takes care of all local elderly women in Thubelihle. Ritluka has joined forces with the organisation to help uplift the most vulnerable.

BONTLE APHANE CAREER AT A GLANCE Bontle Aphane began her career at Exxaro as a graduate in electrical engineering. She was introduced to the coal mining industry as a student as part of the Exxaro bursary programme, and upon completion of the programme, she registered as a professional engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa, as well as completed her Government Certificate of Competence for Mines.

Throughout her career, Aphane has worked in mining operations managing various day-to-day activities in order to meet production and cost targets, as well as having worked in project management, where she managed single to multi-disciplinary engineering projects.

In 2016, Aphane embarked on an entrepreneurial journey, together with some of her previous colleagues, to work towards the reopening of the Arnot Mine. It was through this process that she is now the CEO of Arnot OpCo, overseeing the commissioning of the entire mining operation, and of course, the company’s future growth and success. www.ritluka.co.za

8 | Africa Outlook issue 91

We are Ritluka Resources, a wholly black-owned company that offers a variety of mining, construction, and trading services in South Africa and neighbouring countries.

Founded in 2016 as a technical services company, we have grown to become one of the significant players in both opencast and underground coal contract mining space having just over 400 employees currently in our organisation.

Our organization is subdivided into 4 pillars:

Opencast Contract Mining

Underground Contract Mining

Technical Services

Resources and Reserves

+27 (0)13 591 0132 | info@ritluka.co.za | www.ritluka.co.za

ARNOT OPCO

“ARNOT OPCO IS A COAL MINING COMPANY WITH ONE OF THE BEST REMAINING ORE BODIES IN THE COUNTRY” - BONTLE APHANE, CEO, ARNOT OPCO committed to the health and safety of all its employees, shareholders, suppliers, their families and the community surrounding where it operates.

INDUSTRY COLLABORATION Despite the turbulence caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Arnot OpCo remains optimistic in its operations.

The company has an upcoming Coal Supply Agreement (CSA) with Eskom, a South African electricity public utility company, that will be a longterm coal supply agreement between the two businesses intended for Arnot OpCo to provide coal for the next 10 years.

“Once this comes through, the doors are wide open for us!” Aphane affirms.

“As part of the agreement, Arnot OpCo will deliver coal to Eskom’s Arnot power station through conveyor belts.

This method of delivery will minimise costs for the both of us.”

This project is a big boost for the 10 | Africa Outlook issue 91

mining company, ex-employees, and Middelburg’s neighbouring community, where Arnot OpCo operates. As well as restarting the mine, the company made a decision to continue with the rehabilitation of the old workings, have completed the bulk of the surface rehabilitation, and are looking into reuse of the land, such as agriculture and solar plant installations. And throughout its operations, it is the people and the community that remain the core of Arnot OpCo’s focus and mission.

“I am super proud of our team, the growth that I have seen in them since we started is amazing,” Aphane says. “There’s been a level of trust, transparency and endurance since we took on this journey to re-establish the mine.

“As shareholders, our team is empowered to hold themselves accountable for the success of the business which will directly benefit them. We all want the same thing, for

Innovators Resources Taking into consideration the green technology as the future of the humanity, Innovators Resources (Pty) Ltd intends to move into the renewable energy arena as part of its long-term planning.

To enhance the above long-term objective, Innovators Resources is opened to partnership with possible industry players in green energy.

Our short terms vision is to continue into fossil energy taking into consideration all strict regulations currently in place in order to reduce the levels of emission.

Hence both Local South African and Global partners are more than welcome to move together on the path of future success into fossil and green energy technology.

paul@innovatorsresources.co.za

MINING

Quality Service Excellence Buckhamburg is a mining and engineering company that provides turnkey projects and contracts management services. Our business offerings extend to surface and underground mining-related services.

23 Ruth Street, Trichardt admin@buckhamburg.com

www.buckhamburg.com

Our mining approach uses innovation, academic and industry experience, together with the latest computer aided design and analysis tools to provide the most reliable and efficient turnkey mining solutions.

Underground Coal Mining

Surface Coal Mining

Mining Consultancy

Rehabilitation

CONTACT PERSON: PAUL KASONGO Paul Kasongo Executive chairman and CEO at IR

E-MAIL: PAUL@INNOVATORSRESOURCES.CO.ZA CONTACT NO. 083-461-6415

Innovators Resources consists of a team with combined professional skills covering Mining, Engineering, Finance, Business Improvement, Geology, Human Resources, Physical Asset Management, Procurement and Project Management.

Africa Outlook issue 91 | 11

ARNOT OPCO

ARNOT OPCO AN OVERVIEW LOCATION: Rietkuil, 43 kilometres east of Middelburg, 65 kilometres north-west of Carolina and 25 kilometres north of Hendrina along the N4 Highway, Mpumalanga Province, RSA, eastern edge of the Witbank Coalfield.

COAL RESOURCE (SAMREC COMPLIANT): 153.9 megatonnes (Mt) mineable tonnes in-situ (MTIS), with 118Mt on a measured resource category - coal resources reported inclusive of coal reserves.

COAL RESERVE (SAMREC COMPLIANT): 48.2Mt (ROM MTIS).

COAL SEAMS: Seam two lower - 97.5 percent (underground and opencast), and seam one - 2.5 percent (Opencast).

RAW ROM QUALITIES (AIR DRIED BASIS): Ash: 21.07 percent, CV: 23.89 megajoules per kilogramme (MJ/kg), inherent moisture: 3.96 percent, volatile matter content: 26.49 percent, DAFV: 33.56 percent, total sulphur content: 0.89 percent.

