companies
The Hatch group is closely involved with the K3 expansion (illustrated here) at Mosaic’s Es-
terhazy potash operation in Saskatchewan, Canada.
means that our services are
in demand from our global
colleagues within the Hatch
Group.”
On the progress of the merg-
er, Goba says it is going un-
believably well, with all the
Goba staff having now moved
from the premises Goba had in
Sunninghill to the Hatch Goba
‘campus’ in Woodmead and
similarly in Pretoria. “The oth-
er regions stay where they were
except in Cape Town where we
will complete the move soon.
The merger has only been in
effect since April but already
it is clear that it is going to be
very successful. The cultural fit is excellent and the
newly combined and complementary skills promise
to offer a real differentiated contribution to our ex-
tended client base,” he says.
Although Kirk acknowledges that times are tough
in mining and that Hatch Goba has had to ‘right
shape’ its mining and metals business in response,
he is by no means despondent about prospects. “My
own belief is that the so-called commodities ‘super-
cycle’ has probably run its course. Is this a big prob-
lem? Not really, since what is happening is that we’re
getting back to business as usual. The supercycle was
a once-off event and had to come to an end. We still
remain reasonably busy in mining. We’re working on
the Synclinorium project in Zambia, we’re just start-
ing on the second phase of Kolomela, we’re doing
work for Anglo Platinum for its Mogalakwena mine
and we’ve also been busy with gold plants in Russia
and Kazakhstan. Coal, of course, is holding up well
and we’re extremely busy in this field here in South
Africa. In addition, we see opportunities in the future
in fracking. So overall, we’re happy with the mining
side of our business and are confident that conditions
will improve, even if they don’t reach the heights
seen in recent years,” he concludes.
Photos courtesy of Hatch Goba
