1. Owner/manager, R&R, Cape Town
Robert
Palmer
Interview by Cherry Maslen Photograph by Antonia Steyn
MRICS profile
I’ve been involved in the diamond mining
industry for most of my career. It’s a
challenging industry to work in because it’s
very technical – a love of the engineering
environment is a must for success in this
business. When you look at the marine
diamondminingsector,itbecomesevenmore
technically challenging, as you are working
with specialised mining plant installed in a
verylimitedspaceonabasethatisconstantly
moving. One of my career highlights was
working as projects quantity surveyor on the
De Beers Marine conversion of the vessel
DebmarPacificinthemid1990s.Thisproject
was hugely beneficial to my personal
experience and career, and to the start-up of
my own company,R&R,in 1998,as it gave me
invaluableunderstandingoftheprocessfrom
the estimating and feasibility stage to final
account stage. The project was the starting
point for R&R’s marine diamond mining and
general mining experience, and led to the
management of various construction
contracts on all De Beers Marine’s mining,
crawler and sampling vessels.
Forme,workingonadiamondvesselisalot
more interesting than working on a typical
building project. One aspect I enjoy is a
vessel’s maintenance shutdown. It’s fun to
takeahelicopterouttoseaandlandonaship’s
helipad – then spend time at sea helping the
various engineering disciplines produce
scopesofworkforultimateinclusionintothe
tender documentation. Once the vessel
arrivesinthedocks,sitehoursare24/7asthe
costofthevesselsnotphysicallyminingatsea
is substantial. It’s an intense, fast-track
project, with many contractors working
within a very limited space and within a
very limited time frame. I’ve always had an
interest in how things work and a love for
mathematics, so there was a natural
progression in my career choice towards
engineering surveying. I studied quantity
surveying at the University of Cape Town,
and this is one of the three main areas I’m
responsible for at R&R, alongside managing
personnel in varying construction-related
professions, and overseeing the quantity
surveying, project management and
consultancy aspects of projects for a range of
clients – not just in the diamond industry.
Personally, I’m involved at the earlier
stages of estimation – as this is a high-risk
area that requires experience and in-depth
knowledge. I also have a major role in
agreeing and setting up cost control and
reporting systems, and then checking and
vetting documentation produced by others.
ThesecondareaI’mresponsibleforistender
submissions, negotiation and client
relationships, which involves constant
two-way communication to ensure our
clients’ needs are being fully met.
Our industry is small, and R&R’s good name
isextremelyimportantinensuringcontinued
workflow. Finally, as a part owner and
manager, I’m responsible for keeping staff
32 rics.org

2. happyandmotivated.Thiselementofthejob
can be especially challenging,as our staff are
workingonvariousprojectsalloversouthern
Africa, so I try to follow the philosophy
of‘hire well and manage little’. The security
requirements that come with working in
the diamond industry are very stringent
duetothehighvalueoftheproduct,andeach
mine has a separate security department
that monitors employees and the plant
itself. All employees at R&R have to sign
non-disclosureagreementswithourclients,
and personnel safety at sea is also covered by
the maritime regulations.
Havingsuchvariedresponsibilitiesiswhat
makes my job interesting. There’s no such
thingasatypicalweekaseverythingdepends
on what projects R&R is involved in and what
stage they’re at.One thing I’d like to do in the
future is convince clients to do away with the
tenderingofquantitysurveyingservices.The
surveying profession isn’t like supplying
a standard piece of equipment or service,
so one shouldn’t tender against other
suppliers. If you needed a lawyer, would you
choose the cheapest or the most experienced
and best suited for the job? R&R has shown
clients time and again the substantial
financial benefits of choosing the right
surveying practice, and the fees charged pale
in comparison to the savings made.
rrqs.co.za
‘Working on a diamond
vessel is an intense,
fast-track project, with
many contractors’
02.13 // MODUS 33
Marine mining //