14 November 1971 – 12 July 2021
Navin Singh was born on 14 November 1971 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.
He started his career at South Deep Gold Mine in 1996 as Strata Control Officer, progressing to the position of Chief Rock Engineer (Operations). In 2000 he relocated to Australia, and joined Western Mining Corporation as Senior Geotechnical Engineer at Olympic Dam Mine in South Australia. He returned to South Africa in 2001 to take up the position of Research Manager for Rock Engineering at the CSIR, and subsequently that of Programme Manager for Mining. He served for a time as New Technology Manager at Gold Fields Ltd, then moved to the Mine Health & Safety Council as Chief Research and Operations Officer, remaining in that position for the next 6 years. Navin returned to the CSIR in 2015 as Manager for Mining R&D. He was involved in establishing the Mandela Mining Precinct in partnership with the DST and the then Chamber of Mines and became the Co-Director of the Precinct for the period 2016–2020. He held the position of Head of Technology, Kumba Iron Ore (Anglo American) when he passed on.
Navin served as a Director on Coaltech Research Association (2015–2020), and also of the Mining Equipment Manufacturers of South Africa (2017–2020).
Navin was a Fellow of the SAIMM and served as a Council member from 2018. He was also a Fellow of South African National Institute of Rock Engineering (SANIRE).
When asked about his contribution to the SAIMM Council, Navin’s response was ’I am actively involved in driving improvements in mining through technology development, implementation, and adoption, and since SAIMM strives to bring technical leadership to the mining industry through knowledge dissemination, my involvement in this space is thus fully aligned’. His contribution to the SAIMM will be sorely missed.
Navin’s passing on Monday, 12 July 2021 was a huge loss to all those that knew him. Our heartfelt condolences go to his family, friends, and colleagues.