Saiccor - The First 50 Years 5.8 MB - Sappi

The Mazery Period (1989–1996)
the last as General Manager of Enstra, before he was transferred to
Head Office�
Tjaart van der Walt, an experienced operations man in Sappi,
assisted Colin, while Wayne Weston was transferred to the team to
ensure Saiccor’s requirements were retained�
Although the relationship between Colin Kerr and Celpap became
strained, Celpap did produce a report supporting our proposal� Then
Eugene van As asked why we had not considered expanding the
capacity of the magnesium plant� Canadian consultants NLK were
engaged, who a short while later merged with Celpap to form NLK-
Celpap, an unhappy union that soon ended in separation, leaving
both partners close to collapse� NLK started to look at the magnesium
expansion but were diverted to looking at thermo-mechanical pulping
for Saiccor� NLK had not produced a final report before the company
started running out of capacity and had to abandon the project�
Canadian consultants HA Simons were then engaged, with Keith
Richardson and Kevin Cox leading their teams�
By this time (mid-1991) the expansion proposal had changed to 1
600 t/d for the total mill, with the new machine and bleach plant at
800 t/d� This was based on a suggestion from André Vlok that the
machine be made 800 t/d, which he said would cost very little more
than a 700t/d machine� André, who was then in his mid-50s, was
technically the most knowledgeable man at Sappi, where he had been
in various senior positions for 27 years� Until his retirement at the
end of 1998 he was a great supporter of Saiccor, having joined the
Board in June 1991�
Discussions with Gotaverken (the boiler supplier), confirmed that
the recovery boiler could only be expanded by 30 per cent, equivalent
to 150 t/d of magnesium pulp� Thus, the final proposal became a
mill expansion of 400 t/d (150 t/d magnesium and 250 t/d calcium
pulp to a nominal 1 600 t/d)� This included a new 800 t/d bleach
plant and pulp machine, the introduction of oxygen bleaching for all
three bleach plants; for the magnesium plant an additional washer,
evaporator and bigger pumps, motors and pipes, while the flock plant
was to be shut down� After much discussion and debate Simons
produced the final feasibility study on 3 June 1992, for R953 million
(R2,76 = $1)� The proposal had four main goals: to increase output,
to improve quality, to reduce Saiccor’s environmental impact and to
broaden the product range�
The proposal was approved in late November 1992� Thys de Waard
and I were charged with setting up the project, which Thys named
the ‘Mkomazi Project’ after the river� Thys, a mechanical engineer in
his early 50s, had many years experience in the industry, having
worked for Premier Paper (with Bill Hastie, Saiccor’s first Works
Manager, and Ugo Testa), before joining Sappi� He was technically
very sound, a tough negotiator, and would not tolerate fools�
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André Vlok
Thys de Waard
Andrea Rossi