3
Chief executive officer’s review
We have made excellent strides in the last couple of years in achieving
our stated strategy of creating a sustainable company that generates
free cash flow that funds dividends and growth. The March 2012
quarter has been a difficult quarter and we have to ensure we continue
to improve on all fronts – safety, production and returns.
Gold production in the March 2012 quarter was negatively impacted
by a number of factors, some unexpected. This resulted in a reduction
of gold production, the details of which are explained below in the
commentary on operational results (pages 6 to 9).
It was with great excitement that we announced the launch of
Harmony’s employee share trust in March 2012, a venture that
recognises the importance of the employees who sustain our business.
Our employees are our ‘human gold’. A core focus for Harmony
therefore continues to be the improvement in safety and health of
our employees and some good initiatives were undertaken that will
improve this substantially going forward.
Safety
Given the high-risk nature of many of our underground operations, the
safety, health and well-being of our people is our foremost priority. As
part of our efforts to continually improve our safety, a number of audits
were conducted by an external party during the quarter to identify
potential areas of improvement in our safety strategy. Following the
review, an improved safety framework for Harmony is being developed
and we expect this to be rolled out during the next 12 months.
In the short term, a high level internal safety audit team, consisting of
mining and safety experts, has been established. The main objective of
this team is to verify conditions in the risk areas at Harmony’s operations
and establish the effectiveness of the management systems that are in
place to ensure the safety of employees. The team will also review
the level of implementation of strategic health and safety programmes
and standards at all operations.
Despite our best efforts to curb fatalities, it is with deep regret that
I report that five of our colleagues died in work-related incidents
during the quarter. Those who died were: Zanekhaya Meteawdaba
(belt attendant, Doornkop), Lefy David Ntsihlele (engineering assistant,
Doornkop), Johannes Leepile and Zukisa Mentile (both winch operators
at Kusasalethu) and Lisene Phidalis Rankopane (boilermaker aide at
Bambanani West). I would like to extend my deepest condolences to
their families, friends and colleagues.
Operations that showed significant improvements in safety trends
during the quarter were Tshepong, Bambanani and Evander. In
addition, Target 1, Target 3, Kalgold, Joel, Phakisa and Masimong are
fatality-free for the year to date.
Other significant safety achievements during the quarter were the
following:
•
Kalgold operations
2 500 000 fatality-free shifts
•
Harmony One Plant
1 250 000 fatality-free shifts
•
Target 1 shaft
1 000 000 fatality-free shifts
•
Masimong
2 237 688 fall of ground
fatality-free
shifts
•
Doornkop
4 897 318 fall of ground
fatality-free
shifts.
Health
Our pro-active approach to the health and wellness of our employees
continue and we are continually investing in healthcare through
policies, procedures and training, to achieve the optimal consolidated
health and business solution for employees’ wellness and productivity
improvement.
See our 2011 Sustainable Development Report for more details on our
website www.harmony.co.za.
Gold market
Although the gold price received decreased from R438 183/kg in the
December 2011 quarter to R419 649/kg in the March 2012 quarter, a
4% variance, the R/kg gold price still provides us with a strong margin.
The US dollar gold price remained fairly constant at US$1 688/oz,
marginally up from the US$1 683/oz recorded in the December 2011
quarter. We believe that the gold price will strengthen in the long term
as the same fundamentals are still in place and the uncertainty in the
world-wide markets continues to support a higher gold price.
As we have no control over the gold price or the strength of the rand
we have to continue to focus on factors within our control, such as
safety, productivity, production and cost control.
Operational results
Gold production decreased by 18% (1 965kg) in the March 2012 quarter
to 8 753kg from 10 718kg in the December 2011 quarter. The rand per
kilogram unit cost for the March 2012 quarter increased by 18% from
R249 356/kg in the December 2011 quarter to R293 842/kg in the
quarter under review. This was due to an 18% decrease in the gold
produced.
A number of factors contributed to a weaker than expected
performance during the quarter:
• The festive season and public holiday disruptions associated with
the March 2012 quarter;
• Safety
stoppages;
• Shifts lost due to the one day protected strike of the Congress of
South African Trade Unions (COSATU);
• High rainfall in Papua New Guinea impacted gold production at
Hidden Valley negatively;
• The upgrade of the infrastructure at Doornkop resulted in gold
production at this shaft being 44% lower quarter on quarter
(as guided in February 2012);
• Lower than expected recovered grades at most of our shafts
contributed to a 13% decline in underground grade. Face grades
are in line with geo-statistical models and, apart from Bambanani
and Target 3, the face grades and shaft call factors at all the shafts
improved. Belt grades, across almost all operations, were not in
line with our plans – mainly as a result of the square metres not
being blasted due to safety stoppages and high grade panels
underperforming.
Disposal of interest in Rand Uranium and Evander
Investment in Rand Uranium (Pty) Limited
The sale transaction with Gold One International Limited (Gold One) was
concluded on 6 January 2012, with the first payment of US$24 million
(R193 million) being received on that day. The outstanding amount as
at 31 March 2012 was R108 million. Subsequent to the March 2012
quarter-end, additional payments were received from Gold One in
respect of the sale.