Seven years after the Blyvooruitzicht gold mine (now known as Blyvoor) found new owners, the new management team’s turnaround strategy is said to be showing signs of progress.

Blyvoor Gold, the company that bought Blyvoor in 2015, says it has returned the mine, on Gauteng’s West Rand, to a cash-positive state, offering steady growth and low costs.

Blyvoor Gold director Richard Floyd says the combination of a quality leadership team, strong investors and healthy relationships with the Blyvoor workforce and community has helped turn around the mine’s prospects.

“After years of standing idle, Blyvoor is now a profitable, productive mine with a strong management team, healthy growth and a positive outlook,” he acclaims.

The mine, which was once one of the largest gold mines in the world,  has a mine life of at least 22 years and contains 5.5-million ounces of reserves and a 22-million-ounce resource.

SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENT

After the previous owners liquidated the mine in 2012, the Blyvoor Gold management team saw an opportunity to restore the mine to its full production capacity.

Floyd and fellow Blyvoor executive Peter Skeat secured investors and, in 2015, the Blyvoor Gold team began the restoration of the mine.

“We’ve invested upward of $100-million in Blyvoor with plans to expand our investment further in the coming years. We’ve built a new processing plant, invested in new mining equipment, and refurbished or replaced the surface and underground infrastructure. Two production levels have been opened and there are two more in progress,” Floyd outlines.

Production began last year, and Blyvoor now produces at a yearly run rate of over 40 000 oz, which is set to double over the next year.

“We can now mine gold at an all is sustaining cost of under $1 000 /oz, which is a record low for us and certainly bottom cost quartile in the country, possibly the continent, perhaps globally,” enthuses Floyd.

COMMUNITY COMMITMENT

Strong growth over the past few years has also seen Blyvoor Gold’s workforce more than double to about 1 700 employees.

“We’ve added a thousand people to our team in the past year alone, and have significantly enhanced our workplace health and safety. We have a good record with zero fatalities in the past year, and continue to invest in our workforce to ensure we have a highly productive, profitable and safe work environment,” highlights Floyd.

With historic tension between the mine and local communities stretching back decades, the new management team says it has worked hard at restoring trust and maintaining healthy relationships with workers and their families.

“Blyvoor strives to walk the walk, not just talk the talk,” stresses Floyd, in reflecting on its ongoing commitment to provide security, road maintenance, transport, accommodation and other forms of support to their workers and local community.

Recently, Blyvoor also sponsored two local soccer teams.