News

New Head of Wits Mining School Announced

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Created: Wednesday, 01 April 2015 21:06

9 March 2015 – Johannesburg: Professor Cuthbert Musingwini has been appointed head of the University of the Witwatersrand’s School of Mining Engineering.

Having lectured at Wits since 2004, Professor Musingwini has over 20 years of experience in the mining sector – including mine production management and planning, consulting, and academia. He began his career in the Zimbabwean gold mining industry as a research fellow – and later a lecturer – at the University of Zimbabwe.

He is Senior Vice-President and Honorary Treasurer of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM), a Fellow of the SAIMM, a registered professional mining engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA), and holds a PhD in Mining Engineering from Wits. He is a Managing Editor of the International Journal of Mining, Reclamation and Environment published by the Taylor and Francis Group (UK). He was awarded a National Research Foundation (NRF) C3 rating in 2014, and has published and presented extensively both locally and abroad.

Handover of model stope to Wits School of Mining Engineering

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Created: Wednesday, 01 April 2015 17:50

09 March 2015 – Johannesburg: A life-size mining stope panel was handed over by New Concept Mining (NCM) to the Wits School of Mining Engineering on 6 March 2015, to help students learn about stoping activities through a better visualization of how a real mine looks.

Wits - SRK Link Boosts Rock Engineering Skills

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Created: Wednesday, 01 April 2015 17:47

17 March 2015 – Illovo, Johannesburg: Collaboration between Wits University’s School of Mining Engineering and consulting engineers SRK Consulting is nurturing scarce rock engineering expertise, benefiting the mining and other sectors in Africa and beyond.

SANCOT - YMG

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Created: Wednesday, 01 April 2015 17:45

Public Consultation - The New Registration System (NRS)

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Created: Monday, 23 February 2015 10:43

 CALL FOR PUBLIC COMMENT - PUBLIC CONSULTATION - THE NEW REGISTRATION SYSTEM (NRS)

 The Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) is a statutory body established in terms of the Engineering Profession Act, (EPA No 46 of 2000). ECSA is charged with the responsibility to regulate the engineering profession with the objective to register engineering practitioners. ECSA has recently finalised the New Registration System (the "NRS") and as enjoined by section 36 of the EPA, the Council has taken a decision to embark on a public consultation process in respect of NRS.

Foreword - Danie Krige

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Created: Tuesday, 17 February 2015 14:26

Through his work and exposure to the data and information received while working for the Government Mining Engineer’s office in the early 1950s, as well as his methods of comparing sampling information and derived block values by means of regression, Danie Krige became a leader in the field of mineral resource estimation, out of which the science and methods of geostatistics were developed. The Danie Krige Commemorative Volume was designed to attract contributions from local and international geostatisticians, practitioners, researchers, and academia in the field of geostatistics with the intention of honouring Danie Krige, who passed away in March 2013, for his work and the impetus it provided in stimulating the creation of new knowledge and improved mineral extraction.

Memories of Danie Krige - Geostatistician Extraordinaire

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Created: Tuesday, 17 February 2015 14:20

Let me start the story in 1969, when I was a final-year mining engineering student at the University of Chile. At that time, Andre Journel, a young man from the Paris School of Mines (Fontainebleau), came to Chile to teach a two or three months-long seminar on geostatistics. If I am not mistaken, that was the very start of geostatistics in Chile. This effort was continued in the early 70’s by Andre´s colleague Alain Merechal. In those days, geostatistics was highly mathematical and theoretical, as commercial software did not exist and enthusiastic users had to write their own code. It is not surprising that geostatistics in Chile had a distinct French flavor and Kriging was referred to as ‘Krigeage’. In my ignorance, I grew up thinking that Daniel Krige was a very clever Frenchman.

Zibulo Colliery named runner-up in Nedbank Capital Sustainable Business Awards

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Created: Tuesday, 17 February 2015 14:17

Anglo American Coal's Zibulo Colliery was named the runner-up in the Resources and Non-Renewable Energy category at the prestigious 2014 Nedbank Capital Sustainable Business Awards held in Johannesburg recently. Zibulo was recognized for what it has achieved through its Phola sanitation and waste management initiative.

The awards honour companies that are able to balance economic profitability with truly sustainable business practices. This competition has become a vehicle to challenge African companies operating across all major industries to ensure they deliver sustainable value, in all its forms, to their stakeholders.

A New Chair In Occupational Hygiene At Wits

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Created: Wednesday, 11 February 2015 22:21

The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits University) has received an investment of R15 million from Anglo American for a new research chair, to be known as the Anglo American Endowed Chair in Occupational Hygiene, in the Wits School of Public Health in the Faculty of Health Sciences.

The Chair will conduct research, and engage in other scholarly activities, with the aim of decreasing employee exposure to dust, noise, and other health hazards in mining and other industries, thereby contributing to employee wellbeing.

Society of Mining Professors - Societät der Bergbaukunde

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Created: Wednesday, 11 February 2015 22:17

The Society of Mining Professors (SOMP) was established in 1990 during a special inaugural meeting hosted by the Montanuniversität in Leoben, Austria. The Society is considered the natural successor of the historic Societät der Bergbaukunde, which was formed in the early 18th century and is recognized as the world's first international scientific society. Since its inception, the Society has functioned primarily as a European entity representing senior academics in the mining engineering discipline.