SAIMM Annual General Meeting

Thursday, 13 August 2020 at 12:00, via Zoom

1. Welcome
2. Confirmation of minutes
3. Obituaries
4. Honorary Life Fellowship
5. Brigadier Stokes Memorial Award
6. Announcement of awards, medals, and certificates
7. Announcement of student prizes
8. SAIMM 5 Star Incentive Programme and Top Advertiser in the Journal
9. Annual report of the Council and accounts for the year ended 30 June 2020
10. Declaration of election of Office Bearers, members of Council and other positions for the year 2020/2021
11. Election of auditors and honorary legal advisors for the year 2020/2021
12. Outgoing Presidential Award
13. Induction of President—V.G. Duke
14. Presidential address
15. Vote of thanks

Presidential Address:

Ethics, Morals, and Leadership

Members of the SAIMM are facing a rapidly changing global environment and uncertain times at home.

The world is being increasingly challenged by climate change, shortages of arable land and potable water, sustainable energy needs, food security, and a huge growth in urban populations.

Closer to home, South Africa finds itself entrenched in a climate of continual political and economic uncertainty. South Africans are experiencing unemployment, corruption, civil unrest, xenophobia, polarization, increasing debt, and poverty. The reputations of numerous businesses, including Steinhoff, EOH, Tongaat Hulett, KPMG and McKinsey, have been compromised over allegations of corruption.

These dynamics, together with a growing digital economy, are changing the way we communicate, absorb information, and interact with one other. This in turn creates new challenges for the SAIMM, including increasing competition for our members’ attention with respect to attendance at conferences, meetings, and working groups.

So, to remain relevant, the SAIMM needs to transform itself. A suitable strategy has been developed and the code of ethics updated to provide ethical guidance to members as they face today’s challenges and issues. This update entailed a move away from a more rules-based code to a less prescriptive, values-based code of ethics that is more suited to today’s world, and which emphasises the SAIMM’s principles and values.

Effective leadership is clearly needed, now more than ever. The SAIMM can and should contribute to the enormous challenges facing South Africa, and this can be achieved by urging members to act ethically and lead effectively when needed.

In this address, on Ethics, Morals, and Leadership I will expand on the above, clarify the differences between ethics and morals, and discuss the essence of leadership and how an appreciation of the difference between ethics and morals can impact our performance as professionals and leaders.

Hopefully, these insights will contribute positively to members as they continue to influence and impact developments across Southern Africa by leading ethically, whenever and wherever required.

Vaughn Glenn Duke

Vaughn was born in 1962 in Boksburg, where his father worked as a geologist on ERPM for Rand Mines. He grew up with two younger sisters and a brother. Geologists move around a lot and so, although Vaughn started his schooling at Christian Brothers College in Boksburg, he completed grade 7 at Princess Primary in Krugersdorp before attending Krugersdorp High to grade 11. Circumstances changed again and he ended up matriculating at Glenwood High School in Durban, where he made a wise choice to stop playing rugby and instead achieved a university exemption. Vaughn was accepted by the University of the Witwatersrand to sit for a BSc (Hons) Mining Engineering and graduated in 1986.

He then worked for COMRO for six months before moving to Zimbabwe to work for his father in a small business that researched, ’pegged’, and packaged small mining prospects for lease and/or sale to larger companies. Geologists and mining engineers traditionally disagree, so Vaughn accepted a job with the Cementation Company (Zimbabwe) Ltd to work on a shaft sinking contract at Dalny Mine, which was Zimbabwe’s deepest mine at the time. He was 25 years old and had to learn quickly because it was a 6 m diameter shaft that was being sunk without the help of a ’boesman’ or a cactus grab. He did learn fast and was soon appointed to run the site as a Site Manager, after which he was transferred to a large civil tunnelling contract at Darwendale near Harare.

Vaughn’s marriage to his university sweetheart Lynne in 1988 was followed by his return to South Africa in 1989, where he joined AngloVaal Pty Ltd to work at its Hartebeesfontein Gold Mine. He was moved to Loraine Gold Mines in 1992 to work as a Section Manager at the No 1 Shaft and for AngloVaal’s new Target Project. He returned to Harties on promotion in 1995, and was transferred to head office in 1997. He worked as the Group Mining Engineer, General Manager: Technical Services, and Project Manager for the Northern Free State Expansion Project until AngloVaal was absorbed by African Rainbow Minerals in 2004. Vaughn also completed an MBA with distinction at the Gordon Institute of Business Science of the University of Pretoria during this period.

Vaughn established Sound Mining Solution (Pty) Ltd in 2004, and after working out of rented offices in Marshalltown, purchased a building in Rivonia in 2008. Sound Mining is now well established and Vaughn is privileged and blessed to be working with a fantastic group of colleagues who have chosen to remain with Sound Mining. They have been successfully working together for many years.

Vaughn has been associated with the Southern African Institution of Mining and Metallurgy since his university days. He is now a Fellow and has contributed to numerous committees and working groups. Vaughn is a recognised Project Management Professional and a registered professional with the Engineering Council of South Africa.

Vaughn has been married to Lynne for 32 years. Their eldest son Michael is studying chemistry at Wits, their daughter is currently completing her degree at Lisof (London Institute of Fashion), and the youngest, Daniel, is in his second year at the University of Pretoria studying mechanical engineering. Lynne and Vaughn cherish and prioritize their time together and are often found cycling in the Cradle.

We understand your concern. The SAIMM is well aware of the current uncertainties surrounding COVID-19 and the future of events and public gatherings. We have postponed all 2020 events to 2021 and have scheduled several online conferences as well as free webinars for the remainder of the year.

We are moving forward with our plans for all 2021 events. The submission dates for abstracts and papers remain the same for all events, and the peer review processes will continue as planned. We are monitoring the current COVID-19 situation and will continue to do so throughout the year. Events will be changed and modified to adapt to the situation we are faced within 2021.

We will be working closely with our venues and will monitor event planning best practices for the safety of our attendees. If there are any changes with the planned events, authors and attendees will be informed timeously. If your ability to present or submit an abstract or paper changes closer to the event date, let us know so that we can update the programme before it is finalised.

Continue to submit your work for the 2021 planned conferences. We look forward to your submissions.

Following the outbreak of COVID-19 (coronavirus), SAIMM is adhering to the request by the national government and the World Health Organisation. The welfare of everyone remains our top priority. Please visit https://sacoronavirus.co.za/

Before the announcement of the national 21-day lockdown, the SAIMM Council debated the way forward at length and we will continue monitoring the situation closely and communicate with our members to keep them informed on how this will impact the Institute going forward.

We have postponed all conferences and other events that were scheduled up to the end of July and instead plan to deliver some of them later in the year or via virtual conferencing platforms. We will share more information on this in the coming weeks. The various Organising Committees are deliberating options for the affected events and participants will be contacted directly with more information on how these events will be rolled out.

We urge all our local members to follow the rules as laid down by our national government, and our international members to follow those implemented by their respective governments.

To continue engaging and sharing knowledge with our members, the SAIMM has launched a webinar platform where members and industry leaders will have an opportunity to showcase and present interesting and topical presentations, on a wide range of topics that relate to the industry.