ACTING CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REVIEW
Our short-term back to basics approach of disciplined mining, cost control, ore reserve management and efficiencies is
beginning to deliver benefits. During the quarter under review, management throughout the group worked as a team to apply
the stringent measures required to restore the company to profitability. I am sufficiently pleased with our progress to date.
In our June quarter, shareholders were assured that a due diligence on the core areas of all our operations would be undertaken
in order to provide a better understanding of their immediate needs and appropriate action required at each mine. I am pleased
to report that we have completed the due diligence.
We now have a better understanding of our operations and their individual needs. We have identified mines with potential for
improved production and mines with potential challenges, such as an over-complement of labour. The results of the due
diligence has further enabled us to identify areas of quick cost cutting, such as reducing the services of consultants and
contractors and the benefits of these will become evident in future quarters.
A great deal of emphasis is being placed on meeting production targets and optimising the orebody through disciplined mining
to reduce costs and increase productivity. In addition, we now have mine plans, which we believe are achievable and we are in
a much better position to forecast the next quarter’s performance.
Feedback to shareholders
I can safely report that, besides the due diligence, we have accomplished most of the undertakings made to shareholders in
the previous quarter:
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We said that we would strengthen management and this we have done.
Tom Smith was appointed as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the South Region. Since, and as a result of, the appointments
of Tom Smith and Mashego Mashego, Human Resources Executive, other changes have been made at general manager and
executive level. Consequently, both Tom Smith and Alwyn Pretorius, COO for the North Region, now have senior
management capacity in core areas of financial resources, human resources management and ore reserve management to
support them. This has helped them with completing due diligences as well as assisting with mine planning.
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We said we would review Harmony’s capital expenditure. We have done this.
Capital expenditure has been marginally reduced year-on-year, but this should not affect the company’s production build-up,
except at Hidden Valley where the reduction in capital has delayed the project’s first production by four months to March
2009. This delay has, to a large extent, also been caused by the SAG mill at Hidden Valley being delayed in the production
line.
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We said we would conduct an independent review of our accounting system in order to understand the underlying issues.
This has been done.
We have now advanced to the stage where anomalies in the system are being corrected. We also said we would do stock-
taking at the end of the quarter. We are confident that our financial figures are accurate.
Operational performance
Identifying our operational challenges has also lead us to understand the mining and ore reserve management and we are
confident that operations will, going forward, begin to produce in line with their mining plans. Subsequently, we have in this
quarter produced more gold and better grades.
Harmony reported an improved performance for the quarter ending 30 September 2007. The group’s operating cash costs
decreased by 12.5% to R130 416/kg from R148 993/kg and Rand per tonne cost decreased from R476/t to R386/t. Tonnes
milled increased by 3.5% for underground operations and 52.3% for surface operations mainly from the treatment of dumps.
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