COMPANY VALUES: • Community involvement and investment • Green energy through sustainable processes • Partnerships between individuals • Transformation on a business and personal scale

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this to work and we understand that a lot of people and the community are looking up to us to make this a success.”

Arnot OpCo’s unique place as historically the first community and employee-owned operational mining company stands as a testament to its ability to maintain a peoplecentric company. The Arnot OpCo team is not only driven to succeed by their individual and collective efforts to grow and benefit from their endeavours, but they are also fuelled by the knowledge that they represent the first of a new kind of mine. This is one that turns away from corporate standardisation within the industry and towards each individual as a key part of its function as well as ownership; a refreshing new take on a mining operation.

For Arnot OpCo and the people that make it work, this personal stake and leadership, as well as communal environment, collectively brings to the fore

TLG Commercial Sourcing Arnot OPCO is one of those clients whereby we created a bespoke SCM operation which continues till this day to drive the attainment of the mines objectives of being a low-cost producer whilst staying true to its founding value of being an employee run and employee empowering mine.

Make TLG your partner of choice, our unique Procurement and Supply Chain Management approach to consulting ensures value realisation for our clients.

Visit our website to find out more in regards to our value proposition and what we can do for you.

www.tlgsourcing.co.za

MINING

Business Trading Hours Monday - Thursday 08:00 - 16:30 Friday - 08:00 -15:00 Saturday - Closed Sunday - Closed

“Consultants a fruitless waste” Sabelo Skiti, M&G Data Desk 28 Jun 2019 The Auditor General in South Africa has noted how South African Municipalities continue to spend more money on consultants whilst there is little improvement to show for all these investments into consultants.

Since its formation in 2012 TLG Commercial Sourcing and Consultancy Service (Pty) Ltd has set its self a goal of doing consultancy different, we get paid on value delivered. We are a client centric firm that focuses on extracting value for our clients, our model ensures that our clients have a vested interest in our survival due to the value add we provide to them.

TLG Commercial Sourcing & Consulting Services (PTY) Ltd Unit 11 & 12 Ground Floor, Block A Corobay Corner 169 Corobay Avenue, Menlyn 0181 Tel 012- 012 5139 Work Mobile 082 859 2629 Fax +27 (0)86 476 6892 Email info@tlgsourcing.co.za www.tlgsourcing.co.za

Providing Mining Solutions NRR offers the following services:

CCTV

BIOMETRICS

Offsite Monitoring | Analogue Solutions | IP Cameras | Full Site Assessment | Project Management | Site Specification & Design

Live Scan & Facial Recognition | Turnkey Solutions | Fingerprint Solutions | Access Control | Time & Attendance | Desktop Biometric Security

• Exploration management, geological modelling, geo-hydrological modelling, geotechnical services, competent person’s reports • Mine designs, production scheduling and financial analysis of mining projects • Operational reviews; productivity improvement and cost cutting initiatives • Due diligence studies to provide the seller/ buyer of a mining resource or company with an accurate indication of the value of assets to be sold or bought • Project financial evaluations • Equipment selection and fleet estimation

SECURITY

Electric Fencing | Beams | RFID | Alarm Systems | Metal Detectors | X-Ray Machines

Get in Touch +27 79 127 4122 | chi@lakatso.com | www.lakatso.co.za

• Technical partners to business rescue practitioners 4th Floor, The Firs, Cnr Bierman and Cradock Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg, 2196 T +27 (0)11 759 4225 | C +27 (0)73 648 9599 info@nrrmining.com | www.nrrmining.com

Africa Outlook issue 91 | 13

ARNOT OPCO

Arnot Primary School of South African mining a company that works for the people over the organisation, while trying to do its best for the environment along the way.

A CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY Arnot OpCo is committed to empowering and investing meaningfully in the communities it operates in. The company’s journey has helped to revive the economy of the communities surrounding the mine at a time when so many jobs had been lost.

“Arnot OpCo’s communities have experienced what happens when a mine does not operate; and they understand that they will benefit if this business works,” Aphane tells us.

“Education is where real change starts. We recently handed over additional classrooms at Arnot Colliery Primary School in Sikhululiwe Village, an informal mining settlement in the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality, Mpumalanga. We 14 | Africa Outlook issue 91

Ribbon cutting at Arnot Primary School

partnered with Exxaro in this initiative, and this project alone created 64 job opportunities for people in our communities, and 180 local children now have access to education.”

For Arnot OpCo, this represents

a significant triumph in fighting the triple threat of poverty, unemployment and inequality within the areas and communities in which it operates.

MINING

Arnot Opco staff

MOVING FORWARD Looking ahead, Arnot OpCo’s main focus will be achieving stable sustainable production from both the company’s open-pit and underground mines, at the lowest cost to production possible, at the same time as ensuring the business is resilient during unfavourable market conditions by maintaining cost control methods.

“The company will then look into how we optimise our production based on lessons learned,” Aphane

informs us. “The focus after achieving optimised stable production at a low cost of production, will be to grow the business organically. We’ve got one of the best remaining ore bodies in the country, it will be important for us to upgrade the processing plant in order to produce multiple products and maximise sales.”

On top of this, Arnot OpCo’s alternative upcoming investments include looking into the reuse of rehabilitated land in partnership with communities as part of its contribution to a cleaner

environment. For Arnot OpCo, people, the community and environmental welfare are at the forefront of its operations in the present and into the future.

Tel: +2711 065 9224 talktous@arnotopco.com www.arnotopco.com

Africa Outlook issue 91 | 15

ARNOT OPCO Spaces Broadacres Willow Wood Office Park Cnr 3rd Ave & Cedar Road Fourways, Johannesburg Tel: +2711 065 9224 talktous@arnotopco.com www.arnotopco.com

PRODUCED BY AFRICA OUTLOOK MAGAZINE