3
Chief executive officer’s review
Harmony produced solid results for FY12, and improved on these
in the first quarter of FY13. The company continues to generate
strong cash flow, with low debt and undrawn lending facilities and a
rand/dollar exchange rate that is working in our favour.
The past quarter has been a tumultuous time in the mining industry
after unprotected strikes at one platinum mine spread across almost
the entire mining industry, including our own Kusasalethu mine. In
addition to the tragic loss of life at some operations in the mining
industry and the economic cost of these actions, the scale of violence
and intimidation has made media headlines around the world with
concomitant impacts on investor sentiment, South Africa’s sovereign
credit rating, and national and industry reputations. These events have
been extremely unfortunate not only for the industry and its employees,
but also for future growth and development in South Africa, given the
critical role of gold mining in our country’s economic development.
At Harmony, some 5 400 employees at Kusasalethu mine near
Carletonville embarked on an unprotected strike at the beginning of
October 2012. We urged our employees to honour existing collective
agreements entered into through the Chamber of Mines as well as
existing bargaining structures. In addition, we continued to encourage
all employees participating in this unlawful strike to act in a safe,
responsible and peaceful manner, and to engage through established
channels. The majority of striking workers returned to Kusasalethu
on 25 October 2012. Safety inspections, safety inductions and health
checks were done during the first few days of the workers’ return, but
production start-up has been slow.
Encouragingly, Harmony’s other operations have remained at work
during difficult times – arguably an indication that work done on
building a common culture and values is producing benefits. I thank
management teams and all employee representatives for the good
relationships they have with each other and for being ‘connected’.
On 25 October 2012, the Chamber of Mines, representing Harmony,
AngloGold Ashanti Ltd and Gold Fields Ltd, together with the National
Union of Mineworkers, Solidarity and UASA, signed an agreement
to give effect to clause 11 of the 2011 – 2013 Chamber Gold Wage
Agreement to put an end to the national strikes in the gold industry. The
adjustment effectively increases Harmony’s wages by approximately
R10 million per month.
Everything we do at Harmony is based on our values – safety, honesty,
achievement, accountability and connectedness. This means we
do what is right for our shareholders and other stakeholders, our
employees, our assets and our business.
We were able to demonstrate these values in action effectively
using concrete examples during an analyst visit to our Papua New
Guinea (PNG) operations in September. Harmony’s chairman and
management recently visited PNG and had the opportunity to meet
with the prime minister, the Honourable Peter O’Neill, and members
of his cabinet. The official party visited our Hidden Valley mine and
Wafi-Golpu project, which was indeed an honour and privilege for
us. Harmony is committed to building a mutually beneficial long-term
partnership with the government of PNG, the communities living near
our operations, our employees and other stakeholders.
Understanding the importance of delivering on our promises, we
are focused on meeting our guidance to the investment community
of delivering 1.7 million ounces of gold by 2016. An important
component in reaching this milestone lies in the development work
being done throughout the company to ensure our grade continues
to improve. We trust that delivering on our targets will contribute to
investors recognising the value in Harmony’s share price.
Progress made towards our strategic objectives as at 30 June 2012 are:
Growth
Ore reserves
Increased by 27%
Dividends
Increased by 50%
Net debt
Lowered by R823m (US$123m)
Capital expenditure
Funded entirely by operations
– R3.2bn (US$414m)
Exploration
Expenditure
Increased by 54%
Number of gold and
copper targets
Increased
Diversity – geographic
and copper
Improved
Discovery cost
US$6 per equivalent resource
ounce
Optimising
operational
delivery
Improved safety
Fatalities down, improved
lost-time injury frequency rate
Disposed of non-core
assets
Evander and Rand Uranium
Improved margin
26% in FY11, 35% in FY12
Leverage to gold price
– 36% increase in R/kg gold
price = 80% increase in
rand profit
– 23% increase in US$/oz gold
price = 62% increase in
US$ profit
Golpu
World-class gold/copper project, long life
Lowest industry quartile operating cost (gold and
copper)
Significant upside potential – Golpu and the Wafi
transfer structure
This year (FY13) we plan to produce 1.3 million ounces of gold from
continuing operations. This quarter’s results show that we are on
course, however the strike at Kusasalethu will impact on our target
(±25 000oz).
Safety and values
Regrettably, Harmony recorded three fatalities in the quarter:
Mzwandile Bhudaza was a rock driller at Unisel and Sera Nkhache and
Simon Retselisitsoe Molefi were contractors at Joel mine. We extend
our deepest sympathy to their families and colleagues.
Given the current turmoil in the mining industry, we need to be
even more vigilant about safety. It is the most important aspect of
our business, and one of Harmony’s values, which requires everyone
to make safety the foremost priority in all circumstances. Safety
awareness campaigns are on-going.
Phakisa has now reached 27 months without a fatality (1.75 million
shifts), while Masimong reached 1 million fatality-free shifts in June –
a milestone that took 17 months to reach. Tshepong recorded 1 million
fatality-free shifts in September 2012 after nine months. At the time
of writing this report, Target 1 achieved three years without a fatality
(more than 1 million fatality-free shifts). Through an increased focus on