The SAIMM is a professional institute with local and international links aimed at assisting members source information about technological developments in the mining, metallurgical and related sectors.
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TOP NEWS

  • Passing of Professor Peter Gaylard

    Professor Peter Gaylard16 July 1942 – 4 February 2024

    We learned recently of the passing of Prof Peter Gordon Gaylard, a Retired Fellow of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. He joined the SAIMM as a Student member on 17 November 1965 and received his 50-Year Membership Lapel Badge at the SAIMM Annual General Meeting on 11 August 2016.

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  • 2024 SAIMM Conferencing Survey

    2024 SAIMM Conferencing SurveyThe SAIMM remains committed to providing world class and relevant conferencing to its members and the larger Mining fraternity. To ensure that we meet this standard, we require information from you. Particularly conference topics which interest you most. Click here to participate in this survey which will run until 29 February 2024. We require less than 5 minutes of your time.

  • SAIMM Mining Exhibition at the Sci-bono Discovery Centre

    In July 2014 the SAIMM mining exhibition was opened at the Sci-bono Discovery Centre in Newtown, Johannesburg. The exhibition presents the opportunity to showcase the industry, provide information and encourage visitors to Sci-bono and learners to consider careers in the minerals industry.

    It has been over 9 years since the official opening of the exhibition. The SAIMM is in conversation with the Sci-bono team regarding upgrading of the facility. Should you or your organisation be interested in supporting this project, through expertise or financial support, please contact communications@saimm.co.za or sam@saimm.co.za to pledge your support.

    We look forward to your support in revitalizing the exhibition.

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  • We are live! SAIMM The Crucible

    podcast 2 29082023

    The Crucible is a podcast by the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. The objective is to ensure that our stakeholders have relevant information to enable decision making in an unpredictable future. Through the podcast we offer listeners a front row seat to conversations with specialists, experts and thought leaders in the minerals and metals sector. We discuss pertinent topics and burning issues to ensure that all stakeholders have real, in-time information.  

    If you would like to participate by suggesting a topic, being interviewed, or recommending an industry expert, contact Sam Moolla on sam@saimm.co.za

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  • Nolitha Fakude Chairman of Anglo American Honoured with the Brigadier Stokes award by SAIMM

    Nolitha Fakude 22082023The Brigadier Stokes memorial award is the highest achievement in the South African mining and metallurgical industry. The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy has the privilege to honour Nolitha Fakude with this award in recognition of her service and contribution to the industry.

    Nolitha Fakude, the Chairman of Anglo American was presented the medal at the SAIMM Annual General Meeting on 18 August 2023. The medal is a symbol of her contribution to the mining fraternity. Nolitha is the current President of the Minerals Council of South Africa (MINCOSA), Non-Executive Director of the JSE Limited and Vice President of the International Woman’s Forum South Africa. She is also the Patron of Guild Cottage home for girls.

    Previously, Nolitha served on the Board of Anglo-American plc from 2017 to 2019. She has worked in senior executive roles in various industries including Retail, Financial Services, Mining, and Oil and Gas. She served as an Executive Director and Executive Vice President of Strategy and Sustainability at Sasol Limited, and Chairman of Sasol Mining from 2010 until 2016. Nolitha was the President of the Black Management Forum (BMF) from 2003 to 2006 and its Managing Director between 2000 and 2003. She also served as a non-executive director of Harmony Gold 24 years ago. She now serves as a member of the Council of Elders and is a respected authority on transformation and empowerment in South Africa.

    On accepting the 2023 Brigadier Stoke Memorial award, Nolitha quoted Maya Angelou saying ‘I come as one but I stand as ten thousand.’ As she accepted the award on behalf of all the unknowns in the mining and metallurgy industry.

    Her accolades include: The 2004 Most Influential Businesswoman by Financial Mail, Impala Platinum Young Entrepreneur Award and the National Honor by the Golden Key Society of the University of Johannesburg. Nolitha has led from the front and has not been shy to tackle the tough issues that business has to deal with including policy reform to enable inclusive economic growth. Nolitha is an author of a book titled, “Boardroom Dancing – Transformation stories from a Corporate Activist”, published in 2019.

    She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree in Psychology from the University of Fort Hare and completed the Senior Executive Programme at Harvard Business School in the United States.

