THE FARM
The Arlington Farm is situated 5km’s off the National freeway in Nottingham Road, on the Old Curry’s Post Road (P165) in the heart of the Natal Midlands timber growing region. This pristine 891.1 hectare farm valued in excess of R160 000 000.00 (One hundred and sixty million rand), boasts 665 hectares of F.S.C. (Forestry Stewardship Council Accredited) Patula Pine Plantations.
The farm includes three homesteads, five dams (four stocked with Trout and one with Bass) and a waterfall. A secure log cabin and basic recreational facility is situated on King Fisher Dam. Confirmed sightings of Leopard, Reed Buck, Duiker, Bush Pig, Lynx and Otters have been made. Bird Life abounds from Eagles, Yellow Billed Kites, Owls and King Fisher to Egyptian geese.
The farm has a mean annual rainfall of 800mm to 1000mm, and a mean temperature of approximately 18 ̊C. The altitude of the farm is 1050m with the predominant prevailing winds from the South East. There is no surface water within the secure sawmill site and it also features an efficient storm water management system. A permanent nine metre vegetation screen has been planted around the sawmill site perimeter as well as along the entire northern boundary fence along the P165.
A sixteen (16) year rotational Silviculture programme is followed. This commenced with the appointment of a qualified timber Farm Manager when the farm was procured. This ongoing process is bolstered today by a committed staff training programme. The farm manager lives in one of the homesteads.
Water is pumped up by electric pump from the King Fisher Dam into the 120 000 litre concrete reservoir. From there 45m3 per hour is gravity fed to the 9 x 5000 litre storage tanks situated on the sawmill site. An electric feeder pumps the water up into a 2 x 5000 litre header tank which then feeds the sawmill building, offices, ablutions, change rooms and fire fighting equipment. Water is also fed to the three farmhouses as well as to the local houses living on the Eastern Boundary.
THE SAWMILL
A 4800m2 building housing the Sawmill, with adjacent 180m2 office block, 120m2 ablution facility for employees and 120m2 accommodation for full time fire crews, is built within a secure four hectare site (including fire breaks) situated on the Arlington Farm. There is also an adjacent log yard outside the facility to facilitate the buying in or sale of logs to external customers. This facility is powered by a 500 KVA transformer with a direct Eskom feed and electricity is controlled by a power factor correction unit. Additional externally sourced logging contracts have been offered to Arlington Sawmill from neighbouring farmers due to its locality and perceived operational flexibility. This facility already has Provincial Local Municipal and E.I.A approval for the operation of the Heatco smokeless burner (already operational) and four progressive Heatco type kilns (still to be installed).
For more information on acquiring this solid investment opportunity, contact us here.