WADE WALKER CAPABILITY

June 2011

New structure, continued resilience and excellence

Wade Walker, one of the largest electrical, control and instrumentation (E,C&I) contractors in the mining industry and known for its experience in Africa and ability to perform despite extreme time pressures, announced changes to its top management structure twelve months ago. The company has successfully de-risked the transition and is looking to a sustainable future despite the severe market contraction, gaining market share in recent months

Founded in 1981 by Steve Walker, Wade Walker was managed by Walker himself, together with Tadgh Bergin and Darrell Caister. In 2007 it was purchased by Murray & Roberts, becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary in 2009.

Tim Wakefield, a professional engineer and previously the technical director of underground mining contractor Murray & Roberts Cementation, joined Wade Walker as managing director just over twelve months ago and spoke exclusively to SA Mining. His focus on people, performance, principles and innovation makes him a perfect fit for this people-orientated company. Stuart Buss, previously managing director of Strike Technologies, an Altron Group company, is general manager in charge of day-to-day operations and has already expressed his intention to offer services to a wider market and investigate synergies with other Murray & Roberts companies. A chartered engineer, Buss has a background in the electrical utilities field and will also be exploring potential acquisitions and further value adding partnerships.

“The changes are aimed at reinforcing the safety culture and already strong construction management structure and locking in years of experience and knowledge as we grow our internal talent,” Wakefield assures the industry. “Leadership influence on a successful and established culture, often seen as a delivery risk when successors take up their roles, will not be allowed to affect our skilled core competence on the ground, which will be fully supported to continue to provide the exceptional levels of delivery and performance to which our clients, and in particular the mining industry, have become accustomed.”

Wade Walker has established an impressive record in Africa for completing projects which are logistically challenging, working as a trusted partner with project management teams. “Because we understand the imperatives of our clients’ businesses and have handpicked skilled people working to entrenched principles we can adapt our operational controls to accommodate specific needs on both small and large projects. E,C&I construction work is mostly undertaken towards the end of projects when time pressures tend to be extreme to meet commissioning deadlines. One of our greatest strengths is our ability to deliver safely and to the specified quality under these circumstances,” Wakefield stresses.

This commitment to its clients has earned Wade Walker considerable respect and credibility. “It takes special skill and knowledge to operate smoothly in Africa where the supply chain can be challenging,” Wakefield points out. “We bring our critical core skills from South Africa, couple them with available local labour, carry out site specific training and through rigorous planning and with specific attention to the supply chain and timely skills deployment deliver successfully on every project.”

One of Wade Walker’s earlier milestone contracts was the then named COSAC project at Chambishi on the Zambian Copperbelt, designed to extract copper and cobalt from slag material for Anglovaal. Wade Walker was responsible for the medium- and low-voltage installation and all instrumentation. The R25 million contract was implemented over a 36-week period from May 2000 to February 2001, involving 350 km of cabling, over 8000 metres of racking and the installation of approximately 1600 field devices.

“This project was pivotal in demonstrating our ability to deliver despite the exacting conditions prevalent in Zambia at the time,” Wakefield emphasises.

So important has the broader African continent become in its portfolio that Wade Walker has registered businesses in Chingola in Zambia, Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Gaborone in Botswana and has an office in Accra in Ghana.

“It is not our objective to just arrive, complete the contract and leave,” Wakefield elaborates. “We are African and our success is dependent on building a footprint beyond current projects. This approach also supports our philosophy of partnering with clients. It establishes relationships of trust and respect that lead to continued future engagements.”

Wade Walker has a long standing reputation for engaging closely with clients thanks to its own people-centric policies which place a high value on its workforce. “Relatively small teams facilitate working together enhancing levels of caring and personal interaction which, without doubt, contribute to safe outcomes, higher productivity, less rework and successful projects,” Wakefield says. “We are known for our integrity, transparency, flexibility and strong work ethic and these principles undoubtedly constitute the foundations of our success.”

In addition to its core business of electrical and instrumentation procurement, installation and commissioning, Wade Walker offers localisation of designs to environmental and country conditions, including wider discipline project and site management to best practice systems, including earthing and lighting design and installation activities, typically encountered when working alongside or with other service providers. It also undertakes design, procurement, installation and commissioning of overhead lines from 6.6 kV to 33 kV.

Programming and commissioning of process controllers for automation, installation and commissioning of SCADA and telemetry network services, fibre-optic installation and installation of instruments all often working closely with suppliers, complement heavy current construction. “We have proven expertise in working in partnerships, optimising the experience and capabilities of other professionals in the construction sector, providing comprehensive solutions,” Wakefield says.

“As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Murray & Roberts, we can also draw on the significant pool of resources within the Group. While our core business is value enhancement through E,C&I delivery, we have the ability and experience to offer wider construction solutions involving mechanical, structural and piping work by working together with sister companies. A benefit to our clients from a project management perspective is less risk because of fewer contractual interfaces.”

Although southern Africa still constitutes a large portion of company turnover, projects have in the last decade been delivered in Namibia, Mozambique, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Senegal, the DRC, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. “Clients are not limited to those based on the African continent,” Wakefield adds. “We have earned the trust of many internationally active clients with interests in Africa.”

Among projects in Africa where Wade Walker undertook E&I work is the Tenke Fungurume copper mine in Katanga, one of the largest ‘new generation’ mines in the DRC, which required more than 800 000 manhours of work. Currently, the company is involved with the Ct-8 project at Debswana’s Jwaneng diamond mine and construction of the 90 MW Simple Gas Turbine Power Plant at Debswana’s Orapa diamond mine. It has also fulfilled a number of smaller contracts in West Africa, at Anglo Gold Ashanti’s Iduapriem, Obuasi mines and at First Quantum’s Guelb Moghrein copper/gold mine in Mauritania.

In South Africa, Wade Walker completed the electrical installation for Assmang’s Nchwaning manganese mine’s processing plant in the Northern Cape, was involved in a de-bottlenecking project at Foskor’s Phalaborwa mine and is conducting work on a tailings project for South Deep. Current unusual projects include the E&I installations on two new technology pilot process plants, one for an offshore heap leach installation and the other a nickel plant.

“We have also enjoyed a major involvement in the station services electrification and lighting associated with the prestige Gautrain commuter train project in a consortium with ACTOM,” Wakefield adds. “Whilst we continue to deliver some interesting industrial and power generation related projects, and seek other market opportunities that have a strategic fit, our primary focus on mining and mining related infrastructure in Africa is the heart of what we do and where we create value.”