Listening to music
Wandile Ernest Gama
Plant Manager
Barberton
Summary
Experienced Plant Manager adept at improving output, maximizing quality and boosting employee satisfaction with hands-on management style. Recognized as effective business manager and motivational leader. Successful mineral processing and extractive metallurgy management career spanning more than 2 years. Pursuing full-time role that presents professional challenges and leverages interpersonal skills, effective time management, and problem-solving expertise.
Overview
11
11
years of professional experience
Work History
Plant Manager
Pan African Resources PLC (Barberton Mines Limited)
08.2023 - Current
- Forecasted future production needs accurately, allowing for strategic decision-making regarding staffing levels, equipment investments, and inventory management.
- Reduced costs by eliminating materials waste and unnecessary labor hours.
- Boosted employee morale and productivity through effective leadership and motivational techniques.
- Mentored and developed staff members, promoting professional growth opportunities within the organization.
- Ensure the plant compliance, plant optimization, metallurgical integrity, and cost-effective performance aligned with safety, legal, and commercial objectives.
- Optimize plant throughput, recovery and product specifications.
- Oversee metallurgical accounting, sampling integrity and reconciliation.
- Control operating costs and contractor claims within approved budgets.
- Maintain SHEQ compliance and audit readiness.
- Optimization of the crushing, milling, gravity, floatation, and CIL circuits for improved gold recovery, throughput, and reagent consumption.
- Provide technical expertise and support to the production team.
- Lead troubleshooting efforts for process-related issues, ensuring minimal downtime and maximum efficiency.
- Manage metallurgical projects from conception through to completion, ensuring they are delivered on time and within budget.
- Coordinate with cross-functional teams, including engineering, maintenance, and operations, to achieve set target objectives.
Senior Metallurgist
Pan African Resources PLC (Barberton Mines Limited)
03.2023 - 08.2023
- Streamlined production processes, reducing material waste and improving efficiency.
- Optimize and continually improve the processing technical integrity.
- Oversee consistent application of Safety & Health principles in all discipline interactions and take personal responsibility for safety of self and others to ensure zero harm and elimination of fatalities.
- Provide people support within the section by assisting production staff by supporting technical workload, assigned tasks and reviewing/ recognizing outputs of team members.
- Support required compliance governance in the context of the discipline on a sectional level, through the implementation and management of assurance systems.
- Own daily, weekly, and monthly metallurgical performance targets.
- Conducted root cause analyses to address production issues and implement corrective actions swiftly.
Plant Metallurgist
Pan African Resources PLC (Barberton Mines Limited)
03.2019 - 03.2023
- Analyzed production data and trends, utilizing findings to optimize processes for maximum efficiency and output quality.
- Coordinated with maintenance teams on preventive maintenance schedules, minimizing equipment downtime while maximizing reliability levels.
- Developed customized metallurgical testing protocols to ensure accurate results and minimize errors in data interpretation.
- Monitor and optimize gold recovery, concentrate grade, mass pull, and reagent dosage rates.
- Ensure stable water balance.
- Validate mass balance reconciliation and reporting accuracy.
- Protect financial and regulatory reporting integrity.
- Ensure optimal operation of crushing, Ball milling circuit, flotation, thickening, carbon-in-leach, and tailings systems.
- Coordinate with maintenance on crusher and mill liner replacement and shutdown strategy.
- Identify bottlenecks and lead debottlenecking initiatives.
- Ensure sampling protocols and QA/QC standards are maintained.
Junior Metallurgist
Pan African Resources PLC (Barberton Mines Limited)
10.2017 - 03.2019
- Calibrated and verified accuracy of density meters and cyanide analyzers.
- Optimized metallurgical processes by conducting thorough analyses and implementing advanced technologies.
- Supervision of all the plant processes.
- Gold Metallurgical accounting.
- Lead reagent optimization strategy.
- Conduct structured plant trials and process investigations.
- Optimize flotation kinetics and air dispersion control.
- Optimize the mill grind size control.
- Conducting the plant quality control on concentrate reporting to the BIOX® and also on bacterial activity.
- Operating the Gas Chromatography which monitors the ingress of hydrocarbons into the concentrator and BIOX® Plant.
- BIOX® bacterial cellular counting using the microscope.
- Operating the Atomic Absorption Spectrometer which monitors gold concentration in solutions.
Laboratory Technician
Pan African Resources PLC (Barberton Mines Limited)
02.2015 - 10.2017
- Maintained documentation on tests performed in the lab.
- Performed routine lab and department maintenance to keep area clean and orderly.
- Calibrated and maintained instruments to keep equipment fully operational.
- Performed testing and quality control using approved laboratory procedures and instrumentation.
- Responsible for the day to day running of the Mesophilic Bacterial Oxidation for the BIOX® Pilot plant.
- Preparation of samples for assaying and metallurgical testing.
- Adhered to safety standards and procedures.
- Participated in shift work as part of the production team so as to understand the plant operational and control philosophy.
- Identify and quantify opportunities for operational improvement.
- Worked closely with the maintenance personnel during the shutdown of each operation section.
- Data analysis and evaluation of results and interpretation for technical report writing.
- Conducted mechanical and metallurgical audits of ball mills, reactor tanks and thickeners.
- Conducted standard metallurgical tests such as activity tests, toxicity tests, float tests, cyanide leach tests and limestone quality tests as well as their optimization.
- Participated in the commissioning of the spiral circuit.
Education
Bachelor of Engineering - Metallurgical Engineering
University of Pretoria
Pretoria, South Africa 04.2001 -
Interests
Physical exercising
Reading short stories
Watching football, cricket, and rugby
Timeline
Plant Manager
Pan African Resources PLC (Barberton Mines Limited)
08.2023 - Current
Senior Metallurgist
Pan African Resources PLC (Barberton Mines Limited)
03.2023 - 08.2023
Plant Metallurgist
Pan African Resources PLC (Barberton Mines Limited)
03.2019 - 03.2023
Junior Metallurgist
Pan African Resources PLC (Barberton Mines Limited)
10.2017 - 03.2019
Laboratory Technician
Pan African Resources PLC (Barberton Mines Limited)
02.2015 - 10.2017
Bachelor of Engineering - Metallurgical Engineering
University of Pretoria
04.2001 -