About Us
Real Mining. Real People. Real Impact.
Our Vision
Our company is committed to a long-term business strategy that encourages constant improvement in operational practices in the discovery, development, and conversion of the mining resources.
We strive to contribute our part in advocating responsible mining, with a careful and balanced approach in the pursuit of profit, promoting people’s welfare, and preserving the planet for sustainable growth.
Our Mission
We, together with our people and our stakeholders, will give our best effort to realising the value of mining scarce resources responsibly through the industry’s best practices, thereby creating value for our stakeholders while keeping in view the welfare of our community and our society.
Our Values
Our business wouldn’t be able to elevate itself to this present stage without the strong foundation of our core values, which are at the core of our way of working through innovation, safety, care and respect.
Our Early Story
The journey of Southern Mining Alliance began with the incorporation of our subsidiary, Honest Sam Development Sdn. Bhd. (“Honest Sam”) on 5 April 2001 by our founder, Dato’ Sri Pek Kok Sam, in Malaysia. The principal activities of Honest Sam back then were primarily to undertake sub-contracting works as an operator for limestone mines in the states of Pahang and Perak, Malaysia.
Our credible track record paved the way for the next stage of our business evolution. In 2008, we obtained the right to become the mining operator of the Chaah Mine (the “Mine”), an open mine pit located in Johor, Malaysia. The Mine has become our primary mining asset since. The iron ore from the Mine has unique natural characteristics such as high specific gravity and viscosity, that makes it a highly sought-after raw material for pipe coating companies in the oil and gas industry’s subsea segment.
After the development of the initial infrastructure within the Mine, we extracted the first iron ore from the Mine and completed the first sale of pipe coating material to Wasco Coatings Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. in the second half of 2008.
The production was focused on pipe coating material until 2013, while we gradually established our customer base in the iron ore concentrate market. In addition to the characteristics of high specific gravity and viscosity, the iron ore from the Chaah Mine contains a low level of impurities, which allows us to produce high-grade iron ore concentrate of up to Fe grade of 65%.
2013 to 2019
2013
In 2013, we reviewed our business strategy and decided to expand our product portfolio to include iron ore concentrates in order to diversify our business risk instead of solely relying on the pipe coating business.
We began with a small step by appointing a contractor to process leftover mining produce in 2014 (to keep up with SAM’s growth strategy, the contractor has subsequently upgraded their plant in 2016 to produce high-grade iron concentrate as well).
2014
In August 2014, our first beneficiation plant was completed with a processing rate of 150 tonnes per hour.
By the end of 2014, we had started the sale of our iron ore concentrates to traders for export to the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”), followed by sales to local steel mills such as Eastern Steel Sdn. Bhd. and Ann Joo Integrated Steel Sdn. Bhd.
2019
In 2019, we achieved another milestone by having Alliance Steel Sdn. Bhd. as our customer.
Capitalising on the unique characteristics of the iron ore from the Chaah Mine, our strategy to produce and sell iron ore concentrate to steel mills has proved to be life-saving for us when the oil and gas market took a sudden downturn in late 2014 and the demand for pipe coating material declined.
Our Journey To The IPO
As part of our growth strategy to be a more rounded miner, in 2013, Honest Sam commissioned an independent contractor to undertake exploration activities and complete a pre-feasibility study (PFS) to support the estimation of Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves at the Chaah Mine. Our independent contractor estimated Mineral Resources at 11.0 million tonnes (with 52.6% iron content) and Reserves of 8.6 million tonnes at 52.1% iron content at the Mine as of June 2014.
With the rebound of the iron ore price in 2018, the Board of Directors of Honest Sam began to evaluate the option to list on the SGX-ST. With the iron ore price staying healthy in the first half of 2019, Honest Sam appointed relevant professionals to kick-start its IPO exercise in the second half of 2019. Southern Alliance Mining Pte. Ltd. was born on 19 September 2019 as a listing vehicle following a restructuring exercise before the IPO.
Despite the challenges from the lockdown amid COVID-19, the restriction in movement, economic uncertainty, and the pessimistic sentiment in the market, we successfully completed our book building and registered our final offer document with the SGX-ST on 16 June 2020.
On 26th June 2020, Southern Alliance Mining Ltd successfully listed on SGX. The IPO marked the beginning of a new chapter for SAM. Being a publicly-listed company in Singapore, SAM operates under high-standard corporate governance and offers our stakeholders great transparency, thereby boosting their confidence in dealing with us.
We also expect to benefit from the information, network and resources brought by Singapore’s established status as a regional hub for energy and commodity trading. We believe that under the leadership and stewardship of our CEO and with the assistance and support from the members of our Board of Directors, management, staff members, and other stakeholders, SAM’s image as a respected and trusted high-grade iron ore producer in Asia will be enhanced.
Our Competitive Strength
Over the past 14 years, we established an efficient supporting infrastructure and facilities system, consisting of five fixed crushing plants with the newest and largest still under construction, two lines of mobile crushers, and two beneficiation plants both capable of operating on 24-hour shifts. The Group has an approximate monthly production capacity of 60,000 tonnes of iron ore concentrates (not including pipe coating materials).
In 2013, Honest Sam was awarded an Excellence Certificate in Surface Mining Operation by the Mineral and Geoscience Department of Johor for demonstrating high commitment in using sound mining practices and carrying out operations in accordance with environmental standards. While we built up the infrastructure and facilitates, we also placed great focus on growing our customer base and fostering a long-term, harmonious relationship with customers.
These efforts led to a proven financial and operational track record, with a total 6.3 million tonnes of iron ore products and 0.3 million tonnes of tailings produced and sold from 2008 to 31 July 2021.