Henry Laas, managing director of Murray & Roberts RUC, say the restructuring and rebranding of RUC is in line with the fundamental strategic changes that Murray & Roberts as a group is undergoing, aimed at presenting a unitary face to its market and clients. Explaining the rationale behind the move to restructure and rebrand, Laas says that RUC had been a fragmented company with a number of subsidiaries each operating independently, and this, he says, had resulted in an amount of confusion about the company’s service offering to its markets.
Laas says that the restructured company now has an integrated market capability and a holistic approach towards providing mining project solutions for the mining industry. He says the new structure will facilitate a sound platform from which Murray & Roberts RUC can present its capabilities both locally and internationally.

Commenting on the new company name, Laas says that it was a natural and logical progression to brand the company as Murray & Roberts RUC. RUC had been a wholly owned subsidiary of Murray & Roberts since 1997 when the group purchased the other fifty percent of shares from Gencor. Being branded as a Murray & Roberts Company will create greater synergy between the company and other parts of Murray & Roberts, and enable Murray & Roberts RUC to provide a more comprehensive service to the mining industry.

Murray & Roberts RUC will also, as part of the Murray & Roberts Group, be extending its services to include a mine design capability which according to Laas will play an important role in the company’s new market offering. He also envisages more value added services being made available to the mining industry in the future.

In line with the rebranding and repositioning of the company, Murray & Roberts RUC will place great emphasis on marketing and building client relationships.

“Our heritage is at the root of our continued commitment to delivering excellence and innovation in our services, teamwork with our clients and partners, reliability in meeting budgets and schedules, and above all, safety in all aspects of our operations. This commitment is combined with an intensely customer responsive approach, and a proven ability to leverage our leading edge knowledge and experience in customised solutions,” Laas says.

With safety and quality standards in mind, it is Murray & Roberts RUC’s intention to have ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 accreditation by December 2002. The company is already ISO 9001/2002 accredited and all processes within Murray & Roberts RUC are professionally managed to ensure that the highest standards are consistently met.

“We will continue to innovate within the mining industry and greater emphasis will be placed on the development of new mining technologies with the express objective of increasing efficiencies and reducing the exposure of employees to risk,” Laas says.

“It is anticipated, for example, that drop raising techniques and low capital cost mechanized development will become more prevalent on local mining contracts,” he says.

“All of the above can only be accomplished through the highest levels of teamwork, and by this we mean internal teamwork and establishing partnerships with clients,” Laas says.

Murray & Roberts RUC’s capabilities and areas of expertise remain in mine and engineering design, feasibility studies, shaftsinking, raisedrilling, mechanised and conventional horizontal and incline development, contract mining, mechanised stoping, drop raising, long hole stoping, ground stabilisation, specialised support work, exploration drilling and all associated ancillary services.

The company is recognised as a leader in deep mining technology, and has retained its leadership at the forefront of development in these areas either as a company or through its joint ventures and partnerships.

Internal restructuring has resulted in a major shift in reporting structures and responsibilities, which Laas says, will ultimately lead to greater benefits for the client with projects being undertaken more efficiently.

Apart from the streamlining of processes and the discontinuation of Rucbor and Rucmin, two companies previously within RUC, several changes have been made to the executive team. Jacques du Plessis and Marius Oosthuisen have been appointed as general manager mining and general manager raisedrilling respectively, while Neil Lane has been appointed as group engineer, responsible for the entire engineering function within Murray & Roberts RUC.

In addition to these changes, two area offices, namely Extech in Fochville and Strata Boring in Carltonville have been relocated to Murray & Roberts RUC’s head office in Alberton.