Namibian Branch
Fredrick Chitonga
Fredrick was born on the 25 August 1979, in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe |
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Position: Specialist: Orebody Knowledge,
AngloGold Ashanti
Qualifications: BSc. Geology, MBL
(incomplete), OBK&SMP, MSAIMM, and
Cert.Sci.Nat.
Brief career history
10 years experience in U, Ni, Mo and Au in various roles in the geosciences, mining, exploration, and R&D industries in southern and East Africa (mostly Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Tanzania). After graduating in 2003 from UZ, Fred worked in R&D on groundwater geochemical projects for Waternet, and joined Rio Tinto a year later, spending four years in mining and exploration with the geosciences division in the gold sector up to 2006. He continued to run exploration activities in central Zimbabwe in Au, Ni and Mo for SME mining groups while attached to a consultancy group in Harare. He rejoined Rio Tinto in 2008, in uranium, on the Rossing project, spending five years with geosciences, focusing on LoME projects and evaluation of orebodies. In 2012, he rejoined the gold sector with AngloGold Ashanti Tanzania, working on orebody knowledge within the continental Africa region.
Key skills: Orebody knowledge, strategic mine planning, resource evaluation and classification,
project valuation and management, contractor and key relationships management, exploration target generation and evaluation, orebody simulation, reconciliation (simulations vs. actual).
Interaction/activities in SAIMM
Council and events.
What do you foresee yourself contributing to
within the SAIMM?
Growing Namibia branch membership, stimulating active participation of geosciences and engineering professionals in Namibia in SAIMM (particularly contributing papers to the Journal), and increasing SAIMM events in Namibia. I see a need for, and will support, external collaboration with other geosciences and engineering professional bodies to optimize public reporting of mineral resources and reserves.
Other information
An enabler, big-picture view, open minded and
approachable. Married, with 2 children. Fredrick is a keen golfer. |
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Johannesburg Branch
Ian Ashmole |
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Short history of previous experience
Ian started in the mining industry as a learner official with Rand Mines in 1985, and graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand with a bachelors degree in mining engineering in 1989. He worked at Durban Roodepoort Deep, Douglas Colliery, and Harmony Gold Mine before leaving Rand Mines in 1993 to take up the position of mine manager of a small gold mine on the East Rand.
Ian became involved in the dimension stone mining industry in 1994, when he joined Kudu Granite as Group Mining Engineer, with a mandate of transforming the companys traditional quarry operations into modern professionally-run mines through the application of geological knowledge, formal mine planning, new technology and methods, and professional management techniques. By 1996, the companys operations were recognized in the industry as being on a par with the best run operations in Europe, and the standards developed at Kudu were a major factor in the acquisition of Kudu by the Marlin Group in 1997. The health and safety and environmental performance of the Rustenburg Division of Marlin, where Ian was the General Manager from 2001 to 2005, was recognized by both the DME and environmental pressure groups as being among the best in the South African mining industry. In 2005, Ian became Technical Director of the Marlin Group, with responsibility for the operation of all quarries in southern Africa and exploration in Africa as well as consulting work for the group's operations in Brazil.
In 2008, Ian left the Marlin Group to establish an independent consultancy. While his initial focus was mainly, but not exclusively, in the dimension stone sector, he has subsequently consulted in the gold, uranium, platinum, chrome, and industrial minerals sectors. Ian is a generalist, and while his technical expertise is valued in feasibility and due diligence work, he also provides project and operational management assistance, and is widely experienced in the fields of health and safety, environmental management, and mineral rights.
Ian has travelled extensively in Africa, South America, Europe, and the USA during the course of his career. Ian is a keen runner, having completed five Comrades Marathons, trail runner and trail run course designer, and mountain biker. |
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