Murray & Dickson Construction Group (M&D), a leading multi-disciplinary construction company, has reinforced its longstanding professional relationship with Vedanta Zinc International (VZI), the largest integrated zinc operation in Africa.

The two companies already forged a strong connection during the construction of the first phase of Black Mountain Mining’s (BMM) Gamsberg zinc project in the Northern Cape. M&D built high quality civil-engineering infrastructure for the flotation plant and in the milling zone and thickener area in record time to help accelerate the project for VZI.

In this way, M&D demonstrated the extent of its capabilities and unwavering commitment to one of the group’s core values of always “doing what we say” to this client. Considering the company’s stellar performance, VZI invited M&D to tender for the construction of the civil-engineering infrastructure for the second phase of BMM’s Gamsberg zinc project.

Under the visionary leadership and strategic acumen of Rukesh Raghubir, Chief Executive Officer of M&D, M&D was able to secure this high-value contract in the mining sector. Raghubir has a deep understanding of the demanding mining sector with its unique challenges. By positioning M&D as the preferred partner for complex mining infrastructure projects, Raghubir continues to demonstrate exceptional leadership. This accomplishment underscores his dedication to driving M&D to new heights and solidifies the group’s reputation as a leader in the construction and mining industries.

The scope of work includes all critical civil-engineering infrastructure for the new 4million tpa standalone concentrate plant. It includes a crusher, stockpile tunnels, filter presses, flotation walls and SAG mills. M&D’s work scope also entails constructing the non-critical supporting infrastructure for the plant, such as change houses, office buildings, canteens and ablution facilities, as well as roads.

The large Gamsberg Phase II investment will double the mine and plant’s capacity from 4million tpa to 8million tpa and produce an additional 200 000 tpa of MiC

Gawie van der Merwe, a M&D Senior Contract Manager, is again leading the company’s team that has been deployed to work on the second phase of the project. Van der Merwe was nominated to oversee operations because of the sound rapport that he has already established with VZI on behalf of M&D.

“VZI is a visionary and hands-on client that knows exactly what it wants and what it can expect from its supply chain partners. It will not hesitate to support them in achieving these goals, an important factor that has again contributed to a successful outcome. M&D has outperformed thus far, exceeding our client’s expectation. We are on track towards completing the critical infrastructure well within the 12-month contractual period, and have, thus, been asked by the client to possibly accelerate the programme. This is a topic that is still under discussion between M&D and VZI management,” Van der Merwe says.

Considering the fast-track nature of the project, M&D completed work at five work faces while onboarding in only four weeks. Notably, this impressive feat was achieved while the contract was still being agreed by M&D and VZI, again demonstrating the robust professional working relationship between the two companies.

Further proving its commitment to delivering an exceptional service to the client, M&D invested in new core capital-intensive plant and equipment to support operations at Gamsberg. These include two concrete pumps; four mobile cranes; a concrete batching plant; six concrete mixer trucks; and two telescopic handlers. This represents a significant investment by M&D into BMM’s Gamsberg Phase II project.

It is a significantly more challenging project phase than its predecessor. Mobilising to site in April 2023, a large portion of the work was undertaken in the evenings during the cold winter months when temperatures can reach record lows of up to -6^oC. Precautions, therefore, had to be implemented to prevent strength problems as a result of placing concrete in low temperatures.

Furthermore, the contractor has to plan around high wind speeds in the area. This is to avoid delaying work on some of the structures, the tallest of which are the about 30m-high crusher and stockpile tunnel.

Considering the company’s 40 years of contracting experience, M&D is usually able to add further value by suggesting more practical construction methods to its clients. A case in point is the proposal put forward by Van der Merwe to deploy raft foundations for some of the non-critical structures to realise construction time and cost savings for the client.

The civil-engineering infrastructure component of the project is an extensive undertaking. Upon completion of the contract, M&D will have placed 42 000m³ of concrete and 4 000t of reinforcing steel. Well over 400 people will work on this aspect of the project when it peaks later this year.

Van der Merwe continues to receive support from M&D’s top management at head office and, in particular, from Niekie Wagener, Head of the group’s Infrastructure Division.

Wagener remains exceptionally proud of his team’s performance on both phases of the Gamsberg project.

“As VZI has increased its investment in the country, M&D has grown with the company. The group will continue to do so as we, in turn, develop our reputation for being the first point of contact for quality mining infrastructure. We are a much larger company now with significantly more experience than when we started working for VZI in 2018. By focusing on ‘doing what we say’, M&D continues to realise our mission of growing ‘a great company with great people’ and, importantly, ‘great partnerships’,” Wagener says.

Raghubir lauds VZI for the confidence the company continues to demonstrate in South Africa via its investment into BMM’s Gamsberg project.

“This next phase of the Gamsberg project represents a R7billion investment in the South African economy and in an outlying underdeveloped area of the country. The project is anticipated to create up to 2 500 jobs during the construction phase, alone. This includes the many people who we are recruiting and training for the civil-engineering infrastructure component of the construction works. This is in line with our own core value of ‘grow with us’ as we are growing with VZI. Notably, a further 800 to 1 000 permanent jobs will be created when the project reaches its peak operations phase. Considering these significant socio-economic benefits, we are proud to be playing our part in bringing this project to fruition,” Raghubir concludes.