The SAIMM is a professional institute with local and international links aimed at assisting members source information about technological developments in the mining, metallurgical and related sectors.
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pagesJournal Comment

A monthly publication devoted to scientific transactions and specialist technical topics is unlikely to be on the priority reading list of the majority of the mining and metallurgical community. But it is the ambition of the Publication's Committee to make the Journal of much wider interest to our general membership from technician trainees to mine managers to CEO's of our constituent companies. It is to entice general readership that some 1200 words of valuable space are devoted to the Journal Comment each month. This is intended to highlight some of the features and impact of the papers to excite and activate attention.

To entice this preliminary glance before confining the publication to the book shelf or even the wpb, the author has to call on a large measure of journalistic licence in style, titles and quotations. It is essential to be spicy, controversial and even provocative to separate it from the abbreviated authoritative but necessary scientific style of the bulk of the contents.
The Journal Comment aims to be an enticement to dig into some important feature of the papers in the issue. For this reason it has been decided to include it as a separate item on the Institutes Web Site. This might provoke those who enjoy twittering, blogging and googling to submit comment and criticism, all of which will be welcomed and responded to. At least it is proof that somebody has read it.
R.E. Robinson

Nuggets or Nano Gold

‘I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, And express it in numbers, you know something about it; But when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, Your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind.’ Lord Kelvin, 1882

The papers in this issue were selected from a conference on sampling and blending held last year. This topic is generally considered by most production industries as a necessary,

Leaner and meaner or keener and cleaner

‘GM will be leaner and meaner’ Barack Obama, President of the USA Comments on the General Motors bailout 2009

We are emerging, I hope, from the most traumatic recession for many an era

Educating entrepreneurs

We have not achieved much. It's a big lesson; we have to learn from that. The principle of the charter was to try to deracialise the mining industry, which has not been achieved’.
Minister of Mineral Resources, Susan Shabangu, talking in New York, explaining why the Mining Charter has to be revised—March 2010

It has been a firm tradition that one of the annual issues of the SAIMM Journal be devoted to publication of papers derived from undergraduate projects in the mining and metallurgical faculties.

Comminution

‘Keep right on to the end of the road Though the way may be long, let your heart be strong. Keep right on to the end’ Words from a Scottish Ballad...

I must confess to reading the papers in this issue with much interest and a measure of excitement. I have been involved with comminution since 1955, not directly but circumstantially.

Black sands, black swans, and teachers

‘A little neglect may breed mischief’. ‘For want of a nail, the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the horse was lost, for want of a horse the rider was lost, for the want of a rider the battle was lost. All for the want of a nail’

This issue is devoted to the treatment of the black mineral sands such as those that abound along the east and west coasts of Southern Africa. The papers are from the latest of the conferences that have formed part of a continuing series by the SAIMM over several decades.

Converting techno talk to techno transfer

‘Publish or Perish’  ‘The Academic Man: A Study in the Sociology of a Profession’  Logan Wilson, 1942

This first issue of 2010 features a selection of contributions from the Hardrock Safety conference in September 2009. This is as important a topic as any for an industry that deals with a work function as hazardous as that of deep-level hard rock mining. It is also as complex as any involving rock mechanics, seismology, zero defect in engineering and instrumentation, plus psychology, training and exhaustion hygiene, as illustrated in the papers.

Physical Metallurgy

‘The future is here. It’s just not widely distributed yet’ William Gibson.

This issue contains six Transaction papers and one Journal paper. This is a pleasing change from the pattern of the previous issues during this year, in which there have been some extremely important events and conferences from which a wealth of Journal papers have emerged and which have contributed greatly to the technology transfer functions of the Institute’s publication. It is thus good to see some detailed experimental work with evaluation and conclusions in traditional format.

Many ways to kill a cat

‘The difference between foolishness and wisdom is time and the prevailing norms. In real terms, human beings are unable to distinguish between wisdom and foolishness.This helps to show us that there are many ways to kill a cat’ Ancient African Wisdom for the Current and Future global Solutions. Jabulani—August 2008

This seems to be a strange title for a comment on a Journal issue dealing with base metals.

I should explain that the English phrase quoted was frequently used by me more than two decades ago when I was heading a project contracting company and involved in critical path planning, PERT diagrams and risk analysis. It referred to the successful completion of a challenging activity, such as a research and development (R&D) project or a plant construction contract, (CAT).

Mintek 75th Anniversary Issue

From the Good Earth: Lessons from the Past, Inspirations for the Future. Michael Abelman

This issue is devoted to a selection of eight papers from Mintek to represent a cross-section of the contribution to Mineral Research and Development to celebrate their 75th anniversary. They are all eminently note-worthy and the one most relevant to my interests is the paper on Resin–in-Pulp which endorses my predictions a few months ago that this technology is likely to take off internationally in the near future.

Sulfuric Acid

Plaisir d’amour ne dure qu’un moment; chagrin d’amour duré toute la vie. Classic French Ballad

The papers in this issue focus on sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid has become an integral part of the mining industry and today there are more sulfuric acid plants operated in the mining industry than in the chemical industry in South Africa. This revolution took place in the 1950s with the advent of the uranium extraction and recovery process. The first plant in the mining industry was, I believe, at Zincor, the raw material being derived from the roasting of sphalerite, the sulfide of zinc. Most of the large uranium plants had their own sulfuric acid plants using pyrite as the source of sulfur.