The man that loved too much!
Nothing lasts forever. In 1977 a new Sulphuric Acid Plant built by a mining group ERGO (East Rand Gold Operations) started up near Springs on the East Rand. The technology did not differ much from the technology used by AECI and Triomf apart from the raw material employed to generate H2S. AECI used Pyrites, Sulphur and ERGO the sand from Mine dumps.
The news that the plant was to be shut down permanently brought a flurry of thoughts about the history of the plant and the impact it had on his own life. The Moon landing was such an event and changed Matthew’s life forever.
On July 20, 1969, at 10:39 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time Armstrong backed out of the LM and descended to the lunar surface. At 10:56 P.M. Armstrong said,
‘Alright, I’m stepping off the footpad now.’ That was followed immediately by,
‘That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.’
Moon Landing had a profound impact on him. He was in awe of what was achieved technologically, what people could do if they worked professionally in teams and lastly he was in awe of the divineness of the human mind and spirit! This incident was Matthew’s driving force! Closing the plant permanently was unimaginable!
The primary function of ERGO was to reclaim gold from the Mine dumps and in the process generated Sulphuric Acid as a by-product which came dead cheap at about R33 per tonne. The latter spelt trouble for the AECI Sulphuric Acid Plant at Chloorkop that was producing Acid at the cost of approx. R130 per tonne.
This came as a massive shock for all the AECI Chloorkop Sulphuric Acid employees! But AECI, like in so many times of trouble in the past, turned this potential danger into an opportunity and triumph.
In negotiations between AECI and ERGO, AECI managed to sign a deal that made her the sole buyer of all the Acid produced by ERGO. With AECI’s Acid market safe and the spin-off of getting Acid at less than a third of the price it had cost AECI to produce its own, the death warrant for the plant at Chloorkop was signed. The plant that had started up in 68 would finally shut down in 79 and take a few more years to demolish.
ERGO’s quest to remove the gold left behind in the yellow Mine dumps by the crude technology of a past mining era would in the years to see the removal of all Mine dumps that had become part of the Johannesburg and Witwatersrand panorama, making valuable land available for housing and industrial development.
The closure of the Chloorkop Sulphuric Acid plant also had a new spin-off for ERGO and AECI. The ugly towering waste red iron ore (Calcine) dump spoiling the horizon north of the beautiful Dam III on Modderfontein property, had been removed by ERGO to reclaim the high concentration of gold in the Calcine that had been left behind by the Sulphuric Acid plant during its ten years of operation.
AECI solved a severe environmental problem while ERGO at the same time made a pocketful of money. Apart from the Dump being a threat to the environment, the Calcine was also radioactive!
In later years Bulk Mining Explosive (BME) used Calcine, which have gone through ERGO’s gold extraction system, successfully as an ingredient in High Energy Explosives.
The closure of the Sulphuric Acid plant was a severe blow to Matthew and the other people employed in the plant. Uncertainty about their jobs took their toll as not all of them would be or could be accommodated in the organisation. Matthew need not have worried as past industriousness and loyalty paid off. Matthew was offered a position in the Chemicals Department as a Day Foreman on the Limestone Ammonium Nitrate Plant with a salary increased to R950 per month.
He was invited to attend the final closure ceremony on the Sulphuric Acid Plant. The 350-meter high stack was brought down with explosives. Something died in Matthew that day. It was as though he was standing beside the grave of a dear friend he had passionately loved.
Of the old making way for the new was devastating, the self- imposed madness of loving too much! Driving away he cried and remembered his recurring dreams in which he saw himself as an eagle-like bird flying in circles high above the Sulphuric Acid Plant, occasionally swooping down from high-up, looking for enemies that could threaten his nest! For the first time, he understood the meaning of his dream and being over possessive.
Mattheus Frederik
