SANCOT SYMPOSIUM 2022

OBJECTIVES

OBJECTIVES

The conference is intended to promote interaction and closer communication between personnel and companies in the mining and civil industries, and to create a platform where expertise and experience gained in tunnel boring and mechanized underground excavation can be shared.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

The conference should be of value to: 

• All stakeholders involved with underground excavation 
• Stakeholders involved in the shaft sinking arena 
• Mine executives and management 
• Civil construction companies 
• Stakeholders from Government, Metros and State Owned Enterprises involved in Underground Space
• Engineering design and consulting 
• Project management practitioners 
• Mine owners and entrepreneurs 
• Technology suppliers and consumers 
• Health, safety and risk management personnel and officials
• Research and academic personnel.

CALL FOR PAPERS & PRESENTATIONS

The conference is being organised by The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy in affiliation with the South African National Committee on Tunnelling and presentations are invited for the conference. Prospective authors are invited to submit titles and abstracts of their presentations, in English. The abstracts should be no longer than 500 words and should be submitted to: Gugu Charlie; e-mail: gugu@saimm.co.za +27 11 538 0238

Selected papers will be published in the SAIMM Journal. If your paper is selected by the committee, you will be notified for permission and your paper will go through the Journal review process . Papers that are accepted and published in the Journal will not be published in the conference proceedings which will be ready at the time of the conference. The Journal publication will only be published after the conference

Dean Brox

Dean Brox Consulting
Dean Brox is Canadian and graduated from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver in 1985 where he received his degree in Geological Engineering (Geotechnical). In 1990, Dean received his Master of Science degree in Engineering Rock Mechanics with distinction, from Imperial College in London. Dean has 36 years of experience in the tunnelling industry including involvement in the planning, design, construction, operation and inspection stages. In total, Dean has worked on more than 1500km of tunnels, including 575km of mining tunnels and 525km of hydroelectric tunnels. Dean is a licenced Professional Engineer and independent consultant specialising in risks, claims and technical reviews. Specific areas of specialization and interest include the planning and execution of geotechnical investigations, characterization of rocks with in-situ stress tests and specialized laboratory tests, the evaluation of tunnel boring machines for mining projects, risk assessment and acceptability of unlined and shotcrete lined pressure tunnels, the assessment and prediction of overstress, including rockbursting for long and deep tunnels, and the forensic investigations of tunnel collapses, and the evaluation of the structural conditions of hydroelectric tunnels through underwater inspections with remote control vehicles.
Dean started his career in South Africa and Lesotho in the 1980’s working in a deep gold mine on the West Rand before working on the Phase 1a of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project.

In 2017, Dean published a new book for the tunnelling industry titled “Practical Guide to Rock Tunneling” with an updated 2nd Edition in 2021. The book has been translated into Spanish and Portuguese and is available on Amazon/Kindle.

John Sawyer

Deputy Executive Manager, Lesotho Highlands Water Project, Phase II Programme Management Unit (PMU), CDM Smith
John Sawyer is the Deputy Executive Manager for the Lesotho Highlands Water Project Phase II Programme Management Unit. He is a civil engineer with over 40 years’ experience on major hydroelectric, water supply and irrigation projects in Europe, Asia and Africa and has spent a significant part of his career in Southern Africa. Prior to joining the PMU he was the Engineering Manager responsible for all engineering aspects of the 1332MW Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme, South Africa, and before that was the Divisional Director for dams and hydropower for Jacobs UK.

KEY DATES

• 6 June 2022 ..............Submission of abstracts

• 13 June 2022.............Acceptance of abstracts

• 10 August 2022 .........Submission of papers

• 7-8 November 2022 ..Conference

FORMAT OF THE EVENT

At this point in time, the event is planned as a full contact conference with international participation through web links. It is also planned to hold technical visits to nearby facilities. The situation will be constantly reviewed, and if it appears that the effects of the pandemic are still such as to pose a threat.to the health and safety of delegates, this will be changed to a digital event.

Venue and Accommodation

Post Conference Technical Visit

The SANCOT Symposium technical visit to the North Bore on the N1 Huguenot Tunnel between Paarl and Du Toitskloof

Proposed itinerary:

• 12:15 to 13:00 - Departure (Delegates to meet at the Wallenberg Conference Centre @ STIAS main reception @12:15. Delegates will be back at the Wallenbergy Conference Centre by 17:00)
• 13:00 to 13:30 - Meet at the Tolcon offices followed by a for safety induction;
• 13:30 to 14:30 - Drive to the western portal for a brief overview of the tunnel history, including design, construction and proposed upgrades to North and South bores (to be presented by SMEC staff);
• 14:30 to 15:30 - Drive through North Bore tunnel with stops at key points of interest; and
• 15:30 to 16:30 - Conclude site visit at Eastern Portal with Q & A followed by return trip through South Bore

Kindly note the technical visit is separably bookable and delegates are asked to bring their own PPE – hard hat, boots and high-visibility vest

CONTACT

Conference Coordinator, Gugu Charlie.
Tel: +27 11 538 0238
Email: gugu@saimm.co.za