Magalies Quarry Business Plan — Business Model and Operating Model
Drilling, blasting, crushing and screening, plant configuration and the cost stack behind a delivered tonne.
Section 9 of 26
Business Model and Operating Model
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- 1. Executive Summary
- 2. Investment Thesis
- 3. Company and Business Overview
- 4. Problem, Customer Need and Value Proposition
- 5. Industry Analysis
- 6. Market Analysis
- 7. Competitive Landscape
- 8. Products and Services
- 9. Business Model and Operating Model
- 10. Go-to-Market and Commercial Strategy
- 11. Management and Organisation
- 12. Regulatory, Licensing and Fiscal Framework
- 13. ESG, Rehabilitation and Community Impact
- 14. Strategic Plan
- 15. SWOT and Strategic Implications
- 16. Risk Analysis
- 17. Implementation Roadmap
- 18. Financial Plan and Projections
- 19. Funding Requirement and Structure
- 20. Investment Case, Valuation and Returns
- 21. Scenario and Sensitivity Analysis
- 22. KPIs and Management Dashboard
- 23. Conclusion and Recommendation
- A. Appendix A: Projected Income Statement
- B. Appendix B: Projected Balance Sheet
- C. Appendix C: Projected Cash Flow
A conventional, well-understood drill-blast-crush-screen operation, executed to a high standard and staged to de-risk commissioning.
Operating process
- Drill & blast. Controlled blasting of the norite face on a planned bench sequence, managed for vibration and flyrock compliance.
- Load & haul. Excavators and articulated dump trucks move shot rock to the primary crusher.
- Crush & screen. Primary, secondary and tertiary crushing with multi-deck screening produces graded stone and dust.
- Sand manufacture. A vertical-shaft impactor (VSI) and washing/classification produce specification manufactured sand.
- Quality & dispatch. On-site laboratory verifies grading to SANS standards; product is stockpiled and dispatched by weighbridge.
Capacity ramp
Output is staged: an initial line supports ~300 kt in Year 1, rising as the ramp matures; a Phase-2 debottlenecking in Years 2–3 lifts installed capacity to the 720 kt nameplate, reached at full utilisation by Year 5. Staging reduces commissioning risk and aligns capital with demand as it firms.
Plant and equipment
The processing configuration is a conventional three-stage crushing circuit with a dedicated sand-manufacturing line, sized for the 720 kt nameplate. The principal asset register is summarised below; it forms the basis of the depreciation and sustaining-capital schedules in the financial model.
|
Asset group |
Function |
Indicative cost (R’000) |
|---|---|---|
|
Primary jaw crusher & feeder |
First-stage size reduction of shot rock |
20,000 |
|
Secondary & tertiary cone crushers |
Progressive reduction to product sizes |
18,000 |
|
Vertical-shaft impactor (VSI) |
Manufactured-sand production |
12,000 |
|
Screens, conveyors & wash plant |
Grading, classification, sand washing |
8,000 |
|
Electrical infrastructure (MV line, substation, MCC) |
Power reticulation and control |
13,000 |
|
Mobile fleet (excavators, loaders, ADTs) |
Load-and-haul and stockpile handling |
33,000 |
|
Laboratory & weighbridge |
Quality assurance and dispatch control |
2,000 |
Cost structure and operating leverage
Variable cash cost is approximately R72/t at maturity (diesel, power, wear parts, explosives, blasting and mobile-fleet running cost), escalating at 6%. Fixed cost, payroll of about R15m and non-payroll overhead of about R13m at maturity, is largely independent of volume, so unit fixed cost falls sharply as tonnes rise. This operating leverage is the engine of margin expansion.
