Minopex has cornered the market in the outsourced management of minerals and metals processing plants in South Africa. Managing Director Paul Thomson explains how it is set to achieve another year of unstoppable growth
Written by Ellie Duncan & Produced by Oliver Bishop
Minopex has come a long way since 1996, when it began operating in the outsourced operation and maintenance of minerals and metals processing plants. Its first project was on behalf of a coal business – notably, a contract that it has retained to this day. With a staff complement totalling just 15 people, the company took on more coal projects until, in 1999, it entered the platinum arena. The business took off and now employs over 1,200 people from South Africa and Lesotho.
Managing Director, Paul Thomson, explains how Minopex was essentially established to fill a gap in the market. “The reason for its formation was that its sister company, DRA, designs and constructs mineral processing plants, and they were approached by a client to operate one of the plants as well,” he says. “So Minopex was formed to do that job.”
That working relationship with DRA remains an important part of the running of the business. However, neither company is heavily reliant on the other. As Thomson says, it’s more of an “arm’s length” relationship. “A number of our contracts that we operate have resulted directly from our relationship with DRA,” he admits. “We have actually formed a division that does commissioning within Minopex, and we have a commissioning team that assists DRA, and assists other clients that are non-DRA related, in commissioning their plants.”
SCOPE OF SERVICES
What Minopex offers, he continues, is “one-stop” operations and maintenance. A service that has proved invaluable to South Africa’s minerals and metals plants. The company takes control of certain aspects of the processing function, enabling new mines to reduce upfront capital costs on equipment and engineering facilities, while operating mines can benefit from minimised operating costs.
Among the scope of services provided by Minopex are metallurgical quality management; scheduled and preventative maintenance; purchasing, stores control and asset management; contract management and administration; skills development; cost control, and engineering services.
“We actually don’t see ourselves as mining contractors; we see ourselves as being in the service industry and supplying customer satisfaction,” says Thomson.
Some of those customers are big players in their respective industries, including Total Coal South Africa, Xstrata Platinum Division, Impala Platinum, Aquarius Platinum, Platinum Australia and Gem Diamonds. Meanwhile, its Lesotho-based operation works for smaller junior platinum mines.
ADVANCED SYSTEMS
Minopex takes pride in its services and, more specifically, in the safety and quality of that service excellence. In order to carry out such a high level of service to a range of plants, the company has implemented several integrated, computerised systems. These systems ensure that every aspect of the plants’ operations and maintenance is catered for to the industry standards required. “Our preventative maintenance system is one of the systems we pride ourselves in,” says Thomson. “We make preventative maintenance one of the key performance areas of our site managers.”
He explains why Minopex’s systems are vital to its clients. “Plant availability is key to providing a service to the client. If their revenue is based on throughput, we need to provide the plant availability for them to get that throughout.
“So our maintenance systems and our procurement systems have to be world-class to do that and to deliver on-time.”
The company’s maintenance system and purchasing and store system are actually linked – a fine example of the type of advanced service that Minopex can provide. “When there is a need that is created by a breakdown, or by a maintenance requirement,” he explains, “it will first interrogate the store stock level to see if the stock is in and, if it isn’t, it will then create a purchase order to make sure the spare part is procured and comes into the operation on time.”
Of course, all plants are operated to ISO 90001, and the company has ISO 140001 environmental standards in place as well. Unsurprisingly for a company that has built up such a reputation for quality over the years, its safety record is one of the best in the industry. In 1999, the business was awarded the Metallurgical Mine Managers Association Award in recognition of its safety achievements at one of its sites. “It’s that type of thing that differentiates us from the ‘run of the mill’ contractor out there,” Thomson adds.
GROWTH MODEL
It is also that attention to detail that has contributed to Minopex’s unstoppable growth. “In 2009 over 2008, we had approximately 20 percent growth and this year we’re looking at around the same again,” he says. As that figures suggests, the global recession had little, if any, impact on the business. In fact, the outsourced contracting model that Minopex operates is extremely economical, explaining its ongoing popularity, whatever the financial climate.
