During this difficult and uncertain time, we know that the health and safety of you, your families and the wider community is of the utmost importance. We as an organisation share both your individual and organisational concerns on the virus’ expanding global reach. SAIMM has been closely monitoring the spread of the disease, especially related to our conference registrants and their travelling. As always, your safety is our highest priority. Due to the increasing urgency of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, we regret to inform you that the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy Northern Cape Branch has decided to postpone the Student event that was due to take place on the 20th of January 2021 at the Kalahari Country Club. This event will be postponed until further notice.
This has been a hard decision for us as our event programme is at the heart of what we do and the activities we provide for our members. However, after carefully reviewing the situation, we have decided that the most responsible option for us is to limit travel and large group gatherings. I’m sure that you share in both our and our Sponsors disappointment that we cannot go ahead with this event on the planned dates. We want to thank the sponsors and willing participants for their efforts to consider involvement in the event to sustain a future harmonious relationship. We will be in touch with all delegates in due course to advise them how we will proceed and our policy for reimbursement.
We will e-mail all delegates who have registered for these meetings – please check your inbox for further information. We will be in touch to provide sponsorship refunds. All other SAIMM virtual meetings are currently still going ahead, and we will continue to review the situation on an ongoing basis.
If you have any questions in the meantime, please email kea@saimm.co.za
In the meantime, please stay safe.
Thank you all for your support.
The Diamonds – Source to Use conference series targets the full spectrum of the diamond pipeline, from exploration through to sales and marketing. The 2021 conference, the eighth in the series, will focus on advances in the mining and metallurgical aspects as well as many of the downstream and related industries.
The Colloquium on Renewable Solutions for an Energy Intensive Industry will provide an overview of renewable technologies for electricity and process heat commercially available and currently under development. The workshop will host presentations from universities, research institutes and energy supply companies. Presentations from industry on renewable energy applications are also invited.
Dr Ferdi Camisani,
July 1939 – November 2020.
Ferdi Camisani was born outside Parma, Italy just a few weeks after the declaration of World War II
He was a student of the father of geostatistics, Georges Matheron, in Fontainebleau, France and together with Danie Krige, wrote some of the first papers on the application of geostatistics in South Africa.
During his long career in South Africa he worked with De Beers, Anglo American, the Atomic Energy Corporation, and Anglovaal.
Ferdi was a member of the Geostatistical Association of Southern Africa (GASA) and the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM). On his retirement from SAIMM activities in 2012 the President, Gordon Smith, acknowledged his contribution as follows.
Ferdi was also recognized throughout the world by the many people he encountered as a true gentleman for whom nothing was too much trouble. He will be sadly missed and we all will be the poorer for his passing.
He is survived by his wife Lorraine and son Fernando.
Roger Dixon
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There is a high likelihood that your profile information was last entered into our database when you applied for membership. Your records on our database continued to be static. However, your career has been dynamic. You have most likely acquired further professional qualifications, changed jobs or climbed up the corporate ladder.
Wherever your path has led you, we want to thank you for your ongoing membership and support. Moreover, we would like to be your professional resources partner in reaching your next career milestone.
Therefore, if you have not already done so, we kindly ask that you update your details so that they accurately reflect your biographical, education and employment profile. This information will enable us to:
- develop and offer products and services that are relevant to your current and future career goals; and
- segment our membership so that we can communicate with you more effectively.
Please don't hesitate to contact us if you need assistance with accessing the member self-serve portal or updating your details. Contact kea@saimm.co.za.
I was recently reminded that it is customary to reflect on the past 12 months in the December Journal. We live in a beautiful country with a wonderful climate and amongst South Africans who are usually able to laugh at themselves and handle life’s challenges. One just needs to tap into social media to see evidence of this. This collective…
Read MoreAt the AGM, I spoke about why the SAIMM needs to adapt to a new and more modern mining industry. To this end, we have developed a strategy aimed at repositioning the SAIMM brand in the minds of our members, and indeed all of our stakeholders. There are six key components (or ‘Pillars of Value’) in our overall value proposition,…
Read MoreMining contributed almost 16% of South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 1994, but this has since declined to about half that amount. The country has not benefitted enough from our industry, which has huge potential even when having to compete in an increasingly efficient global environment. There are many reasons for this, but I am now seeing encouraging changes…
Read MoreWelcome to another edition containing papers of general interest. In this issue, you will find a total of six papers, four of them are mining-related and the rest metallurgy. This is a typical example of how the Journal intends to maintain a 50/50 split of papers between mining and metallurgy. The topics related to mining include practical modelling of long-term…
Read MoreDuring the COVID-19 pandemic we’ve heard a lot about waves. First waves passing, second waves arriving, and how many such waves we might still have to endure in the future. Despite all the talk, each wave seems to catch us largely by surprise and we are too frequently left in a shell-shocked state, wondering ‘How on earth could things get…
Read MoreThe Mandela Mining Precinct is working towards the revitalization of mining research, development and innovation in South Africa, to ensure the sustainability of the industry.
For the first time in history, a pathway for ALD-enhanced materials to be rapidly developed and transitioned in a UJ laboratory will be available for nearly any application. The laboratory construction is a natural next step in implementing the strategy to establish national nanotechnology in South Africa.
Read MoreThe Centre for Minerals Research is a multi-disciplinary research centre based in the Department of Chemical Engineering with close associate activities in the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Physics. It enjoys an excellent international reputation for its world-class research in minerals processing. The Centre works closely with all of the major global mining companies and is supported in its research…
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