UNIQUE IN THE INDUSTRY

For the first time in the history of South Africa, a mine is owned by its former employees and community. Arnot OpCo have a shared value model in terms of integrating with the community, green energy and partnerships with all other stakeholders. The company’s unique BBBEE structure allows it to have support from both government and local communities, resulting in a stable operation with little to no community and employee unrest.

“Since we took over operations in February 2020, we have not experienced any community or employee unrest, which is an achievement we are extremely proud of given the current economic climate in the country,” Aphane elaborates. “At the moment, nothing is as normal. With COVID-19, the pandemic has had a significant impact on businesses, the economy and healthcare at large.

With this came significant challenges not only for the mining industry, but a lot of closures of retail, transport companies and lots of retrenchments happened because of this.

“It is now more critical for entrepreneurs to create opportunities to help the government create jobs. It gives me pride to be where we are today as a company - we chose to transform and participate actively in the ownership of the sector we operate in. A major obstacle for junior mining companies in South Africa, is the issue of raising finance. Funders see you for what you do not have rather than for what you have to offer which is the drive to succeed. We can fix our issues if we do not give up – if we work together and push ahead.”

This notion of collaboration runs deep in Arnot OpCo, and alongside this, the health and wellbeing of people associated is a core aspect of the company. Arnot OpCo is