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Gauteng Business 2022/23

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The 2022/23 edition of Gauteng Business is the 13th issue of this highly successful publication that has established itself as the premier business and investment guide for the Gauteng Province. In addition to the regular articles providing insight into each of the key economic sectors of the province, a special feature on the growth and significance of the green economy is included in this edition. Every sector from agriculture to transport and logistics is referenced, with several Gauteng companies taking the lead in the field of creating a more sustainable future for themselves and for their clients. The fact that mining companies and others are starting to build facilities to generate power is significant for the country as a whole. Gold Fields’ 40MW solar project at its South Deep mine is one of the first of its kind and it is certainly a precursor of what we can expect to see a lot more of in the future. The unexpected fall from power in the province’s three big metropolitan municipalities in 2021 of the political party that is in charge at provincial and national level, the African National Congress, is noted in the Regional Overview. Whether this presages a change beyond the borders of Gauteng in elections to come remains to be seen, but the huge budgets which now fall under the control of coalition governments in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni will certainly serve to sharpen the focus of ANC election planners for national elections in 2024.

INTERVIEW Cullinan

INTERVIEW Cullinan Diamond Mine produces rare and exceptional “specials” The General Manager of the Cullinan Diamond Mine, Jaison Rajan, explains how infrastructure investment is extending the life of one of the world’s great mines. Why is Cullinan Diamond Mine often referred to as an “iconic” diamond mine? Cullinan Diamond Mine has earned its status as a result of it being probably the world’s most consistent supplier of exceptional stones. One of the first, and arguably the bestknown, was the Cullinan Diamond found at the mine in 1905. This stone, at 3 106ct, is still the largest diamond ever found, and jewels cut from it adorn the Royal Crown and Sceptre of the United Kingdom. Jaison Rajan, General Manager BIOGRAPHY Jaison Rajan is a mining engineer with post-graduate Master’s qualifications in both mineral economics and business administration. He has over 20 years industry experience, having worked in various mineral commodities including heavy minerals, manganese, coal and diamonds. He is an accredited Professional Engineer with a Mine Manager’s certificate of competency (South Africa). Are there are other stones from the mine that could lay similar claims? Indeed! Cullinan Diamond Mine is also the source of most of the gem-quality Type II blue diamonds recovered and put to market. These diamonds are extremely rare, which is vouched for by the high prices per carat achieved when they are presented to the market. A recently recovered 39.34ct Type IIb blue stone sold for more than -million, which was the highest price that Petra has achieved for a single stone. Apart from this stone, there have been quite a number of other “specials”, both blue and white stones of exceptional quality with regards to both colour and clarity, many of which had been recovered by Petra since it took ownership of the mine in 2008. This includes the Blue Moon of Josephine, the Cullinan Dream and the Letlapa Tala Collection. It was already an old mine when Petra took over; how much life is left in it, and what is Petra doing to ensure its future? The mine is still an exceptional resource with prospects of a long life into the future. From what we currently know, the resource still has a potential life upwards of 50 years, subject to market and economic conditions. Realising the value and potential, Petra embarked on an intensive capital investment programme soon after acquiring it, including the further development of underground resources (the so-called “C-Cut”) and replacement of the old processing plant with a new, cutting-edge treatment facility that will serve the mine well into the future. GAUTENG BUSINESS 2022 22

How does the mine’s location within a metropole affect your planning? It is a rather unique situation and does impact on our approach. We accept and believe that the operations of any mine, including ours, should first and foremost benefit its most immediate stakeholders, which are the communities in which we operate. Giving effect to this has many facets, which includes ensuring that we recruit locally, providing local households with a stable income, focussing on procurement of local supply to boost local business, especially SMMEs, while contributing to their development, social investment programmes that are aimed at effectively addressing the needs of our communities and more. Our core operations also have impacts on the community, such as environmental impacts (the potential of dust, noise and vibration) as well as the naturally occurring scaling of the pit. All of these are closely monitored, mitigating actions are taken and we maintain open communication with the community around these issues. Apart from the mine, the town of Cullinan is also somewhat of a tourism destination. What is the mine’s involvement in that? Cullinan is indeed a little town with a colourful history, much of which relates to the mine, and it is rightly a tourist favourite. From Cullinan Diamond Mine’s side, we believe that tourism will become an increasingly important contributor to the local economy and we are therefore supporting the private tourism industry in various ways, not least of which is by being the only underground mine allowing underground tours as part of its tourism offering. This support further extends to financial and promotional contributions, and we are excited to see the effect that these initiatives are having on the growth of tourism in the town. The Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on everything we do. How did it impact Cullinan Diamond Mine? When the news broke, Petra proactively put controls in place to implement a Mandatory Code of Practice for the prevention, mitigation and management of Covid-19. This included various controls for screening, social distancing, sanitising and wearing of masks, which allowed us to continue our operations at sustainable levels soon after the initial lockdown. Realising the impact of the pandemic on our communities, much of our focus also went into distress relief within our communities, in conjunction with partners such as the City of Tshwane, through the employee-funded Petra Hardship Fund that contributed foodstuffs and other relief materials. This included the distribution of more than 700 food hampers and 500 cloth masks to the community, assistance to health workers, schools and the Tshwane Metro Police with supplies such as surgical masks, sanitiser, disinfectant and sterile gloves, all to the value of more than R500 000. ■ 23 GAUTENG BUSINESS 2022

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