Booysendal UG2 North Project On The Go

Early works procurement for the major construction packages for the Booysendal UG2 North Project is complete

Holley & Associates joins DRA

After three years of ongoing discussions, DRA has finally acquired all the shares in Holley & Associates. From a strategic perspective, we at DRA now have the in-house civil and structural engineering design capabilities to support all our projects. David Haines remains as Managing Director and, together with Johann de Bruin the responsible DRA Director, will spearhead our focus on the infrastructure business sector in which we want to become a key participating contractor. We extend a warm welcome to all the H&A staff with whom we have worked very well over the past 15 years.

Holley & Associates specialises in civil and structural consulting engineering. The company offers a range of services including structural steel and reinforced concrete structures, structural analysis, civil design and detail drawings, structural and civil audits and investigations, design of foundations subject to static or dynamic loads, concrete formwork drawings and bending schedules, and bills of quantities for tender and claim adjudication purposes.

DRA welcomes Vhum staffers

As a result of Anglo Platinum’s recent curtailment of capital expenditure, the future project pipeline for Vhumbanani has been considerably reduced and Vhumbanani’s current concentrator projects have been ceded to DRA.

The Vhumbanani employees on these contracts will be employed by DRA and we take this opportunity to welcome them all.

Current project progress

Platinum and Nickel projects:
Pilanesberg Platinum achieved first ore into the Merensky concentrator in March, which was on schedule. The team is confident of meeting the remaining milestone dates of first ore to the UG2 concentrator, commissioning of the delayed Merensky secondary mill, and the DMS pre-concentration plant.

In Zimbabwe, both the Mimosa and N’gezi Platinum projects are under control and entering the transition phase from construction completion to commissioning.

The following ceded Vhumbanani Platinum projects for Anglo Platinum are all on track for completion as planned:

BRPM (Bafokeng Rasomonie Platinum Mine) MIG mills
Amandelbult UG2 upgrade
PPRust MIG and UFG mills
Retrofit Waterval MIG and UFG mills
Amandelbult A-Frame stockpile project
Unki 125 ktpm concentrator in Zimbabwe

Nickel
The N’komati Nickel project for the ARM/Norilsk JV is currently on schedule for completion in the last quarter of 2009 and the team has already declared substantial savings against budget.

At Tati the project is complete.

Coal projects
We have introduced more key DRA personnel into the Phola coal washing plant site team and have seen an improvement in progress. The Anglo Coal Project Manager has commented positively on DRA’s commitment to deliver this 2000 tph plant to expectations.

The 2000 tph Douglas Middelburg optimisation wash plant project is in peak construction at present and, on a recent site visit, a senior BHP delegation was favourably impressed with the visible display of safety and general project management standards.

The detail design of the 500 tph Dorstfontein Coal Washing plant for Total is progressing well and a tender for the implementation phase will be submitted soon.

Future prospects

Early in February I announced that we had embarked on a marketing drive, with the appointment of Chiel van Niekerk as our first Marketing Director. This move appears to be bearing fruit and we are currently in negotiations that hopefully will result in two substantial new contracts being awarded to DRA in the near future. These potential projects, with the Khumani 16 mtpa expansion project, offer DRA a solid foundation of project work for the next two years.

DRA is highly regarded in the world of coal processing and our impressive list of projects either recently completed or still in progress, is testament to our position as a leading contractor in this field. As a result of global and local Eskom demand for coal-fired power stations we see enormous potential and activity in this sector. The challenge to DRA is to re-align our project implementation strategies with players in the ‘low-cost fit for purpose’ sector of this industry. Our roots are in this sector and I am seeing revived excitement in some of the ‘older guard’ as we prepare tenders for these opportunities. DRA and Minopex will aggressively target this sector.

No one can, with any confidence, predict the end of the current recession or, more importantly, how DRA will be influenced by it. However, as I have said before, we are confident that our exemplary track record of project delivery excellence will stand us in good stead when we compete for study or project work, not only in the mining and processing fields but also in the area of infrastructure development.