Lowveld Gold Macadamia — Operations Plan
The primary farm is located on a 380-hectare property on the R40 corridor between White River and Hazyview, of which 320 hectares will be planted to macadamia orchards. The property has registered water rights from the Crocodile River Irrigation Board, access to…
Section 7 · Business Plan
Operations Plan
The primary farm is located on a 380-hectare property on the R40 corridor between White River and Hazyview, of which 320 hectares will be planted to macadamia orchards. The property has registered water rights from the Crocodile River Irrigation Board, access to…
7.1 Location and Farm Infrastructure
The primary farm is located on a 380-hectare property on the R40 corridor between White River and Hazyview, of which 320 hectares will be planted to macadamia orchards. The property has registered water rights from the Crocodile River Irrigation Board, access to two boreholes and a 12-hectare storage dam. Irrigation will be managed through a precision drip system linked to soil moisture sensors. The farm is 15 kilometres from the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport and 12 kilometres from White River town.
7.2 Cultivar Selection
The orchard will be planted with a mix of high-performance cultivars, including Beaumont (known for reliable bearing and disease resistance), HAES 816 (premium whole-kernel recovery) and the new MCT-1 variety, which has demonstrated 40–50% higher yields in South African screening trials. Cultivar selection has been made in consultation with Macadamias South Africa (SAMAC) and industry agronomists to maximise whole-kernel percentage and minimise half-nut output.
7.3 Production Timeline and Yield Ramp-Up
| Year | Activity | Yield (t DNIS/ha) | Total Output (t) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 (2027) | Land preparation, planting of 160 ha (Phase 1) | – | – |
| Year 2 (2028) | Planting of remaining 160 ha (Phase 2); tree maintenance | – | – |
| Year 3 (2029) | First commercial harvest (Phase 1 orchards) | 0.5 | 80 |
| Year 4 (2030) | Growing yields; Phase 2 first harvest | 1.2 | 352 |
| Year 5 (2031) | Accelerating yields across both phases | 2.0 | 640 |
| Year 6 (2032) | Approaching maturity | 2.5 | 820 |
| Year 7 (2033) | Full maturity; steady-state production | 3.0–3.5 | 960–1,120 |
7.4 Processing Facility
An on-farm processing facility will be constructed in Phase 2 (2028–2029) with an initial capacity of 4,500 tonnes DNIS per annum, expandable to 8,000 tonnes to accommodate third-party intake from surrounding growers. The facility will include receiving and drying bays, mechanical cracking and optical sorting lines, roasting and oil-pressing units, vacuum-packing and cold-storage warehousing. Shell by-products will be converted to eco-briquettes and biochar using proprietary carbonisation technology, with the objective of achieving carbon-negative processing by 2031. The processing facility represents a capital investment of ZAR 80 million and is a critical component of the value-add strategy.
7.5 Supply Chain and Logistics
Processed kernel will be vacuum-packed in 11.34 kg cartons (industry standard 25 lb boxes) and stored in climate-controlled warehousing at 2–4°C. Export shipments will be routed via the Maputo Corridor (N4 highway) to the Port of Maputo in Mozambique, which offers shorter transit times to Asian markets than Durban. Domestic distribution will be managed from the processing facility directly. A logistics cost saving of approximately 12% relative to Durban routing has been factored into the financial model.
7.6 Technology and Innovation
Lowveld Gold will deploy precision agriculture technology across its operations, including drone-based orchard monitoring, soil moisture sensors, automated irrigation scheduling, and machine-learning-based yield forecasting. The processing facility will incorporate optical sorting technology capable of detecting internal shell contamination, achieving a whole-kernel recovery rate of 28–30%, which compares favourably with the industry average of 24–26%. A 500 kWp rooftop solar installation will be completed in Year 2, targeting 40% of the facility’s daytime energy requirements.
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