JOHANNESBURG - JSE listed junior producer DRDGold is considering restarting operations at its Far West Gold Recoveries (FWGR) surface retreatment operation at Carletonville, in consultation with the government and organised labour.
Chief executive Niël Pretorius told shareholders this week that the miner had already written to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy requesting its endorsement.
Pretorius said the group had engaged officials telephonically on risk protocols.
“This conversation has paved the way for the limited resumption of reclamation activities, and we will build on it in the next few days,”said Pretorius adding that the company had also written to organised labour.
He said the company had considered various options to recommence limited operations to sustain infrastructure and cushion the impact of the stoppage without exposing employees to increased risk following the coronavirus lockdown.
“It is said that South Africa is lagging international infection trends by approximately two weeks," Pretorius said. "Hence, exposure to close-proximity situations – for example, commuting by way of public transport – is at this stage amongst the most important challenges informing the decision to start up at sites located in and around the Johannesburg metropolis.”
Pretorius said that at FWGR social distancing associated with the commute was, however, not nearly as complex.
“It is a much smaller footprint with employees living much closer to the operations," he said. "This situation, coupled with all the other preventative protocols in place, means the FWGR working environment poses a considerably lower risk of infection than, for example, the workspace of those involved in retail and public transport."
Pretoria cited Chapter 2, section 11A and Annexure B, section B.22 of the Disaster Management Act Regulations issued by the Department of Co-operative Governance and
Traditional Affairs which defined gold mining and refining as essential services, exempt from the restrictions imposed by the lockdown announcement.
"However, to move simply on a technical interpretation of the Act would be folly and for management to assume the exclusive responsibility for the sustaining of health, jobs, social capital, the environment and the economy would be inappropriate in these circumstances,” Pretorius said.
“This situation poses a challenge unlike anything any of us has ever experienced. Taking hard decisions is the essence of management, and invariably requires the weighing up of conflicting interests and finding a compromise of sorts. This time there is no balancing act – this situation requires that we defy the laws of physics, in that it forbids any compromise on the side of health and safety.”
In an effort to fight the virus, DRDGold purchased 35 high-care beds for R600 000 in a programme launched by the South African Medical and Education (SAME) Foundation to accommodate coronavirus patients at the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, Johannesburg.
Pretorius said the company had studied the guidelines to reduce the risk of infection and had implemented protocols in terms of hygiene and social distancing which will allow it to responsibly conduct limited production at FWGR.
“We have briefed our employees of the situation and have called for volunteers to resume work. We are encouraged that there are more volunteers than required at this stage – only 60 percent of the typical shift complement will be deployed at any given point in time,” he said.