“Because we’ve already got the head office structures in place and all the support systems there, to bring in another operation is relatively easy and relatively low cost,” Thomson reasons. “Whereas, if you are a junior mine and you had to put all these systems in place, it would cost a considerable amount of money. That’s really where we have our leverage at the moment. It’s a very successful growth model at this stage.”
Minopex is preparing to grow this year, with another four projects due to be commissioned that require an additional 350 people. Thomson acknowledges the work that has been done to hone the training and development of its employees. “Because we’re looking at growth, we’ve got a very extensive training and development programme, and we carry additional staff throughout our operations, so that we can train them on an ongoing basis,” he says. “Then, when new sites come onboard, we can actually put a core of skilled people in that area.”
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
The Mining Qualifications Authority, the statutory body in South Africa that oversees training and development in the mining industry, awarded Minopex for its good practices and skills development in 2008/2009. Thomson believes this reflects its commitment to employees and the future of the industry.
Certainly, it is dedicated to training workers from a broad spectrum, including graduates, artisans and unskilled people. South Africa’s Mining Charter stipulates that the majority of staff working on site should come from the mine’s surrounding area. But Thomson is aware of the limitations that this poses. “Unfortunately, a lot of mines are in fairly rural areas with a low skills base.
“By putting a core of trained people on site, we can absorb the core of unskilled people that are there and, prior to commissioning, train them in the operations of the plant.” It is a strategy that stands to benefit not just the company, but the rural population.
Of course, the location of its sites can be problematic when a contract comes to an end too. “Often it happens that the people we’ve recruited will stay on with the client after the conclusion of the contract,” Thomson explains. “If people have relocated to that area, they’re not keen to sell up, leave, and find a position elsewhere.” He recognises that while that may not be an ideal business model, there are many instances where it does retain a considerable proportion of its employees.
When it comes to taking on graduates, the company adopts an alternative approach. “We specifically target and recruit people from university in their final year and then place them on sites to give them that necessary exposure.
“Some of them find it challenging and enjoyable; others don’t enjoy the production environment and would prefer the design environment.” This is where its relationship with DRA comes in; Minopex can send those graduates whose strengths lie in design to its sister company, in the hope that they may find this type of work more rewarding.
THE ROAD TO SUCCESS
DRA also provides the company with critical support when they most need it. As Thomson will tell you, the company’s working environment is, at times, unpredictable. “Being an operational environment, you will have breakdowns, you will have unforeseen events take place; but it’s how you deal with those unforeseen events and how you respond to them that sets you apart from everyone else.
“There is full back-up available from other sites and from other engineers, should it be required,” he adds. “If there’s an issue on one specific site, we can deploy other resources fairly quickly to help them solve their problem – that flexibility does help us.
“It helps to know that we’ve got DRA in the background to come and help out on the electrical engineering or process engineering, and that’s also contributed to our success.”
Indeed, there is little doubt that Minopex, and the outsourced model it represents, has proved a resounding success in the industry.
Coal and platinum are both showing signs of recovery, while Thomson has observed an upswing in the demand for commodities. “We’re also looking at other related industries. We have seen potential for growth in manganese and zinc, even in base metals like nickel and copper,” he says. “In terms of how Minopex sees its growth, we see large growth in Africa. Yet if I can maintain 20 percent in South Africa on a year-on-year basis, I’d be pretty happy with that.”
Energy Digital believes that Minopex is the one to watch this year as it gears up for another year of exponential growth.
“We place a high value on systems, quality and service,” Thomson concludes, “and that’s what we deliver.”
FACTS AT A GLANCE
COMPANY NAME: Minopex
MANAGING DIRECTOR: Paul Thomson
OPERATIONS: Operates and maintains metal and mineral processing facilities
ESTABLISHED: 1996
EMPLOYEES: 1,200
HEAD OFFICE: Gauteng, South Africa
www.minopex.co.za