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From the committees

  • What Diversity and Inclusion Means to Me

    Zohreh Fakhraei 01062022Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance.
    – Verna Myers

    When I was a child and someone would ask me what I wanted to be in future, I could not answer their question. You see, I wanted to be a pilot and, in my country, women were not allowed to be pilots. As a teenager, I remember crying because I was born a girl and I would never have the chance to be a soccer player in our national team.

    Yet, I was lucky to be one of the first female mining engineers to graduate 20 years after the Islamic Revolution in Iran. I had finally been ‘invited to the party’, but I still needed to fight for the opportunity to dance.

    My journey as a female mining engineer was exciting but I have had to constantly stand up for my rights, position, and a fair income. I needed to prove that my ability is no different from that of any other mining engineer. I wanted to succeed, not only for myself but also for future female mining engineers.

    For me the concept of Diversity and Inclusion is important for all people regardless of their gender, race, culture, religion, and age. They should be able to dream and be allowed the opportunity to follow it. No one should encounter prejudice or have to fight for their basic rights. Everyone should be equally heard, seen, and respected.

    I believe, that every single one of us in the mining industry has the responsibility to make this happen. We need to strive for a diverse and inclusive working environment which will result in an industry that is more innovative and productive when it comes to the business of mining.

    Zohreh Fakhraei
    Principal Consultant: Mining

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From the President's Corner

  • Mines, Wines, and Art at the Mining Indaba

    I recently had the privilege of attending, and representing the SAIMM at, the inaugural Mines, Wines and Art, which was held in the Convent Courtyard at the Goodman Gallery in Green Point, Cape Town on Sunday 4 February 2024. This event, occurring on the eve of the ‘Investing in African Mining Indaba’, aims to establish itself as a highlight of

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  • The SAIMM and ESGS

    I am sure many of you are aware that the SAIMM established the ESGS Committee a little over two years ago. The Committee deals with Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Sustainability (S). ESG and Sustainability have become increasingly important for mining companies in recent years. Climate change and rising global temperatures are affecting biodiversity and leading to droughts, floods,

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  • Reflections on 2023

    The mining industry in South Africa faced significant challenges in 2023. The robust economic recovery post-COVID that had led to impressive returns for mining companies in 2022 did not continue. In 2023 there was a general decline in revenue and profits across the industry, with the notable exception of gold miners. Volatility in commodity prices emerged as a major disruptive

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From the Journal Comments

  • Ticking boxes won’t revive the mining industry

    The mining industry, which has been the engine of growth of the South African economy for about 150 years, has stalled. Commodity prices have plunged and production costs risen as the infrastructure within which the mines operate has deteriorated. Production is restricted by erratic power supplies and exports are throttled by Transnet’s lack of capacity and problems at the ports.

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  • A window into the ramifications of journal publication

    The SAIMM Journal is an accredited international publication which enjoys respect and recognition worldwide. There are very few international journals focussed on mining and metallurgy, and therefore the SAIMM Journal makes a very important contribution in these fields. Because there are relatively few ‘academic/research’ personnel in mining and metallurgy compared to the numbers in the diverse avenues of industry, the

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Transactions, proceedings and transformation using IT

‘ The lecturer should give the audience full reason be believe that all his powers have been exerter for their pleasure and instruction’ Michael Faraday 1781–1867

For once I am not taking my theme from the papers in this issue. This is not because they are unimportant. Safety, rock bursts and rock mechanics are as important as one can get in the mining business. The reason is that I attended the monthly meeting of the Johannesburg Branch, which was a panel discussion on the topic of coal, energy supplies and electric power generation. Clearly, I was not the only one who rated these topics as worthwhile discussing and probably the hottest topics so far this year since load shedding started in January. The speakers from Eskom and from power consumers were excellent on the economic situation in SA. After short highlight presentations, they were joined by a panel of prominent authorities to field the discussion points raised by a sea of hands in the audience.

Those who read my recent Journal Comments on coal and low-cost power being the lifeblood of our mineral industry can well imagine that I had a host of questions and discussion points. I didn’t get the chance to speak. The competition was too hectic and time ran out on me. But I was there long enough to come away with the impression that such an occasion was informative, important in dispelling many misconceptions, and convincing that the best was being made of a crisis situation. It was highly interesting and entertaining so much so that it could well be repeated on other controversial topics. The content of the answers should be reported more widely. It was somewhat reminiscent of my early first contacts with the Institute where the regular monthly meetings were formal in the form of the presentation of papers that were to appear as transactions in the Journal accompanied in due course by the proceedings of the meeting.

