Journal 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
- Details
-
Created: Monday, 17 September 2018 15:10
-
Written by R. Mitra
This edition of the Journal is dedicated to the Society of Mining Professors 6th Regional Conference 2018, which was held in Johannesburg, South Africa from 12 to 14 March. This Conference was hosted by Mining Engineering Education South Africa (MEESA) and the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM). MEESA is comprised of the School of Mining Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand, the Department of Mining Engineering at the University of Pretoria, the Department of Mining Engineering at the University of Johannesburg, and the Department of Mining Engineering at the University of South Africa.
- Details
-
Created: Tuesday, 14 August 2018 10:00
-
Written by D. Tudor
The range of topics and the locations of the authors in this month’s edition is an indication of the international nature of the Journal, which is confirmed by the fact that of the 141 papers that were published in the Journal in 2017/2018, 58 were from outside South Africa. This is one of the criteria that ensures that the Journal is listed on the Department of Higher Education and Training’s (DHET) list of accredited journals.
- Details
-
Created: Wednesday, 11 July 2018 15:11
-
Written by R.T. Jones
The Fifteenth International Ferro-Alloys Congress (Infacon XV) was held in Cape Town from 25 to 28 February 2018, and was attended by 450 delegates from 32 countries. After a cycle of four congresses in the northern hemisphere (New Delhi, India, 2007; Helsinki, Finland, 2010; Almaty, Kazakhstan, 2013; and Kyiv, Ukraine, 2015), it was appropriate that Infacon should return to South Africa at a time of great change in the region.
- Details
-
Created: Wednesday, 20 June 2018 15:19
-
Written by Q. Campbell
The 14th Annual SAIMM Student Colloquium 2017 was held at Mintek on 25 October 2017. This is a prestigious annual event where mining and metallurgy students at tertiary institutions can showcase results of their projects to an audience from the greater Southern Africa mining community. The top students are invited to publish their papers in a special issue of the Journal. Looking at the papers in this edition, it is clear that the type of research conducted by students increasingly reflects the priorities in the industry, and that the outcomes are applicable, current, and of very high quality. This is a very encouraging sign, and it does go far to dispel the notion that only ‘pie-in-the-sky’ research is being done at our tertiary institutions. We are indeed successfully contributing to the creation of prosperous and empowered young professionals, to paraphrase the slogan of the Colloquium. Anybody with any interaction with these bright young minds can confirm that the industry will be in good hands in the future.
- Details
-
Created: Friday, 11 May 2018 09:04
-
Written by G.L. Smith and R.T. Jones - Co-Chairs, Organizing Committee
 |
|
G.L. Smith and R.T. Jones
Co-Chairs, Organizing Committee
|
The Seventh International Platinum Conference, entitled ‘Platinum — A Changing Industry’ was held in October 2017 at Polokwane, Limpopo Province in the heart of the northern limb of the Bushveld Complex, the world's biggest platinum-producing region. The event was held in association with the Precious Metals Development Network of the Department of Science and Technology’s Advanced Metals Initiative. The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy convenes regular platinum conferences in order to disseminate recent technical developments in the industry and to facilitate stakeholder engagement. Previous themes have been ‘Platinum Adding Value’ in 2004, ‘Platinum Surges Ahead’ in 2006, ‘Platinum in Transformation’ in 2008, ‘Platinum in Transition — Boom or Bust’ in 2010, ‘Platinum — A Catalyst for Change’ in 2012, and ‘Platinum – Metal for the Future’ in 2014.
- Details
-
Created: Tuesday, 24 April 2018 09:13
-
Written by W. Joughin
This edition of the Journal is dedicated to AfriRock 2017, the International Society for Rock Mechanics (ISRM) International Symposium for 2017, which was held at the International Convention Centre in the beautiful city of Cape Town, South Africa from 3 to 5 October 2017. This is the first conference of that name and the first African-hosted ISRM International Symposium since the Tunisian and Zimbabwean national groups joined the African Region of the ISRM. The Symposium was well attended by 264 delgates from 42 countries. Each of the ISRM regions were represented; Africa (135 delegates), Asia (56, including 33 from China), Australasia (10), Europe (36), North America (13), and South America (14). Africa’s proud participation was evident through the number of delegates from Botswana, the DRC, Egypt, Ghana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Tunisia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, with a substantial number from South Africa.
- Details
-
Created: Tuesday, 03 April 2018 14:05
-
Written by D. Groot
|
The exhibition area at the conference
|
Discussions involving the 92nd element in the periodic table, uranium, tend to elicit mixed reactions. Although uranium plays a key role in the production of medical isotopes, it has the dark side of being the power in highly destructive nuclear weaponry. Strong positive and negative viewpoints emerge when nuclear reactors and their wastes are considered. Fortunately, the Uranium 2017 International Conference that took place in Swakopmund, Namibia (11 to 15 September 2017) did not generate quite such strongly opposed views.
The conference, with the theme Extraction and Applications of Uranium – Present and Future, brought together professionals in the uranium industry. A broad range of topics was discussed, ranging from mining to some of the applications of uranium, and included safety, as well as post-operations closure and remediation issues. Innovations in the extraction and applications of uranium are constantly being made, and the conference provided a platform for the discussion of advances and for generating new ideas.
- Details
-
Created: Wednesday, 31 January 2018 09:42
-
Written by B. Genc
The SAIMM organizes a number of conferences every year to promote technological developments in the mining- and metallurgy-related sectors. Selected papers from each of these conferences are published in the SAIMM Journal throughout the year. The SAIMM Journal is not only one of the top journals but also one of the most popular journals in the field of mining and metallurgy, and it continuously receives scientific papers from international researchers who wish to publish their output. The Publications Committee receives an average of 300 scientific research papers annually, and the current trends show that the numbers are increasing.
Every Journal edition has a theme that is usually associated with a specific conference topic, and every effort is made to include research papers on related topics that were submitted for consideration by the Journal in that specific edition. Despite these efforts, the Journal continues to have a backlog of research papers awaiting publication. It can take up to a year for a paper of general interest to appear in the Journal from the date that the paper is received. This is not a desirable situation, especially from an academic perspective, as researchers would like to see their findings published as quickly as possible.
- Details
-
Created: Tuesday, 05 December 2017 08:50
-
Written by K. Lomberg - Chairperson Organizing Committee
This edition of the Journal features papers that were presented at the SAMREC/SAMVAL Companion Volume Conference held on 17 and 18 May 2016 and attended by some 100 people. The intention of the conference was to provide Competent Persons and Competent Valuators with the opportunity to prepare and present details of recognized standards and industry benchmarks in all aspects of the SAMREC and SAMVAL Codes. These contributions were collated into a Companion Volume to provide a guideline for the declaration of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, and the Valuation of Mineral Projects for South Africa.
- Details
-
Created: Thursday, 30 November 2017 11:22
-
Written by S. Sackett, on behalf of the Organizing Committee
The 6th biennial Sulphuric Acid Conference and Workshop was held in Cape Town between 9 and 11 May 2017.
Approximately 90 delegates attended with regional representation from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and the DRC and from further afield with delegates from Germany, the USA, UK, The Netherlands, Canada, and Denmark. Delegates representing plant operations management, technical experts, traders, transporters, and vendors were all present.
