Modern Mining May 2015

COMPANIES

which manufactures grinding media, and in Australia, where we have subsidiaries which manufacture and market chain and which also dis- tribute steel wire rope and crushing equipment. Our next area of focus is South America and we’re busy estab- lishing a sales outlet to service that region.” Within Africa, Scaw’s ambition – at least in key markets such as West Africa – is to bring its services closer to its customers and possibly establish local manufacturing facili- ties where sales volumes justify it. “Already we have a sales office in Ghana, which was opened in 2011 and serves the entire West African region,” says Executive Head of Operations Steve van Wyk. Like Hannemann, van Wyk has

from the South African mining industry for high-grade products because of failures with cheaper products and we’re one of the few – sometimes the only supplier – able to meet these more stringent requirements. In the case of chains, for example, we can supply in grades that are not available out of China. In addition, we’re able to provide an in-depth technical service to customers on the application of our products – in terms of performance and lon- gevity – which is a real value-add that can be crucial to the bottom line.” Hannemann adds that Scaw is making good progress in meeting ever more demanding environmental requirements. “We’re having to spend over R200 million on our foundries alone to reduce emissions,” he says. “This is a big investment with very little direct return but it does put us in a strong, sustainable posi- tion as we move forward. Other foundries are going to have to keep up with us if they want to survive.” Finally, Hannemann stresses that Scaw – whose BEE partners are Izingwe Holdings, Shanduka and Southern Palace – has led the way in the South African steel industry in terms of empowerment. “We’re the only level 3 B-BBEE steel producer in South Africa. We have a variety of empowerment initiatives underway, particularly in terms of Corporate Social Investment (CSI) programmes and the empowerment of women, and we put enormous energy into all of them – it’s not just a box-tick- ing exercise. Transformation of the group is an imperative that we recognise and we are fully committed to meeting the government’s objec- tives on the revised B-BBEE codes.” 

spent many years with Scaw. A Wits graduate in metallurgical engineering (he was a Scaw bursary student), he progressed to being Mills Divisional Manager before moving to AltaSteel Canada as the VP of Operations in 2007. He returned to South Africa in 2009 to take up the position of Asset Optimisation Manager and, a year later, was appointed as the Business Unit Manager for Grinding Media. Van Wyk makes the point that one of Scaw’s competitive edges is the high quality and sophistication of its beneficiation and manufac- turing facilities, which include five foundries (able to produce castings of up to 30 t in weight), a steel wire rope plant, a world-class chain products facility and a scrap metal processing plant with the largest scrap shedder in Africa. The group operates to the best international standards and has ISO 9000, OHSAS 18001 and ISO 14001 accreditation. Its Germiston foundry is US-approved for the manufacture of locomo- tive frames and associated components while its McKinnon chain operation in Vereeniging is approved to manufacture and supply premium chain products into the European oil, gas and industrial sectors. Scaw is the largest producer of cast high chrome grinding media in the southern hemi- sphere, the only significant producer of forged grinding media in Africa and the sole manufac- turer in Africa of cast steel railway wheels. It is one of only three manufacturers worldwide able to make the steel wire rope used in hoist- ing applications in the mines. Says van Wyk: “Our manufacturing abili- ties and the high quality of our products are a definite advantage. We’re seeing a new demand

Wire rod and reinforcing in coil are products of Scaw’s Rolled Products Division.

May 2015  MODERN MINING  41