Mining contractor Concor Opencast Mining, a division of construction firm Murray & Roberts Construc- tion, tells Mining Weekly that, in addition to its opencast mining services, it is considering venturing into chemical and hot-waste handling, with the possible addition of slimes handling services, in the next six to 12 months.

Concor Opencast Mining has the capacity to undertake small- to medium-sized projects and those which involve moving up to one-million cubic metres a month through its range of opencast mining services, including the opencast mining of steeply dipping orebodies, prestripping, strip mining, the removal of overburden, surface blasting design and execution, rehabilitation and box-cut development, with particular experience in narrow orebodies.

The company is a low-cost producer, specifi- cally in the hard-rock mining environment of platinum, as it has years of experience and has benchmarked its work in this environment.

“With a reasonable South African market share in opencast contract mining services, Concor Opencast Mining enables its clients to use its specialist equipment and skills at mining operations, as opposed to spending an unnecessarily large sum of capital on buying its own equipment,” says Concor Opencast Mining civil construction COO Chris Botha.

As Concor Opencast Mining owns a large part of its own equipment it reduces the capital requirement of its clients. The company operates a large fleet of machinery and, when required, can extend its existing fleet to meet the specific requirements of a project.

The company’s fleet includes excavators as large as 120 t and dumpers as large as 100 t. The fleet has recently been upgraded to include three 375 dozers, a 120 t excavator and four 55 t rigid dumpers, notes Botha.

He adds that an advantage of using contract mining services is that the services can be requested when needed, as most mining houses do not have the full capability to undertake specialist opencast mining services in-house.

Contract mining companies also offer the added benefit of ensuring that specialised skills and equipment are used on a project. Contract mining may also benefit the miner, as it may reduce labour risks on the mine.

“Murray & Roberts is a Mining Qualifica- tions Authority- and South African Bureau of Standards-approved training organisation and provides in-house training, supported by external service providers, and a practical underground mining training facility at Murray & Roberts Cementation’s Bentley Park facility, near Carletonville,” says Botha.

The company’s safety management system is aligned with the ISO 9001 quality management systems standard, the ISO 14001 environmental management system standard and the OHSAS 18000 international assessment standard for occupational health and safety.

Botha believes mining houses will benefit from partnering with Murray & Roberts Construction’s services, as the company possesses a broad skills and equipment base, including maritime infrastructure, civil and building construction, roadworks and earthworks and can, therefore, offer a combined solution to most of its clients.

“Not only do we offer opencast mining services to our mining clients, but we can also provide solutions and services with regard to the relocation of services, the building of road infrastructure and new housing developments for the miner, as a result of mine development,” highlights Botha.

Meanwhile, he believes that despite the state of contract mining in South Africa not being at its most prosperous, it is not at its worst. “There is a lot of activity in terms of feasibility studies and budget price exercises, but the sector can only expect to return to its former glory when the commodity prices, rand/dollar exchange rate and labour unrest uncertainties subside, as investor concerns are still restricting many mining investment opportunities.

Concor Opencast Mining is in a growth phase, during which the company primarily aims to service South Africa and the surrounding countries, says Botha.

“In the longer term, we aim to venture across borders into the Southern African Development Community, but this will be on a selective basis, owing to the risks and political instability that some of the other African countries face. We will also undertake work in African countries based on our existing clients’ requirements,” he says.

Concor Opencast Mining is working on six projects this year, spread across the platinum, coal and iron-ore sector, from Limpopo to the Northern Cape.