GEMECS

Joac Scholtz
Geologist

BSc (Hons) Geology, University of the Free State

Past experience base

Joac studied at the University of the Free State where he completed his Geology honours degree in November 2011. As a student, during varsity (January 2008 to June 2011), he worked for the Department of Geology at the UFS as a Demi in various courses to promote in-house training. In 2011 he acted as Junior Lecturer for the first year geology class (period of two months).

Tiaan Fourie
Geologist

BSc (Hons) Geology, University of Pretoria

Past experience base

Tiaan studied at the University of Pretoria and completed his Honours degree in Geology during November 2011. While he was studying, he joined a small geological and environmental consultancy which focused mainly on coal exploration. He remained within their employment from November 2009 to September 2012. During this timeframe, he performed basic geological modelling in Surfer, compiled maps in ArcGIS 10, conducted geological desktop studies on various commodities and did core logging and sampling on sites in Mpumalanga and Zimbabwe. From September 2012 to April 2021 Tiaan was part of several geological projects concerning various commodities and resources including tin, coal and groundwater. During this stage of his career he remained exposed to the theoretical facet of geology through conducting numerous desktop studies as well as the practical side of geology through undertaking several core logging ventures and geophysical surveys. He joined Gemecs at the start of April 2021.

Esther Odendaal
Geologist

BSc (Hons) (Geology), University of the Free State
Member of the South African Council of Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP) 400454/11

Past experience base

Esther graduated as a geologist from the University of the Free State in 2007 and started working at Gemecs as a field geologist in February 2008. Esther is responsible for the core logging and sampling of exploration boreholes.

Nico Denner
Director & Consulting Geologist

MBA University of Potchefstroom, Potchefstroom
BSc (Geology) (Hons.) Rand Afrikaans University (RAU), Johannesburg
Member of the South African Council of Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP) 400060/98
Fellow member of the Geological Society of South Africa
Member of the Society of Economic Geologists
Member of the Bushveld Branch GSSA

Specialisation

• PGE (Platinum Group Elements) Resource estimation
• PGE Evaluation
• Geological modelling (Structure and quality)
• PGE and Coal Exploration
• Coal geological modelling
• Database management
• Project Management

Expertise

• Compilation and interpretation of structural and quality PGE resource geological models.
• Exploration planning and management.

Past experience base

Nico started his geology career as a student in 1991. During his studies he worked on a number of mines, including Gold (Beatrix and St. Helena mine, Freestate gold fields), Manganese (Hotazel, Kalahari manganese fields) and also as field assistant in the Vredefort Dome with Potchefstroom University’s Geology department.

He completed his Geology degree in 1994, with Geology and Statistics as major subjects, and then moved to RAU (Rand Afrikaans University) in Johannesburg to complete his Honours degree. In 1995 he joined Gencor’s (today BHP Billiton) coal division as a graduate geologist. During the next 3 years he worked on several coal and anthracite mines including Koornfontein and Blinkpan mine, Zululand Anthracite Colliery, Douglas and Vandyksdrift Colliery and Optimum mine. Working on these different mines gave him exposure to both underground and open pit mining operations, multi seam and low seam mining as well as coal quality control, structural mapping, exploration, mine geological modelling, production and scheduling skills.

Early in 1998 Nico decided on a career change and joined Lonmin Platinum as Mine Geologist. During the next 10 years of his career he developed up to Mineral Resource manager, responsible for Lonmin’s Marikana operations. In this time he became an expert on the Bushveld complex western limb’s Merensky and UG2 reef horizons with regards to resource and reserve evaluation, production, scheduling and mining methods. He was extensively involved in the planning and management of the ongoing surface exploration programme, annual resource and reserve estimations, life of mine planning systems, underground quality evaluation, mining service and production delivery with regards to quality control, as well as the design and implementation of automated monthly mineral resource systems. He was also part of several project teams and responsible for the technical and resource input for the planning and design of new shaft blocks, new expansion projects, shaft sinking, and shaft deepening projects.

During his time as Manager Geology and Mineral Resource Manager he acted on numerous occasions as Technical Services Manager for both Western Platinum Mine as well as Marikana operations. He used these opportunities to further his leadership and managerial development. In 2002 he completed his MBA studies to equip himself with advanced managerial, strategic thinking, production planning, marketing, financial and people management skills.

Nico joined Gemecs (Pty) Ltd in August 2007. He brings value to the company with his Platinum production and exploration experience, as well as coal experience.