HOIST &HAUL 2027

Background

Visit the Hoist & Haul 2027 website

SUBMIT AN ABSTRACT

We are excited to be hosting Hoist & Haul 2027 in beautiful Cape town, South Africa. Mining is a global industry, with mining companies owning mines across the world. The large engineering companies and suppliers who provide design and equipment to the mines also operate internationally. So we hope to welcome delegates and accept technical papers from a wide spectrum of different countries.

As the conference is being held in South Africa, we will also aim to highlight South African achievements in mine shaft hoisting, and technical visits will showcase excellence in current South African mining operations.

Fifty years ago, the world, led by South Africa, was at the dawn of ultradeep mining. BMR hoists were being developed, accepted factors of safety were being challenged and updated on a more rational basis, much deeper single hoist shafts were replacing multiple shaft systems. These were exciting times for hoisting and gave birth to the Hoist and Haul series of conferences, in 1973 in Johannesburg, under the title “Hoisting: Men, Materials and Minerals”.

Similar challenges exist today. Exploration has proved significant ore bodies at depths exceeding 4000 m. However, the cost and time required for extraction using current hoisting technology makes their exploitation unattractive, emphasizing the need for faster, more cost-efficient hoisting systems.

But a whole new set of challenges has arisen from increasing societal demands for safety, sustainability, energy efficiency and environmental responsibility. And, whilst the world cannot develop and thrive without mining products, these demands are likely to escalate rapidly over the next fifty years.

Mines that have been in operation for fifty years must upgrade and retrofit hoisting system to adapt to changing demands, and planning for new mines must aim to anticipate what will be necessary if they are to be socially acceptable from inception to closure in fifty years’ time.