Explosives technology and initiating systems supplier AEL Mining Services reports that gold mining companies operating in African countries can benefit from using local labour, and manufacturing products and infrastructure on site.

“Using local skills in mining projects across Africa can have huge positive effects for both the mining house, mining services suppliers and for the local economy itself. As a result, this should become a key focus for South African companies when exploring new regions,” says AEL Mining Services MD Mark Benning.

“There is a mindset when working in some African regions that no one will be able to produce what you need locally, so mining services companies come back to South Africa and then ship the goods, often at a great cost to the client,” says Benning.

“For example, at a project in Egypt in 2012 – an upgrade of a gold mine in Sukari – we needed to construct two 70 t silos. Previously, we only had silos this size at our main South African site in Modderfontein. However, we discussed the scope of the project with an engineering company in Cairo and engaged them to construct and erect the silos,” notes Benning, who adds that it was far more cost effective to construct the silos locally, thereby negating the need to ship them to the site.

Further, by constructing the silo’s on-site, the risk of damage during transportation was reduced and the delivery time shortened considerably, providing far more flexibility in terms of start dates.

“Timing is crucial on large-scale mining projects, so to be able to shorten this by such a large margin also means that the mining house can start production sooner, thereby making the project profitable earlier,” he says.

In addition, if a South African mining services supplier buys products on behalf of a client and ships them to the destination, it can add an additional cost of between $4/kg and $5/kg. The cost of this for two 70 t silos, as with other infrastructure that needs to be shipped, adds a considerable cost to a project.

Benning notes that using local skills is not just restricted to the infrastructure of the project concerned but also the human capital element, and one can find skills, experience and products locally if you spend sufficient time looking and often this will be far more cost effective for the client compared to bringing in noncore foreign contractors.

He says that language is not necessarily an issue. “While it helps to have a common language, the reality is that the senior contractors used in a region will often speak English and can communicate to other employees. “Further, the more of the work you actually do in-country, including making use of local skills, the more positive are the impacts on the economy and for the citizens,” notes Benning.

He says the fact that the safety of employees is crucial to mining projects, is one possible reason that some suppliers want to rely solely on their own employees, as they have already been extensively trained in health and safety.

“It is a challenge to instil a sense of safety among local employees in a new region; however, on the Sukari project we had a wide range of South Africans and Egyptians, all from different backgrounds, who worked together and took the message of safety on board. “Every day started with a meeting that created awareness of the importance of safety, ensuring that there were no recordable accidents,” Benning adds.

“If a region is new to a company, it is easy to fall into the stereotypical way of doing things by spending money in South Africa and then shipping goods, but one can often find a range of local suppliers, products and skills. The more you make use of in-country expertise, not only does running the business become easier, but there are a myriad of benefits you bring to the client and the local economy,” he concludes.

Although AEL Mining has a well-devel-oped sub-Saharan network of operational hubs, the group has identified opportunities for growth in North Africa. With an estalished presence in Egypt since 2009, owing to its bulk operation at the Sukari gold mine, located in the Eastern Desert of Egypt about 23 km south-west of the Red Sea, the focus is on identifying and developing opportunities in the five countries comprising the Maghreb region to the west of Egypt, namely Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania.

AEL offers the latest value-adding blasting technologies and solutions to enhance and increase safety, productivity and cost effectiveness at mining operations.

The cradle-to-grave approach includes a supply chain sourcing and delivering from around the globe, relieving the client of all the onerous legal aspects associated with the shipping of products.