SAIMM Council Members

Full name(s) and surname:
Sandipkumar Naik although known as Sandip Naik

Position:
Principal Processing – Group Investment Assurance at Anglo American

What contribution do you see yourself making to the SAIMM and Council? :
Sandip has gained sufficient experience over the last 29 years in the Mining industry which, he believes that he can utilise to provide support to institutes such as the SAIMM. The mining and metallurgical industries are now moving at a rapid pace which requires the integration of new technologies within the current standard operating philosophy. His current role within the company, involves the identification, integration and implementation of these new technologies within the current operations. In addition, and together with the understanding of the full mining value chain, he sees himself contributing to the following areas:

• Support the drive in R&D, technology and innovation for the mining and metallurgical industry to support the South African mining industry.
• Provide input into the type of training that our young engineers should be exposed to as part of their development.
• Fostering strategic partnerships with mining industry and its stakeholders to identify opportunities for impact for SAIMM.
• Provide input in the planning for a sustainable and safe mining industry.
• Be a network link between various institutes and industries worldwide that the SAIMM can utilise.

Interactions/activities that you currently participate in within the SAIMM (if applicable):

• Sandip has actively supported mentoring individuals via the YPC Mentoring program over the last 5 years. Note that he supports in a similar program within his current employ.
• Supported the SAIMM by reviewing articles and papers whether they formed part of SAIMM hosted conferences or were published in the SAIMM journal.

Qualifications:

Degrees

• BSc (Eng) Honours (Metallurgical Engineering), University of Witwatersrand, 1993.
• MSc (Eng) Metallurgy and Material Engineering, University of Witwatersrand, 1998.

Other

• Programme of Management Excellence (PME), Anglo management course in conjunction with GIBBS, 2008.
• Operational Risk Management for Managers – Anglo internal course, 2022
  

Brief career history:

Sandip has worked in the metallurgical industry as process engineer with more than 28 years’ of experience. Sandip has held various positions in the three companies that he has worked for (Mintek, SGS and Anglo American) which has provided him an in-depth knowledge and experience of the full mining value chain for a number of commodities with include Platinum, Copper, Iron ore, Diamonds, Phosphates, Coal and Niobium to name few. This knowledge and experience has allowed him to transition to his current position within the company’s Investment Assurance and Due Diligence portfolio, a role he moved into at the beginning of this year.

To date his technical experiences and knowledge include setting up of metallurgical laboratories, experimental planning and design of both green field and brown field projects, plant commissioning and ramp-up, conducting research & development as well as reviewing, testing and adoption of new technologies (which focus on reduction of energy, water consumptions, lower operating costs as well as waste rejection). Two of the technologies have now been implemented at selected operations within Anglo. Additionally, Sandip has been involved in conducting reviews of metallurgical plants across Southern African and South America which results in identifying, optimising and knowledge sharing of best practices across commodities and continents.

Managerially, Sandip has held various senior roles since 2008, which include managing the Minerals Processing and Mineralogy department as well as being a commodity manager. His previous role as Manager of Ore Characterisation and Geo-Metallurgy at Anglo American Technical Solutions focused on standardising of metallurgical processes and protocols across operations; driving the need for Geo-Metallurgical testing; identification, testing and making recommendations on new technologies that will deliver on safe and sustainable mining.

Outside of Anglo, Sandip has been involved with the Engineering Council of South Africa since 2013. He was part of the Metallurgical ‘Panel of Advisory Committee’ (PAC) until it seized to exist in 2018. Since then he has provided support to them on a regular basis with assessments and interviews of candidate Professional Engineers. He has also been a Professional Engineer since 1998. Additionally, Sandip is a member of the Industry Advisory Board (IAB) for the Chemical and Metallurgical Department at WITS University.

Date and place of birth:
7th February 1970; Gujarat, India