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De Beers’ R20bn investment to increase workforce at Venetia by 3 000

13th December 2013

By: Anine Kilian

Contributing Editor Online

  

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South Africa’s largest diamond producer, the opencast Venetia opera- tion, in Limpopo, will increase its workforce by 3 000 employees in the next seven years on the back of owner De Beers South Africa’s R20-billion investment announced in October.

The investment will be used to extend the life of the mine beyond 2040 and replace the openpit with an underground operation.

Speaking at the launch of the underground construction phase of the mine in October, De Beers Venetia mine GM Ludwig von Maltitz said 1 215 people were currently employed at Venetia and, combined with the underground per- sonnel, the permanent staff complement amounted to 1 300.

“That number will dramatically increase as we introduce construction contractors such as Murray & Roberts, Group Five and TWP,” he said, pointing out that an additional 1 342 contract workers were currently employed at the mine.

“We currently have 2 500 people working at the mine, including contracting personnel and, over the next three to four years, we will introduce another 1 500 employees. “This means the mine will peak in terms of personnel during the construction phase of the underground shaft at more than 4 000 employees. This number will come down again as we transition our operations from openpit to underground,” he noted.

Von Maltitz added that employees currently working for the mine would have the opportunity to switch to work- ing underground and that, once the mine stabilises, De Beers would be in a position to increase its permanent staff complement.

Underground Phase
Von Maltitz explained that underground output at Venetia was forecast to start in 2021 and that the below-surface operation would replace the openpit operation as South Africa’s biggest diamond mine.

He added that the main shaft and the service shaft would be in close proximity to each other and they would have two return air passes for the ventilation shafts to ensure the constant circulation of fresh air underground.

“We are currently mining three-million carats a year and, once we are underground, production will increase to six-million tons of kimberlite a year,” he noted.

Von Maltitz said the perimeter length of the pit was 6 300 m and comprised 204 ha, adding that De Beers would leave the area in the state in which it had been before mining operations started and that the pit area would be fenced in when the life-of-mine ended.

Legacy
Von Maltitz stated that De Beers wanted to make a contribution to the community by leaving a lasting legacy once mining in the area ceased.

He pointed out that the company had a student leadership commitment pro- gramme stipulating that De Beers had to work together with municipalities in the area in terms of local government integrated development plans, which included infrastructure development, education and enterprise development.

“In the sphere of enterprise development, we want to establish businesses that can sustain themselves so that, once mining comes to an end, these businesses will be able to exist without the economic support of the mine,” Von Maltitz said, adding that De Beers funded promising businesses at a rate of 6%.

“We launched this initiative in 2011 and have created 300 jobs to date. We have also established 17 small, medium-sized and microenterprises and, last year, we had a recovery rate of 100%, meaning that the businesses were doing so well that all of them were able to service their loans,” he said.

Von Maltitz pointed out that there were flash floods in the area in the middle of the year owing to the 445 mm of rainfall it received in seven days, which affected some of the agricultural businesses.

“This area usually gets 350 mm of rain a year and the resulting effects were detrimental, not only to the busi- nesses we support but also to the mine. Businesses took an economic knock, but those businesses are recovering now,” he concluded.

Edited by Samantha Herbst
Creamer Media Deputy Editor

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