Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: DRDGOLD is a mining company forming part of the declining South African gold industry. During the turn of the century, the opportunity to innovate the business model arose. Without proactive intent, DRDGOLD tapped into the opportunity and revised their business model with great success. The success is evident in the improvement of headline earnings from 2002 to 2012. To discuss the changes to the business model, the author conducted a literature review on business models and innovation. From the review, the author selected the Osterwalder Business Model Canvas as the most suitable framework to discuss the changes of the business model. The Osterwalder Business Model includes the business-centric approach and is thus favoured for this discussion. First, the business model was populated with the information to have a comprehensible business model, and secondly, the changes to the business model were identified. The information for the study was sourced from public company documentation, mainly annual reports, secondary sources like Datamonitor, and interviews with four members of the leadership team. The four interviewees were Niel Pretorius, chief executive officer (CEO), Kobus Dissel group financial manager, Charles Symons, chief operating officer (COO), and Craig Barnes, chief financial officer (CFO). The four members had a long-standing relationship with the company and were part of the change process that took place at the company. The period before the study made the business model innovation possible. Firstly, the long mining history around Johannesburg produced the mine dumps that formed the core resource of the operations. Secondly, the craze to buy anything that looks like gold during the end of the 1990s introduced DRDGOLD to the surface retreatment operations with the purchase of Crown. The environment of the operations started to change, not only the operating environment, but also the other stakeholders. The importance of the community grew, the dividend yield to the shareholder increased in importance, the engagement with the regulators changed to a proactive engagement, and the environment was managed for a long-term perspective. The risks and returns for DRDGOLD started to misalign. The risk of pursuing the underground operations further increased considerably and unintentionally drove the costs up. Within the context of South Africa, the returns of underground operations started to erode as unscheduled stoppages increased. These stoppages were caused by events outside the control of the company, for example power failures, seismic activities and labour unrest. DRDGOLD repositioned itself as a factory that has a high throughput in material on a 24/7-operation rooster. The yields are significantly lower than the underground operations, but the risk of the new setup is also reduced greatly. Seismic activity does not impact the operations anymore. The production time of the operations has increased with less unscheduled stoppages. DRDGOLD changed to have itself valued on the discounted cash flow (DCF) method. The company’s share price is now valued on the DCF method based on the operational revenues. This is contrary to the gold mining industry valuation of South African mines. These mines are mainly valued on the reserves statement multiplied by the commodity price. The share price of DRDGOLD is heavily leveraged on the spot price of gold and the exchange rate of the South African Rand (ZAR) to the United States Dollar (US$). Any movement in these two indicators will have a significant impact on the share price.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The mining bubble is over, and mining companies in South Africa are under pressure to remain viable concerns. This forces companies to cut their cost through organisational restructuring, closing down of mines and cost-saving technologies. All of these result in job losses in the mining sector. However, the companies do have a social responsibility to help uplift and create jobs in the mining areas and labour-sending regions. The study reviews examples of corporate-social-development projects of mines that relate to agriculture. Furthermore, the study looks at projects stemming from the government’s desire for land reform and rural social-economic upliftment of previously disadvantaged communities. In this context contract farming is an ideal way to tackle comprehensively the re-employment challenges. Against that background, which combines literature review and brief summaries of case studies, the dissertation reviews contract farming as an approach towards agricultural development and job creation. The lessons from the socio-economic development projects, rural-reforms and contract-farming projects are used as inputs to evolve a framework for the local approach to contract farming, related to mining areas. This includes considerations of implementation challenges likely to be experienced.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Experimental and analytical investigations were conducted to evaluate the overall stability for the final slope of the Pit Number One at El Encino mine, an iron ore property in Jalisco, Mexico. Shear strength of the intact rock and fractures was estimated from laboratory tests and back-analyses of previous slope failures. Back-analysis estimates were found to be more appropriate to represent the shear strength of fractures. Equal-area stereoplots were used to analyze geological structure data to differentiate structural domains with similar structural characteristics within the final slope. A kinematic analysis was performed for each structural domain using average joint set orientations and major discontinuities projected onto the final slope. The final pit walls were found to be stable, except for a 36,000 ton wedge and a 12,000 ton plane shear slide. These geometries and other potentially unstable areas were analyzed, and control measures and additional work suggested.

Organic contamination is associated with inorganic contamination in a plume resulting from acidic mine drainage water in an area of copper mining, Globe, Arizona. The level of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is low, but is eight times the 0.5 mgC/l background. The source is probably organic reagents used in mineral processing. DOC fractionation using XAD-8 resin sorption chromatography gave a hydrophobic acid fraction (humic substances) of 1.0 mgC/l, and the hydrophobic neutral fraction was also anomalous, being as high as 49% of DOC. The fractionation data matched that for a waste-solution lake, believed to be a source of the aquifer contamination. Loss of DOC is occurring downgradient in the aquifer, based on comparison of DOC/chloride ratios. Loss occurs as the pH increases to over 4 or 5. Sorption onto metal precipitates being formed, particularly of the hydrophilic fraction, may be occurring.

The study begins by investigating Thailand’s administration of its mineral resources and those of some other leading mineral-exporting countries for comparison. The notion of ‘resource curse’, which affects many resource-rich countries, and an analysis how Thailand fought and won the ‘curse’ is critically explored. The principle of sustainable development and its implication to Thailand are presented, together with various computed indicators of sustainable development for Thailand. The role of mineral resources and Hotelling’s model in the context of sustainable development are discussed. The essence of this study is the development of economic models to determine the optimal extraction paths of Thailand’s gypsum resources based on Hotelling's concept of maximizing Net Present Value (NPV) of benefits accrued to the country. This study finds that under all assumptions and all scenarios, at a certain point in time, Thailand should stop exporting its gypsum and devote the remainder of its gypsum resources to domestic consumption only. In addition, Thailand should push gypsum price up to a certain level. The model determining gypsum consumption in Thailand and some countries imported gypsum from Thailand, which are the basis to determine the optimal extraction paths of gypsum in Thailand, is also developed. It shows that the price of gypsum had no effect on its consumption. In other words, the demand for gypsum might be highly inelastic. Finally, the long-term policies for Thailand to manage its gypsum resource are recommended.

M.Phil. (Mineral Economics) / The energy crises in the seventies and eighties had led to an awareness in the world's business community about the profit potential in the energy mineral supply market. All the sectors in this industry came under scrutiny, also the coal export sector. This awareness and rising interest in the world's coal export market caused amongst others, two major developments : a) a significant rise in investments in coal exporting ventures b) a higher expectation by shareholders with respect to capital returns and future growth Most companies participated in this expansion campaign, and committed resources to achieving the higher objectives. The downturn in'the world's economy , and the resultant diminished demand for energy minerals, caused the coal export market to come under pressure. The long lead time existing in the establishment of mining projects, and the fact that mines under construction cannot be mothballed until times improve, also contributed to the over-capacity situation that eventuated in the coal export industry worldwide. Many companies faced a battle for survival, and participants in the industry had to re-appraise their long term strategies. Established coal producing companies had to determine which strategies would best answer their requirements : a) whether it be to divest from coal production b) whether they should diversify their operational base and many others...