Firstlink was recently awarded a Mining Allied Partner Gold award in recognition of our work as the biggest broker to the Mining Sector in Zimbabwe.
Firstlink sponsored the Chamber of Mines North Zone First Aid Competitions held in July 2024 as part of our commitment to risk management programmes in the mining sector. We congratulate all the winners form the event :1. Best Surface Mining Team […]
Mining productivity is increasingly integrated with sophisticated computer and cyber based automation systems. With the growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI) this could also result in further cyber integration for mines. Globally, Cyber related attacks and losses in the mining space have increased over the years from the 2010 combined attack on Rio Tinto Group, BHP Billiton Ltd. and Fortescue Metal to more recently the 2023 Fortescue Metals Group (one of the largest iron exporters) cyber-attack.
A weak water risk management approach and ensuing low strength or brittle behaviour affect the general risk of a tailings dam facility. This can impact your insurance premiums and your internal risk management programme costs. Globally, most tailings dam failures when investigated showed poor surface water management and related low strength tailings.
Bullion insurance covers against the loss of gold, diamonds and other precious minerals at an insured site or in transit. The ‘all risk’ cover provides physical loss or damage protection, inclusive of theft and transit risks.
Underground mining equipment is usually of high value and specialized making it crucial for mining businesses to have the correct insurance coverage to safeguard these assets.
Over-insurance is having excess insurance coverage/policies that covers the same risk or having
insurance cover in excess of the value of the possible loss that the mine can experience. More often
and rightly so, mines are focused on ensuring that they are not under-insured.
Over-insurance can occur where a mine has double insurance policies covering the same item
especially on global programs with local mirror polices. It can also occur where there is an overlap of
insurance policy coverage. Alternatively, it occurs when a mine unintentionally insures something for
more than its current value for example with housing units the common mistake is to insure at
market value instead of rebuilding value. It also occurs where a mine can insure something that has
been disposed or replaced.
The drawbacks of over-insurance are many including higher insurance premiums based on the
incorrect values and disputes at claims settlement especially where cash is paid in settlement. The
cumulative impact of higher insurance premiums over several years can be quite significant to the
mine.
At Firstlink we assist our clients to avoid over-insurance by ensuring that:
i. Values insured at the inception of the policy are in line with the policy. For instance,
there are some policies that require rebuilding value, some replacement cost and others
market value. It is therefore important to ensure that the insured values are reflective of
the correct value.
ii. Overlaps in cover are minimised. We ensure that each policy or combination of policies
gives our client the best scope of cover at affordable premiums.
iii. We work with our partners to assist the client with valuations where these may not be
available especially for assets with varying market values like Motor vehicles.
iv. We conduct periodic site audits and surveys to physically check for insured items against
the client’s asset register. This often helps in identifying new assets not declared and
removing old assets which have been sold or are no longer used by the company.
Ultimately whilst over-insurance is better than its twin (under-insurance) it is better to be correctly
insured at the best premium.
While most mining companies have adopted a “Zero Injury” policy and have installed good safety
and health operational systems, employee injuries still occur even outside the company premises.
Personal Accident Insurance provides cover in the unfortunate event that an employee is injured,
permanently disabled or dies due to covered accidental causes on a 24-hour worldwide basis
whether they are on duty or at home.
The main benefits under this insurance policy are:
a. Death Benefit
The policy pays out the tax-free insured limit which is usually a multiple of the current
gross earnings at the time of death or a certain stated limit.
For example, an employee with gross earnings of USD2,000 a month dies due to a
covered incident, if the policy has a 3 years current earnings limit, their estate or
nominated beneficiaries would get USD72,000. If however the policy is a stated benefit
policy with a limit of USD50,000, their estate or nominated beneficiaries would only get
the limit stated.
The payment of the death benefit will be subject to the structure of the policy as some
will pay via the mining company to the beneficiaries or payment direct to beneficiaries
via the Master of High Court once the estate of the deceased is registered.
b. Permanent Disability Benefit
The policy pays out a percentage (%) of the death benefit where an employee becomes
permanently disabled due to the occurrence of an insured event. For example, if an
employee is injured at work and loses some fingers and the medical report determines
that they are 10% disabled, the policy will pay out 10% of your death benefit.
c. Temporary Total Disablement Benefit
The policy pays out weekly earnings for an injured employee who is recovering at home
usually for a minimum of 52 weeks. This enables the mining company to continue paying
their employee whilst recovering but more importantly to hire a temporary employee to
continue with their duties.
d. Medical Expenses Shortfall Benefit
The policy provides cover for medical expenses incurred due to the insured events. For
example, if a road accident occurs and the employee is hospitalised the policy will pay
for any medical expenses shortfalls (if they have an underlying medical aid) or fully (if
they have no medical aid) up to the limit insured.
Talk to us today about Personal Accident Insurance cover for your mining operation.
One of the most important insurance covers for a mine is Business Interruption (Gross Profit) insurance. This cover primarily enables a mine to claim for the impact on insured Gross profit due to lost production because of physical damage to […]
Cyber risks were not major risks for most local mining companies before the Covid pandemic changed the way that operations are conducted. Globally, Cyber related attacks and losses in the mining space have increased over the years from the 2010 […]
