S tr a t egy and s tructur e A ft er decades of decline and s tagna tion the zinc mining sect or has r ec ently e xperienc ed a r apid change in f ortunes As ne w pr oduction came on s tr eam zinc has r ec or ded a mos t notable incr ease in t otal sales of 330 In 20 19 the sect or pr oduc ed 115k t of zinc earning mor e than R34 billion Challenges and opportunities T r ansnet T he NCMLF engaged T r ansnet Fr eight Rail on a number of is sues r ela ting t o South A frican manganese e xport capacity demands bridging capacity enablement initia tiv es and options r ela ting t o e xport channels among other things T r ansnet s r esponse t o the leadership f orum s appr oach has been enc our aging and it is eager t o addr es s a number of the f orum s c onc erns V aal G amagar a W a t er Supply Scheme T he V aal G amagar a R egional W a t er Supply Scheme V GG W S S is loca t ed in the Northern Cape pr o vinc e T he scheme supplies appr o xima t ely 22 million m 3 per annum t o domes tic and c ommer cial c onsumers T he scheme tr ansf ers w a t er fr om Delportshoop on the V aal Riv er via P os tmasbur g t o K a thu Fr om K a thu a pipeline c ontinues t o Hotaz el and fnally t ermina t es a t Black R ock T he curr ent scheme is oper a ting a t capacity and is not able t o supply the incr easing futur e w a t er demands nor can it c ope with the incr easing w a t er supply int erruptions which is amplifed b y ageing infr as tructur e In r esponse the D W S subsequently pr oposed the upgr ade of the V GG W S S with Sedibeng W a t er as the implementing agent via tw o phases Phase 1 upgr ading the scheme fr om the R osc oe R eserv oir K a thu t o Black R ock alr eady in c ons truction and Phase 2 mechanical and electrical upgr ading of the Abs tr action w ork fr om Delportshoop t o Olif antshoek r efurbishment on pipe w ork and r eplac ement t o buildings a t the Delportshoop w a t er tr ea tment w orks and r eplacing r efurbishment of appr o xima t ely 210km of the e xis ting pipeline fr om Delportshoop t o Olif antshoek T hr ough engagements betw een Sedibeng W a t er and the NCMLF o v er the pas t thr ee y ears the scale of the V GG W S S upgr ade has been adjus t ed t o a r efurbishment r eplac ement type pr oject T his has r esult ed in a c ommensur a t e r eduction in the capital funding fr om R128 billion t o R8 7 billion South A frica is richly endo w ed with a v as t arr a y of miner als Miners in the Northern Cape primarily pr oduc e manganese ir on or e diamonds and zinc S tr a t egy and s tructur e VIEW S FROM C OMMODITY SECT OR LEADERSHIP FORUMS C ONTINUED V edanta Zinc Int erna tional G amsber g P age 46