News

The President and Council of the Institute invite members, their guests, and members of other constituent societies to attend the Annual General Meeting 2013, Thursday, 22 August 2013, The Country Club, Johannesburg, Napier Road, Auckland Park, 2006
at 16:30

Read more: SAIMM Annual General Meeting 2013

Barend Christaan Alberts suffered a stroke and passed away on Tuesday 8 April, 2013. The mining industry mourns his passing at the age of 74. Known by his younger colleagues as ‘Baas Ben’, he left deep footprints in the development of the South African mining industry, as well as internationally. He was a devout Christian and family man, and together with his wife Ansie and his family we are all blessed to have had the privilege of his life with us.

Read more: Obituary Ben Alberts

To be lodged with the Manager, sam@saimm.co.za or fax number 086 670 8085 (for SA Members only), - not later than 31 May 2013

In accordance with the provisions of Clause 5.1 of the Constitution, the Council has elected as Office Bearers of the Institute for the year 2013/2014 as follows:

President	M. Dworzanowski
President - Elect	J.L Porter
Senior Vice-President	R.T Jones
Junior Vice-President	C. Musingwini
Immediate Past President	G. L Smith
Honorary Treasurer	J.L Porter

For the information of members, the following current Councilors have signified their willingness to offer themselves for re-election to Council for the 2012/2013 session and will, therefore, be included in the nominees below:

H Bartlett 
W.C. Joughin 
A.G. Smtih
N.G.C Blackham 
A.S. Macfarlane 
M.H. Solomon
V.G. Duke 
D.D. Munro  
D Tudor
M.F. Handley 
S Ndlovu 
D.J. van Niekerk

1.   In terms of Clause 3.2.9 of the Constitution, Past Presidents are automatically
      invited to serve on the Council and they should therefore not be nominated.
2.   Branch Chairmen are ex-officio Members of Council.
3.   Only Fellows or Members, i.e. Corporate Members, may be nominated.
4.   Proposers and Seconders must be Corporate Members.

Danie Krige - an international household name to anyone who studied or practised the science of evaluating mineral resources for mining purposes, died recently in
Johannesburg.

While his name may not be familiar to many people outside the field, so new and revolutionary were his ideas – applying mathematical statistics to the spatial evaluation of orebodies – that the processes he developed were named after him, becoming known in the industry as ‘kriging’. This technique has helped improve ore evaluation methods and reduce the financial risk of investing in mining projects.

Read more: Obituary Danie Krige - South Africa’s Giant of Geostatistics

Mounting pressure between businesses and communities in various parts of the world is creating serious social and economic risk, demanding intervention by highly skilled practitioners. A new course offered by the Centre for Sustainability in Mining and Industry at Wits University will hone and expand these vital skills.

While government, business, and labour have come a long way in forging constructive ways of working together, the interface with communities is less well-explored and has seen some violent outbursts in recent years – especially in the extractive industries.

Read more: CSMI and Synergy Global - building skills to advance business–community relations

A newly developed membrane used to separate waste from water could become key in the treatment of pollutants ranging from acid mine drainage to oil-containing wastewater, as well as in processes ranging from desalination to kidney dialysis.

The research was published in the prestigious international journal Nature on Friday 22 March, coinciding with World Water Day and falling within South Africa’s National Water Week.

Read more: Key find for acid mine drainage on World Water Day

The SAIMM proposes producing a special edition of the Journal, one that will showcase current research and best practices in the field of Geostatistics.

We invite experts in geostatistics around the world to submit papers for this special edition.

Abstracts of papers should reach the SAIMM Publications Co-ordinator, Kelly Mathee
(kelly@saimm.co.za ), by the end of July and the final paper is required by the end of October 2013 for publication in February 2014.

DOWNLOAD THE CALL FOR PAPERS ENTRY FORM (PDF 396kb)

In 1980 the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy instituted a prestigious award to commemorate Brigadier Stokes for his outstanding and unique contribution to the South African Mining Industry over a period of many years.
This award consists of a Platinum medal.

The award is made to an individual for the very highest achievement in the South African mining and metallurgical industry, and is not necessarily based on technical considerations.

As can be seen by the long list of illustrious recipients below, the nomination of an individual for this award is taken after much deliberation and input from the SAIMM Council. We therefore urge Corporate Members to take cognisance of the gravitas of this award when submitting their nominations.

Read more: Brigadier Stokes Memorial Award Nomination 2013

Johannesburg, February 2013 - Nedbank Capital today applauded Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) for its diligent efforts to incorporate environmental sustainability into its strategic plans and operations, which has resulted in the platinum miner being listed on the Nedbank Green Index.

As a mining organization with a clear and obvious commitment to integrated environmental and social sustainability, the inclusion of RBPlat in the Index for 2013 is a well-deserved acknowledgement of the company’s genuine commitment to building a better future for all its stakeholders. That’s according to Laura van der Molen at Nedbank Capital, who commended RBPlat on its significant environmental sustainability achievements over the past year and thanked the organization for its obvious commitment to making a positive and lasting contribution to sustainability, not just in terms of its own operations, but also for South Africa and its communities as a whole.

