Commitment and reward

Senmin International has plied its trade in mineral beneficiation for the mining sector for almost 50 years. This sort of staying power does not come without dedication to all SHEQ processes throughout the operation

Senmin’s receipt of its sixth Noscar award on the Nosa Integrated Five-Star System is, according to safety, health and environment (SHE) manager Piet Stewart, confirmation of the dedication of all employees to comply with legal requirements, AECI standards as well as elements set by Nosa.

He says, however, that receiving recognition does not only mean another certificate to go up at the company’s Sasolburg headquarters…

“SHEQ management should become a way of life and not a way to live only when the audits are about to happen. The management strategy at Senmin is to not only focus on SHEQ in one place, but to drive it through all facets of the business,” Stewart explains. These areas of focus include vendor management undertaken at mines, products sold to customers, as well as off-the-job promotion.

“We believe in no injury to anyone, ever,” Stewart reaffirms.

Senmin places certification high on its list of due diligence. In addition to the Noscar awards,
the company also boasts various awards and certifications including: ISO 9001:2008, NSF International and OU Kosher for quality management systems, and ISO 14001 certification for environmental management.

Such certification and commitment to best practices is essential to Senmin’s line of business. The company has a wealth of expertise in mineral beneficiation (of platinum, diamonds, heavy minerals, coal, gold, uranium and base metals) that employ flotation as the primary extractive process.

In addition, Senmin has a complete range of polyacrylamides from its plant in Sasolburg to assist with the dewatering of mineral concentrates via filtration, settling/thickening of tailings slurries, and rheology modifiers for tailings dam construction.

Furthermore, the company offers a full-service model as part of its value-added service and incorporates equipment installation with brown, or greenfield projects.

The service includes total inventory management of reagents incorporating make-up; quality control and dosing of the reagents; first-line maintenance; and all SHE issues related to the handling of hazardous chemicals. The full-service model is implemented by a full team of operators and a metallurgist on a 24-hour basis.

“Safety audits are performed on a regular basis by suitably qualified personnel. This ensures that the risk associated with all equipment and operational procedures is reduced to a minimum and managed correctly,” Stewart concludes.