Mulwane growing in leaps and bounds
Canyon Coal was Mulwane Investment’s first client when it started working at Khanye Colliery in 2018, after being given an opportunity to supply a tractor loader backhoe (TLB) to scrub the mine’s articulated dump trucks (ADTs). Back then the company only had one TLB, which Mulwane rented.
Today, the small Bronkhorstspruit business is an emerging contract mining, plant hire, logistics and commodity training company. Canyon Coal was, in no small part, a contributor to this success, notes Mulwane Chief Executive Officer Dumisani Mazibuko and Chief Operations Officer Berry Masingi.
Dumisani recounts: “After a lot of running around and enduring numerous hassles, we managed to get hold of a TLB from CJ of Amandla Mining based in Delmas. We obtained our skid steer through Barloworld rental in Isando through the counsel of Karabo Sethusa, who is still our salesman. The skid steer was used to clean the plant by collecting excess coal that fell under the belts,” and the skid steer is still running at the plant till today.
Having proved that they could provide the mine with quality service, in 2019 Canyon Coal asked Mulwane to supply Khanye Colliery with a Pecker, which is a TLB with a hammer.
Berry explains that when coal is brought to the grizzly feeder at the plant, some of the coal is too big so it can't be fed into the grizzly. Therefore, the TLB with the hammer breaks the coal so that it can be fed into the plant. Hence, it forms an integral part of the crushing and screening process at the plant to ensure the product is produced according to the required sizing specifications. He notes that this work was highly stressful in the beginning and “we wouldn’t have pulled through without Canyon Coal’s consistent assistance, counsel and guidance.”
Supporting Local Business Development
“We also employ 24 people in our company with 90% of them being locals, who come from communities in and around Bronkhorstspruit”
Since 2018 Mulwane has acquired four machines, which has been “a huge achievement” for the company. Berry highlights that it has always been the company’s goal to own its equipment. “We also employ 24 people in our company with 90% of them being locals, who come from communities in and around Bronkhorstspruit,” he points out. Moreover, the company has also bought two Volvo trucks FH and FMX which are used for materials haulage.
The pair note that they have learnt a great deal from Khanye Colliery’s mine engineer Tshepo Mokwele, who has taught them the technicalities of correctly managing and maintaining their equipment. “We owe a great deal of our knowledge to Cleavon Moothoosamy, Carmia Pretorius and Lizette van Dyk, who have been the procurement managers we have worked with at Canyon Coal. We also appreciate the guidance and mentorship of former Khanye Colliery GM Guy Thompson, who held our hand in the process of starting and growing as a company,” remarks Dumisani.
“The mentorship Canyon Coal has provided us with has been instrumental to our growth. It has also greatly assisted us in terms of developing company policies. Management of Canyon Coal has taught us a lot about how to run a successful business and how to grow our service offering while maintaining our standards to service client needs,” Dumisani and Berry conclude.
Mulwane Chief Executive Officer Dumisani Mazibuko and Chief Operations Officer Berry Masingi
