JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Gold mining company Aurous Resources, which has been ticking away quietly off the radar with its revived Blyvooruitzicht and Doornfontein gold mines, is looking to adding 1 000 more employment opportunities in the near term.

Both the Blyvooruitzicht mine, which was established in 1937, and the Doornfontein mine, established in 1947, are located 70 km to 80 km west of Johannesburg, near Carletonville.

Aurous, founded by CEO Richard Floyd, is looking to grow its current production of around 25 000 oz of gold a year, which is achieved with a workforce of close to 2 000 people.

“We're just shy of 2 000 at this point, with near-term plans to add an additional 1 000. Ultimately, that will go up a further 1 000, so a doubling over the next five years, and largely from the local community, over 90%.

“So, really proud of that, and it has been, over the last decade, a real loyal, committed, driven, skilled, and safe workforce, and we really have a great chemistry and a great synergy,” an upbeat Floyd said of his employees, who have seen to the delivery of well over two tons of gold to South Africa’s Rand Refinery.

Following the initial reestablishment phase, growth plans have been coming to fruition amid Aurous’ focus on unlocking long-term value. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Mining Weekly: What did you see about these assets that perhaps others did not see?

Floyd: It's fundamentally about counter cyclical investing. Gold price was weak in that era. South Africa was in a different space politically and economically, and both of those have had a more recent turnaround. Ultimately, we saw incredible, massive sunk costs in the investment of the underground. Access to the orebodies over 40 000 meters of underground development worth billions, which massively reduced the forward-looking cost to roll out the ramp-up production that we currently are undertaking, and ultimately having the conviction and the long-term mindset in the commodity, as well as the jurisdiction, despite the naysayers.

You’ve often said that turning around an historic underground mine is a marathon rather than a sprint. Looking back, what have been the biggest milestones in getting Blyvooruitzicht and Doornfontein to where they are today?

It requires persistence and patience, but the transition from legacy inefficient operations to a stabilised, modern, and safer model of execution took great grit. We invested intensely in leveraging the existing massive infrastructure, which has saved us great time and money in delivering on our growth plans, and it’s been a long-term march towards sustainable production, profitable production.

You’ve spoken before about disciplined execution. What does that mean in practice?

We’re all about walking the walk and not talking the talk. To us, discipline is the application of experienced operational leadership to an existing wealth of data, trusting in the data and not arm's length scepticism, focusing on concrete outcomes, returning these legacy operations to profitability through steady, continuous improvement and rigorous cost control, of course, helped by recent commodity price tailwinds. We've put a strong emphasis on building a sustainable business by focusing on operational realities, sometimes hard realities, rather than chasing market headlights. So we've been ticking away quietly off the radar, and largely our plans have been coming to fruition, and we're very proud to say so.

If I went out to the mines now, what would I see?

You would see a committed, loyal workforce, a team mentality, very clear understanding of collectively working and fighting for a prosperous future. You would see a hyper focus on safety. You would see a strong resolve to grow the business and enjoy the economies of scale, which we've been patiently striving towards. And you would certainly not see what is often the unspoken stereotype of a tired legacy asset. It's one that's enjoyed many billions of investment in the recent years under our ownership, and one that is really in a happy groove and looking forward to the next phase of operational efficiency and optimisation.

When I went out there many years ago, there was an issue around illegal mining. Is that still a threat?

It's an issue that has plagued the sector globally and, of course, increasing gold prices has placed additional focus on that. We do have, let's say, a light exposure to that operationally, but given the concentrated nature of our operations and the close-knit community we enjoy with our neighbours, Harmony Gold and Sibanye-Stillwater. We've been able to keep tight control of it, and it certainly doesn't impact our operations. People ask us routinely what are the things that keep us up at night, and illegal mining, unlike in other regions, is not certainly one that gives us great loss of sleep. So, one that we've responsibly and admirably managed and controlled, in in my view.

Looking ahead, what should the mining industry be watching over the next few years?

Certainly in our space, you're going to see continued investment, a quadrupling of production, driving economies of scale, widening margin, and a big development impact, additional jobs, increasing the fiscal base, and I think, in fact, I don't think, I'm certain we’ll see this particular sector and this particular region enjoy continued momentum around growth, rejuvenation, and prosperity. So, very excited to be participating in that, and certainly you can expect another solid decade out of me in the sector and in the region, and looking forward to that with great excitement.

SCALABLE RESERVES

The Doornfontein and Blyvooruitzicht gold mines reportedly have a reserve life of 34 years, with a century-long resource base. The carbon leader reef is a well-endowed auriferous conglomerate and is mined concurrently alongside the Middelvlei as a secondary, supplementary orebody. Total historic output from the broader Witwatersrand region is more than 1.5-billion ounces of gold, representing about.22% of historic global gold production.