Skorpion retrenchments inevitable
Vedanta will implement its restructuring process which will ultimately result in the retrenchment of 278 workers at its Rosh Pinah mine in the south.
This is according to Skorpion Zinc general manager Irvin Simataa who said that the restructuring was necessary to help sustain operations at its refinery and extend the life of the Skorpion mine.
As part of the restructuring process, Simataa explained that Skorpion would have to mine a new ore body, which lies deeper than the current ore body that is being mined. The existing ore body and current mine, Pit 103 is due to be depleted by June and Skorpion would need to start stripping away as much as 72 million tonnes of waste to access Pit 112 as soon as possible to reach the new ore body.
The other issue to the restructuring is that the new mine will fund the conversion of its current refinery when the Gamsberg mine, situated in South Africa's Northern Cape province starts mining operations.
“Our fleet is inappropriate to access Pit 112. We approached a number of mining contractors and Basel Read Namibia was selected.
“There is definitely a need to restructure; the business decision has been taken. The urgency of the restructuring cannot be overemphasised, if we do not start in the next three months, the validity of this project will be in jeopardy and 1 500 people will definitely be jobless and the port of Lüderitz will be affected.
“We account for 60% of the traffic generated at the port. That is a significant impact. This mine consumes at least 17% of Namibia's electricity. That would be a major hit to NamPower, the situation will be dire,” Simataa said on Friday. According to Simataa, the start to the planned drilling activities is affecting the technical viability of the entire project. “This is a momentous project which is driven by time. To do this job, we will have to move 3.5 million tonnes of waste per month. We run the risk of putting the mine into care and maintenance. If the mine were to go into care and maintenance, it would cost up to US$1 million a month to keep the mine idle.
“We have got to start the job now otherwise the mine will go into care and maintenance, the mine will shut down. This project is time-bound or else we don't have a project.”
Commenting on labour issues Simataa said that the union had been engaged in November already. “We informed the labour commissioner, the union and the employees that we would have to outsource the mining process. This uncertainty has led to high staff turnovers.”
According to him, three options were put on the table. “The first was to offer retrenchment packages to some workers, the second was that the employees would join the contractor [Basel Read], the third was that employees whose roles would become redundant can take suspension of two years, after two years, we shall also re-call and consider. We are committed to saving the jobs of all involved. Perhaps we can better the three years we will be mining.” Chamber of Mines of Namibia CEO Veston Malango said of Vedanta's possible closure:
“This issue is of importance to the chamber. The implications of closure could be wide-ranging. We are hoping for an amicable solution. The first consequence is harm to the Rosh Pinah economy.”
OGONE TLHAGE
This is according to Skorpion Zinc general manager Irvin Simataa who said that the restructuring was necessary to help sustain operations at its refinery and extend the life of the Skorpion mine.
As part of the restructuring process, Simataa explained that Skorpion would have to mine a new ore body, which lies deeper than the current ore body that is being mined. The existing ore body and current mine, Pit 103 is due to be depleted by June and Skorpion would need to start stripping away as much as 72 million tonnes of waste to access Pit 112 as soon as possible to reach the new ore body.
The other issue to the restructuring is that the new mine will fund the conversion of its current refinery when the Gamsberg mine, situated in South Africa's Northern Cape province starts mining operations.
“Our fleet is inappropriate to access Pit 112. We approached a number of mining contractors and Basel Read Namibia was selected.
“There is definitely a need to restructure; the business decision has been taken. The urgency of the restructuring cannot be overemphasised, if we do not start in the next three months, the validity of this project will be in jeopardy and 1 500 people will definitely be jobless and the port of Lüderitz will be affected.
“We account for 60% of the traffic generated at the port. That is a significant impact. This mine consumes at least 17% of Namibia's electricity. That would be a major hit to NamPower, the situation will be dire,” Simataa said on Friday. According to Simataa, the start to the planned drilling activities is affecting the technical viability of the entire project. “This is a momentous project which is driven by time. To do this job, we will have to move 3.5 million tonnes of waste per month. We run the risk of putting the mine into care and maintenance. If the mine were to go into care and maintenance, it would cost up to US$1 million a month to keep the mine idle.
“We have got to start the job now otherwise the mine will go into care and maintenance, the mine will shut down. This project is time-bound or else we don't have a project.”
Commenting on labour issues Simataa said that the union had been engaged in November already. “We informed the labour commissioner, the union and the employees that we would have to outsource the mining process. This uncertainty has led to high staff turnovers.”
According to him, three options were put on the table. “The first was to offer retrenchment packages to some workers, the second was that the employees would join the contractor [Basel Read], the third was that employees whose roles would become redundant can take suspension of two years, after two years, we shall also re-call and consider. We are committed to saving the jobs of all involved. Perhaps we can better the three years we will be mining.” Chamber of Mines of Namibia CEO Veston Malango said of Vedanta's possible closure:
“This issue is of importance to the chamber. The implications of closure could be wide-ranging. We are hoping for an amicable solution. The first consequence is harm to the Rosh Pinah economy.”
OGONE TLHAGE
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