Building a thriving culture

I am proud to work at Canyon Coal. We are a vibrant South African company that works hard to develop our assets. We create jobs, promote transformation in the country and contribute to GDP. We are helping to make the South African coal mining industry more sustainable.

Canyon Coal has invested R450 million in our Khanye mine near Bronkhorstspruit alone. To date, we have mined 60 000 tons of coal there and are on track to reach steady state production of 200 000 tons by September 2018.

We will also open two other mines this year, namely Ukufisa and De Wittekrans. By the first quarter of next year, we plan to sink the shaft at De Wittekrans and aim to reach steady state production of 100 000 tons per month at Ukufisa.

De Wittekrans will be one of our flagship projects. It has a 118 million ton reserve base and will produce 400 000 tons per month at steady state. The seams are thick enough for mechanised mining and the mine has more than 20 years of life. This is in line with our strategy to have long-life mines.

Twelve years ago, we started our first project of 10 million tons with limited resources. Now we have a 700 million ton reserve base and are capable of mining underground, delivering our own production with our equipment and processing the ore in our mineral processing plants. These are massive achievements.

We owe our success to teamwork and the ability to make decisions promptly. The business environment in South Africa is favourable, too, in that the government supports businesses in starting up new operations. We are aggressive in unlocking the value of projects and developing them into businesses. We develop our operations by investing in drilling ore bodies, identifying reserves and drafting mine plans.

Our company has been bolstered by a change in the ownership of our controlling shareholder, Mercuria. ChemChina, one of the largest state-owned companies in China, has increased its stake in Mercuria and appointed a Chinese director to our board. This will definitely help us strategise better, as companies in Beijing have interesting business strategies and are increasingly doing business in a forward-thinking manner.

Looking ahead, we are on track to maintain our production target of more than 10 million tons per year by 2019. Our new mines have long lives and developing them will ensure the sustainability of our company. Everybody at Canyon Coal is proud of the fact that we are a mid-tier coal producer with four operations.

As our business grows, it is heartening to observe the concurrent professional growth of our people. Goodman Mazibuko, our new general manager of Hakhano Colliery, shed tears of joy when I informed him of his promotion. He felt deeply touched that all his hard work has been appreciated. Goodman is one of many who have developed their careers within our company, helping to build a thriving culture.

Part of the satisfaction of developing mines in South Africa is that our staff love to be part of the company and are as proud of Canyon Coal as I am. This is one of the factors that motivates us to be in South Africa, invest more and develop further projects.