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About us

The saying goes that

“A business succeeds not because it is big or because it has been long established, but because there are people in it who live it, sleep it, dream it and build great future plans for it”.

About

WEGO AFRICA IN BRIEF

Wego Africa (Pty) Ltd is a South Africa mining company, focused on manganese exploration and production in the Northern Cape. The company mines on Emang Mine, located on the R325, 30 kilometres from Postmasburg.
Wego Africa’s main asset comprises the technology to enhance the quality of manganese, by making use of specialised processing, to make it economically viable to export ore to smelters based in China.

Wego Africa produces manganese with a MN content raging from 28% to 32%.
In 2020 Wego Africa employed an average of 134 employees, excluding contractors.

Wego Africa exported 500 000T manganese ore in 2020 and reached a turnover of R1.113B.
Wego Africa is headquartered in Bedfordview, Johannesburg, South Africa

Our vision is supported on three pillars:

  • We are passionate about our business and our

  • We are dedicated to Customer

  • We shall be the leaders in the businesses we operate and the product we provide

The Wego Africa mission is based in values, not rules. Our values are aligned to the good governance principles of ethics and integrity, customer focus and performance excellence.

Our operating principles are in accordance with the behavioural competencies of accountability, collaboration and transparency. Putting it differently we espouse the principles of performance through people, customer and supplier intimacy and information sharing.

“Your Trust. Our Commitment”

HISTORY

  • 1900

    The group of companies was founded by David Chen in the 1990’s. Mr. Chen is enthusiastic and dedicated to the mining industry in Africa. He traversed the mineral resources in South Africa, the Congo, Zambia and Namibia and completed the merger and acquisition of several mining projects

  • 2000

    He founded the group’s first manganese mine in 2000. One of the most prominent projects is PMG Mining, with an annual output of one million tons.

  • 2010

    Mr. Chen headed the construction of the mine and it became operational in 2010.

    Mr. Chen established effective networks in the private and public sectors.

  • 2014

    PMG Mining was sold during 2014.

  • 2017

    Mr Chen and the senior management started looking for new opportunities in the mining sector in 2017.

OUR GOAL

Our long-term goal is to become a leading, sustainable and efficient medium sized manganese producer. In a low manganese price environment, we will achieve this through creating value for our stakeholders by minimizing risks related to exploration, mining and processing of our mineral resources and increasing efficiency. Our primary focus is on manganese production in South Africa but we may diversify into other minerals over time.

OUR STRATEGY

The growth and sustainability of the Company will rely on:

  • Short term: Focus on reducing costs and increasing production of our existing assets to full capacity.
  • Medium term: Continuing exploration at our existing mines to expand resources

Medium to long term is to position wego Africa as a consolidation vehicle for South African manganese assets

OUR VALUES

PEOPLE

SAFETY: People are our most important asset. Our mines are built and operated by our employees and it is our highest priority to create and maintain a safe and healthy working environment.

ENVIRONMENT AND THE COMMUNITY

Social Responsibility We are actively engaged in the local community, by amongst other things, supporting and contributing to education and infrastructure by prioritizing the local population when employing staff.

Responsible Mining:

Environmental responsibility is a central issue in a company with operations involving environmental risks. The majority of the Company’s activities are carried out in areas which are sensitive to the impact of mining operations. Wego Africa seeks to minimize the negative impact of our operations on the environment by focusing on adopting innovative technologies, continuously optimizing resource utilization and decreasing waste.

INTEGRITY AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Wego Africa’s success is dependent on trust and support from all stakeholders, including shareholders, employees, suppliers, contractors, Government and local communities, which is why we are committed to the highest standards of integrity and sustainability.