Read more: Holistic green commitment places Royal Bafokeng Platinum in the Nedbank Green Index

The next International Ferro-Alloys Congress (Infacon XIII) is to be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan from 9-14 June 2013. INFACON (the International Ferro-Alloys Congress) was founded in South Africa in 1974 by the SAIMM, Mintek (then the National Institute for Metallurgy), and the Ferro Alloys Producers' Association (FAPA), when the first INFACON was held in Johannesburg.

Read more: Infacon XIII to be held in Kazakhstan

The SAIMM convenes a platinum conference, around a theme, every two years. Previous themes have been ʻPlatinum Adding Valueʼ in 2004, ʻPlatinum Surges Aheadʼ in 2006, ʻPlatinum in Transformationʼ in 2008, and ʻPlatinum in Transition – Boom or Bustʼ in
2010. With increasing industrymaturity it was felt that an appropriate theme for 2012 was platinum as a ʻCatalyst for Changeʼ.

The conference was a high-quality event with an overwhelming vote of support and positive response from the many delegates that I engaged with. I was pleasantly surprised with the attendance, given the current disrupted state of the industry.

Read more: Platinum 2012 - Spotlight

I had the privilege of attending the 2013 Mining Indaba in Cape Town in January. I say privilege because, as the event has grown in stature over the years so has the cost of being there. Despite the cost, attendance was excellent with a range of local and global industry participants. However, I felt an uncomfortable sense of disconnect between the fundamental shift in operating context that the South African industry is undergoing and the sense of 'business as usual' in the exhibitors' hall.

Read more: SAIMM President's Message

While continuing to draw increasing student numbers, the School of Mining Engineering at the University of the
Witwatersrand (‘Wits’) is maintaining standards high as it retains its accreditation from the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA).

Read more: Wits Mining retains ECSA accreditation

The School on the Production of Manganese Ferroalloys was held at Misty Hills, Muldersdrift on 12 and 13 June 2012. The main attraction was lectures presented by Professor Merete Tangstad from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Her fields of research at NTNU include manganese ferroalloy production, and she co-authored the definitive textbook, Production of Manganese Ferroalloys, with Sverre Olsen and Tor Lindstand in 2007.

Read more: Manganese Ferroalloy Production

Johannesburg, 7 November 2012 - Gold Fields Limited (Gold Fields) and the University of the Witwatersrand officially opened the Gold Fields Engineering Library at the Wits Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment on 7 November 2012.

The Gold Fields Engineering Library, located in the Chamber of Mines building on Wits’ Braamfontein campus, provides modern and innovative facilities for undergraduate and postgraduate engineering students, academics, and researchers. As part of the refurbishment of the Chamber of Mines building, the library was relocated to the ground floor to make it more accessible to students.

Read more: New engineering library to boost mining skills

In line with its agenda of aligning with the transformative policies of the South African government and of contributing to the advancement of the country’s mining industry, Investing in African Mining Indaba™ has offered bursaries to two deserving third-year mining engineering students. The bursaries are valued at US$10 000 each, and have been offered to Lindiwe Nyalunga at the University of the Witwatersrand and Hlulisani Mabege at the University of Pretoria.

Read more: Mining Indaba™ invests in the future of South Africa’s education

A meeting of several leading international mining and metallurgical societies was held in conjunction with the MINExpo International exhibition in Las Vegas, Nevada on 23 September 2012. The meeting was attended by representatives of AusIMM (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy), CIM (Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum), SAIMM (Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy), and SME (Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration).

Read more: Meeting of International Mining and Metallurgical Societies

The on heap leaching, dealing firstly with the geomechanics and hydrodynamics of crushed ore beds, criteria for satisfactory operation, and in-heap measurements, led by Amado Guzman, an internationally recognized authority in hydrology. The second theme for the day was reaction and mass transport and mathematical modelling, led by Jochen Petersen, associate professor at the University of Cape Town.

Read more: Spotlight - International Percolation Leaching Conference and Short Course

Outotec is seeking to promote sustainable minerals processing in southern Africa. As a company, selling technology, sophisticated equipment, and plant solutions for minerals, metals, and water processing as well as energy recovery, the company also wishes to inspire the abundant young South African talent to innovate. With this in mind, Outotec has committed funds to the Western Cape Branch as a prize and travel grant. They believe this will showcase the importance of expertise in sustainability, an area that Outotec is passionate about, reflected in their mission statement: ‘Sustainable use of Earth’s natural resources’. Outotec has recognized the value derived from the Western Cape Branch’s focus on tertiary education, and asked the Branch to handle these awards.

Read more: Outotec and Western Cape Branch

26 September 2012, University of Pretoria. The SAIMM Pretoria Branch’s monthly technical evening was hosted by ESCO at the University of Pretoria. The evening was well supported with some 55 delegates attending. The topic of the presentation by Terry Briscoe was the evolution of the ESCO Dragline Bucket. Terry, Senior Engineer Technology Development, has been with ESCO for 42 years and will be retiring towards the end of the year. Norman Murison, the Services Manager South Africa, first gave a short overview of the ESCO company, then Terry covered the models applied in the design of dragline buckets and case studies were discussed.

Read more: Pretoria Branch SAIMM Technical Evening