22 Years with the De Beers/Anglo American family — ten years of which have been spent as part of the Venetia Mine team - Assistant General Manager Hendrick Matjila remains enthusiastic about the Anglo American way of mining. He shares some sentiments about his experience with the group and our innovative business approaches within the industry.
Opened in 1992, De Beers’ Venetia Diamond Mine is one of Anglo American’s priority 1 operations. It sits just 80km away from Musina in the Limpopo Province, and happens to be South Africa's largest diamonds-producing open cast mine. It has an estimated current annual output of 94 million carats and will soon be expanding into an underground mining operation.
Diamonds may be forever, but the real gems are the thousands of men and women that dedicate themselves to ensuring that the raw mineral reaches polished stone in the safest and most sustainable way.
GROWING OUR PEOPLE GROWS OUR BUSINESS
Hendrick Matjila began his journey with us at just 18 years of age. He went on to study Metallurgy through a De Beers/Anglo American bursary scheme before moving up through the ranks to his current position as Assistant General Manager of De Beers’ Venetia Mine. His role as part of the mine’s leadership team means that he has to meet multiple expectations to ensure that the mine continues to innovate to the De Beers’ and Anglo American standard of quality.
“There is a lot of responsibility that goes with this asset being a priority 1 mine.” Hendrick explains. “Not only from the host community, but also from our stakeholders.” He goes on to say, “There is a need and requirement by those within our community to improve their livelihood, in terms of contribution.”
Understanding the softer issues of modern mining is another quality of leadership Hendrick demonstrates. He passionately describes the internal expectations on which his team is required to deliver, counting safety naturally, as the most paramount. “Safety is a critical value we abide by as a company, and we don’t compromise on it. There is no production that can take place unless that production can be done safely.”
Socio-economic requirements also fall under our mine’s responsibilities and in turn under a general manager’s deliverables. Driven by the desire to retain positive shareholder value for the remaining existence of the mine, we embrace the fact that every single one of our 3,699 employees play an important part in the roadmap to Venetia’s collective success.
Our approach to the way we mine above all else is guided by our values. Being open, honest, pragmatically optimistic, innovative, and financially inclusive have become integral factors in how successful Venetia Mine, and in turn the collective Anglo American group, will continue to be.
“Going underground extends the life of an open cast mine. Open pit mines see a more immediate end whereas going underground extends the life of our mine to 2043 at least,” Matjila says.
A longer life for the mine increases its value exponentially, and not just in terms of the bottom line. The longer we can extract minerals from a particular site or increase beneficiation, the more we can do. Our environmental considerations and focus on empowering the communities that host us, keep us accountable to finding ways to improve key factors across our value and production chains.
This year Anglo American celebrates 100 years. Our centenary goes beyond the simple tally of years in operation – it’s a celebration of our continued dedication to creating sustainable value that makes a real difference. The changes we make today will ensure our ongoing resilience in the future, and we look forward to making those changes together.