The MACA OPMS team recently celebrated two years of operations at the Okvau Gold project.
The Okvau Gold project located in Cambodia, Southeast Asia, is the first of its kind for a large-scale mining project in the region with a predicted mine life of seven years.
When the project at Okvau first begun, a “new to mining” workforce of 140 eager local employees were progressively employed to various mining positions over a period of three months and immediately introduced to MACA’s safe work practices, values, and ‘Can Do’ attitude with a “lead by example” Management Team.
MACA OPMS Director Mark Breingan said international operations can be challenging, dealing with different cultures, languages, environments and varying levels of employee experience but with a consistent and respectful approach success is guaranteed.
“MACA OPMS leaders were faced with many exciting challenges when first starting the project at Okvau. Through continuous improvement and dedication, the team remained on schedule, putting our client on track for the first gold pour in June 2021; Cambodia’s first ever gold bar of significance,” said Mark
Two years on, mining fleet availability remains at 96%, and drill penetration and dig rates continue to rival that achieved in Australia from a team with sub two years mining experience.
“Our 189 strong workforce now consists of seven Western expats, 19 regionals, and 158 local Cambodian men and women which is great and demonstrates our commitment to embracing cultural and gender diversity.
“The team has completed over 994,000 manhours with zero LTI’s to drill, blast, load, and haul more than 10,200,000 BCM,” said Mark.
In its two years of operations, the team has never failed to achieve the monthly schedule.
“MACA OPMS continues to provide exceptional effort onsite and it is a testimony to what can be achieved with constant belief, a devoted workforce, and work ethic built on a ‘Can Do’ approach and core values, no matter the environment.
“Alongside exceptional leadership, another pivotal part of the project’s success is the culture that has been built between the team and community,” said Mark.
Stay tuned for part 2, where we dive into the culture of our MACA OPMS team.
