Change resistance is the tendency for something to resist change, even when a surprisingly large amount of force is applied. Systemic change resistance is the tendency for a system to reject an attempted change, even though the change is supported over a long period by a substantial fraction of the population. Systems ecologists have increasingly concluded that the conservation of…

‘All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.’ – Galileo Galilei With the approaching SAIMM event focusing on rare earth elements (REEs) in October 2021, I have decided to utilize my final address to discuss REEs, which in my opinion remain a potential game-changer in the Southern African mining and industrial landscape. The…

‘The first step in the evolution of ethics is a sense of solidarity with other human beings.’ –Albert Schweitzer A year ago, I presented on the importance of ethical behaviour and ethical leadership at the Annual General Meeting. I believed this to be particularly relevant, given that South Africans often find themselves in positions of uncertainty and insecurity in our…

South Africa has one of the most prominent mining industries in the world. The country saw a boom in the mining industry in the late 19th century with the drivers being gold and diamond mining, followed soon after by coal mining, then PGM processing. Today, gold, PGMs, and coal mining continue to make significant contributions to the economic and social…

Welcome to another edition of papers about the SAMCODES and of general interest. Every article published in the SAIMM Journal goes through a rigorous peer reviewing process and is reviewed by at least two independent reviewers who are experts in their fields. Peer reviewing is a widely accepted procedure for evaluating the validity, quality, and originality of academic work, and…