The office bearers wore black ties, clearly emulating the prestige of the Royal Society or the Faraday Society. The formalities of such meetings are now outdated but the presentations and contributions were serious, erudite and prestigious. These latter aspects are, I believe, worth preserving in the face of the explosion in information technology and mass production of stereotyped conferences, which seemingly have made the presentation of research papers and discussion redundant. But there is much merit in creating opportunities for open and critical interaction with professional colleagues. Indeed one of the speakers at the meeting emphasized the desperate need for more ‘strategic’ discussion between authorities and the professional members of the industries involved ‘at the coal face’.

I came away with the feeling that I had heard some very worthwhile questions, and the answers gave me a measure of confidence that the electricity crunch was serious but being handled by competent, albeit horribly understaffed, personnel. My mind was buzzing with a host of strategic topics, particularly (but not only) in the research and development activities that could be most usefully handled by similar presentations for our members and other concerned professionals, and for that matter, the public. The Minister of Science and Technology has proudly announced that we are close to reaching the first world target of 1% of GDP in research expenditure. This is great news.

The amount is thus of the order of R20 billion, and is claimed to be the season ticket into the league of the first world scientific countries. It is, I imagine, mainly taxpayers’ money, but I have tried in vain to get any definition of the portfolio of the major areas and projects encompassed. Does this include both research and development and does it include the annual proportion of R19 billion allocated to the pebble bed reactor and other Eskom financed projects on solar and wind power projects? Does it include a contribution to research on carbon capture and storage? How much is devoted to mining and metallurgy and how much allocated to the expenditure of the Industrial Development Corporation on its host of industrial orientated development projects? What wonderful topics for meetings, possibly best referred to as ‘professional summits’, if top government aristocracy are involved.

One hopes there is some policy on the distribution of funds to a balanced portfolio of projects and a mechanism to charter progress with appropriate abort criteria. The total will certainly include the allocation to the Innovation Fund, and detailed analysis of more than 10 years operation (ca 1000 projects), should give at least a preliminary statistical value for the success probability and an indication of the wisdom of selection. Some reportback information on the big news innovative breakthrough projects, for example, the Zebra and Vanadium batteries, which were claimed to be the answer to the storage of electric power in off-peak periods, or on the local electric automobile, a prototype of which is due to appear shortly. Battery research for such an automobile is the hottest topic in the world’s automotive industry.

What is the progress of the new solar cells developed by Professor Alberts? All off these were successful in the sense of their being taken up by major industrial concerns for economic exploitation. SA has the raw materials to supply competitively. Right now the new Energy Bill, which proposes another statutory body, ‘The Institute for Energy’, is available for discussion, and the formal debate is currently being pushed through parliament. The implications are profound and long-term. Is there enough uranium to foster a worldwide nuclear industry? An international authority, speaking recently at a conference in SA, estimates enough for only 40 years if nuclear power takes off as the salvation of many nations, unless breeder reactors become competitive, in which case plutonium is recovered universally, which would be political atomic dynamite!

I am scratching only the surface of important topics of vital interest to the professional public of South Africa and particularly those in the minerals industries. Would this collegiate be interested in being informed in greater depth and even participating in discussions? Would the SAIMM see this as part of its mission to satisfy this demand if it exists? I see no problem in the mechanics of doing so in this modern age of the Internet, podcasts and digital transfer of voice and visual material. Innovative planning will be necessary but we are well placed to do so with our branch structure covering Southern Africa, plus our monthly publication and website and, above all, the ability to summon expertise in mining and metallurgy. What is there in it for the Institute? I can only speculate that we could establish the Institute as the most prestigious and meritorious organization for the publication of research and development transactions and thus as a vehicle for transfer of technology.

This will be promoted because the researchers and entrepreneurs will realize that their contribution will be not only recognized but also endorsed by way of discussion and debate. This could be advantageous in comparison with being lost in a mega-multitude of Google’s citations via international publications. The prestige of the Institute in having a mechanism and database for detailed examination and informed opinions could enhance its members’ invitation to strategic consulting forums. It could also create great ‘pleasure and instruction’ for our audiences.  R.E. Robinson July 2008