MC Mining (MCM), a Johannesburg-listed coal producer and development firm, said it had bought the mining equipment of its contractor for R65m in order to improve the efficiency of activities at Uitkomst, a colliery in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province.
The transaction, which closed on August 1, also calls for the transfer of the contractor’s 340 employees. MCM now has assumed full operational control of underground mining activities at the mine. The move was necessary as equipment availability was constrained under the contractor which was hampering the full performance of Uitkomst, said MCM.
“The transaction results in employees previously employed by Khethekile (the contractor) being employed directly by Uitkomst with no disruption to operations and we are confident that the operational cost efficiencies, asset availability and production improvements will be realised,” said David Brown, CEO of MCM.
He added that Uitkomst was likely to exceed its 2018 production numbers in the current, 2019 financial year. “A significant feature has been the evolving strength of the Uitkomst management team and I am confident that they will deliver on the integration of the Khethekile business as well as the various improvement initiatives,” said Brown.
