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We are a leading supplier of high-quality iron ore to the global steel industry operating primarily in South Africa. We focus on creating and sharing value.
We have a 75.37% interest in Sishen Iron Ore Company Proprietary Limited (SIOC), an entity that we manage. SIOC, in turn, owns the operating assets of the Company.
The remaining 24.63% interest in SIOC is held by our black economic empowerment (BEE) partners namely Exxaro Resources Limited, a leading BEE company listed on the JSE (20.37%), the SIOC Community Development Trust, a trust that funds projects in local communities (3.06%), and the SIOC Employee Share Ownership (ESOP) Trust, a new broad-based ESOP scheme consisting of an evergreen and a vesting component in which eligible employees of SIOC participates.
Our mining operations are in the Northern Cape, while our port operations are in Saldanha Bay in the Western Cape Province. Our mining operations comprise the following:
Sishen mine, is near the town of Kathu in the Northern Cape Province. Sishen is our flagship operation and one of the largest open pit mines in the world – some 14km long. Sishen mine has sufficient reserves to sustain a 14-year life of mine.
The bulk of our iron ore production comes from Sishen mine, with most of it being exported. We mine by opencast methods and then transport the ore to the beneficiation plant where it is crushed, screened and beneficiated. We beneficiate our products through dense media separation and jig technology. The jig plant at Sishen mine is the largest of its type in the world.
At Sishen we produce iron ore products which meet different specifications, according to our customers’ needs.
Kolomela mine, is near Postmasburg in the Northern Cape Province. Kolomela means ‘to dig deeper’ or ‘to persevere’. Our team members at Kolomela mine have done an excellent job of ramping up the mine and sustaining its production since it has been operational from 2011. Our Kolomela lump iron ore is in demand because of its excellent physical strength and high iron content. Kolomela has a life of mine of 14 years.
Kumba is leveraging on our endowment in the Northern Cape, to extend the life of Sishen and Kolomela to 20 years and more.
The port at Saldanha Bay is the only dedicated iron ore export facility in South Africa and is larger than the country’s other four major ports combined.
The ore quay at Saldanha has two berths where two vessels of 310,000 deadweight tonnage can simultaneously tie up at the iron ore jetty.
The terminal operates 24/7 and has the capacity to offload 10,000 tonnes per hour onto a vessel.
From arrival to departure an ore vessel carrying 170,000 tonnes will be in Saldanha Bay for just 24 hours.
Saldanha Bay port submits an annual environmental report in line with the Global Reporting Initiative. It respects that it is located in an ecologically sensitive area, and takes all measures possible to manage the area responsibly.
