Update from Armando Farhate, COO Hello,
I am Armando Farhate, the COO of Gratomic Inc. I am a Brazilian engineer with more than 30 years’ experience working in various industries and have specialized in Graphite mining for the past 10 years. Having occupied senior management positions on the major Graphite producers in the Western world, I have been in charge of planning, engineering, research and development, processing, project management, sales, and graphite marketing. Additional areas of responsibility have included quality management, environmental management, and implementing strategic and tactical planning.
You recently heard from our CEO, Arno Brand, how we are working hard to bring THE BIG GREEN to life. Gratomic is now entering into its final construction phase on our Aukam Graphite Project in Namibia and getting ready to begin commissioning. We are approximately 10 weeks away from the completion of the equipment assembly on our Aukam processing plant and continue to motivate our team to ready the Aukam Mine for Production by Q2 of this year.
As we all know, 2021 started with an increase in travel restrictions due to a new wave of COVID-19 contaminations. Because of these restrictions some of our senior management team, including myself and Karl Trudeau, are unable to mobilize immediately to the site (as we would very much wish to do). Nevertheless, we have implemented several contingency measures that will allow us to ensure the project will advance as planned.
First, we are happy to announce that Gratomic has secured the services of Karl Trudeau on a permanent basis, as Head of Namibian Operations and as a member of our Board of Directors. We have also secured two highly qualified professionals with extensive experience in the construction of mining projects, which were available to mobilize quickly to the Aukam site: Andre Bennet and Theodoris Stephanus (see our press release from January 14, 2021).
Andre Bennet will arrive at the site Jan 25 as the site’s Lead Mechanic and Maintenance Supervisor, and Theodoris Stephanus has already joined the team as Electrical Design & Installation Specialist, on January 18, 2021. It is worth noting that Trudeau and Bennet have worked together in close cooperation on other sites, achieving excellent results in terms of efficiency and schedule control.
Secondly, we are taking advantage of all available communication technology and of the internet connectivity available at the Aukam site, in spite it being in a remote location, to implement and execute a strict and robust planning, executing, and reporting strategy. This includes a specific reporting methodology, which is already being performed by the site supervisors. This is in combination with a formalized daily routine of conference calls with senior management to review the status and advancement of construction activities, update and upgrade the engineering of the processing plant, and follow up on the master schedule plan, allowing potential deviations to be corrected and mitigated immediately.
Additionally, communication channels and tools have been revised, KPI’s have been defined, a war room has been created, and additional support from vendors is being secured for activities such as electricity, mechanical and civil services, process engineering support, and steel structure erection.
In summary, we are making sure that being close to the people at Aukam does not depend on physical presence. Today’s technology allows us to maintain close proximity regardless of where we are sitting, and thus, allows us to keep the high spirits of our personnel and ensure everyone is accountable to deliver the result we are committed to.
Visit us at gratomic.ca to learn more about our clean Aukam graphite.
Warm regards,
Armando Farhate
COO & Head of Graphite Marketing and Sales
Head Office
22 Adelaide Street West, Suite 3600 Bay Adelaide Centre - East Tower Toronto, ON, CA M5H AE3