The gift of a beaded, wire rhinoceros to a client on the award of a contract is certainly a novel way of celebrating a new business relationship. But, for high capacity furnace and smelting plant specialist, Tenova Pyromet, the gift of this handcrafted African artwork is more than just an unusual gesture of gratitude to its client – it is an expression of the combined commitment of Tenova Pyromet and its client to protecting this incredible planet of ours and the animals inhabiting it for generations to come.
To date this year, Tenova Pyromet, part of the global total technology solutions provider, Tenova Mining & Minerals, has presented beaded, wire rhinoceroses to clients hailing from Finland, Korea and Kazakhstan amongst others, with the clients expressing their support for the message of conservation carried by the gift.
“The stately, but endangered rhinoceros is a symbol of the vulnerability of our planet to us,” says Chris Oertel, Managing Director of Tenova Pyromet. “This powerful animal is facing extinction as the demand for rhino horn increases, and poaching rates in southern Africa soar ever more sky high.
But the story of the rhino tells us that as much as humans can destroy the planet, so too can they protect it, with the southern white rhino, albeit the only rhino species in this position, having recovered from the brink of extinction. Its numbers are now estimated to be around 14,500, up from fewer than 50 in the first decade of the 20th century.
In all our activities we too strive, together with our clients, to protect our environmental heritage, minimising the impact of our installations though the development and application of advanced furnace design and technologies that optimise power usage, reduce emissions to the atmosphere and re-use water wherever possible,” notes Oertel.
In support of the beaded, wire rhino gifts, Tenova Pyromet donates generously to the Olifants River Game Reserve Save the Rhino fund in South Africa. Such conservation programmes, together with the many dedicated game rangers in southern Africa, stand between the poachers and extinction of these magnificent animals. A nature reserve on the Olifants River, in Limpopo Province, South Africa, Olifants is committed to protecting rhino by focusing extensive resources towards combatting the poaching scourge.
“Primarily reactive at this stage, our dedicated Anti Poaching Units have met with a measure of success,” says Mario Cesare, Warden of Olifants Game Reserve. “However, long term survival of the rhino depends largely on proactive measures such as upliftment of local communities, conservation education and awareness and, most importantly, a change in attitude by governments towards rhino poaching.
Authorities need to recognise that this is not only the wanton destruction of a priceless state asset, but ultimately this is an animal that enjoys world heritage status and is threatened with extinction”, he concludes.
Tenova Pyromet is a leading company in design and supply of high capacity AC and DC furnaces and complete smelting plants for production of ferroalloys, base metals, slag cleaning and refining. Tenova Pyromet also designs and supplies equipment for material handling and pre-treatment, alloy conversion and refining, granulation of metal, matte and slag, furnace off-gas fume collection and treatment, and treatment of hazardous dusts and waste. Tenova Pyromet has several technologies to reduce operating costs and increase production power consumption.
Tenova Mining & Minerals is a total integrated solutions provider to the global mining, bulk materials handling and minerals beneficiation and processing sectors, offering innovative technological solutions and full process and commodity knowledge across the mining industry value chain.