Member News

Diana Mamabolo

Diana Mamabolo studied Mining Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand. She started her career with Anglo Coal (currently known as Thungela Resources and is now with Seriti Power. Diana Mamabolo is a Mining Engineer with 12 years Underground and Opencast experience in the Production and Technical space. A holder of a Mine Manger’s Certificate of Competency and is currently in a process of completing her final year Master of Science in Mining Engineering Degree with the University of the Witwatersrand.

Mpho Nyiko Nyarela

Mpho Nyiko Nyarela is currently employed by Palabora Mining Company under the HBIS group. She is part of the Underground Construction (Operational Readiness and Enabling) and the Concentrator. The team is responsible for setting up systems and processes that transition project activities from underground operations into the business or elements aimed at ensuring support of the Brownfields Mega Project.

She is also part of Value Improving Projects at the Concentrator aimed at plant optimization. With over a decade in the mining industry, she has held various roles such as Section Evaluator, Mine Design and Planner, and Project Services. She has worked for mining companies such as Petra Diamonds and various Anglo Platinum mines. She has also worked outside the mining sector where she consulted for the Thabo Mbeki Foundation, Bidvest, and Telkom. 

Mpho holds numerous qualifications, which include a cum laude degree in Mineral Resource Management, an MBA degree from the University of the Witwatersrand, and currently pursuing a PhD candidacy under the School of Economics and Management. She is passionate about education and rural development.

Maureen Phambane

Maureen is a Mining Engineer with experience ranging across underground Platinum operations, Technology Development, Permitting and Social Performance. She is an avid learner who seeks to continuously develop new skills whilst strengthening her existing skills. Having worked on the development of modular autonomous mining robots, Maureen has been exposed to translating conceptual ideas to physical deliverable value for the business which has built fundamental project management skills that are quintessential to driving innovation to operations. She has also been involved in leading the roll-out of the new permitting framework in AA that allows for the timely acquisition of permits and compliance in the various sites and business units in (SA, Canada, Australia & Finland). These skills coupled with her exposure to production delivery pressures as an underground Mining Engineer and experience in managing positive and negative impacts on external stakeholders in Social Performance have given Maureen a unique perspective that makes her a future fit for the Mining industry. 

Denis Fields

Denis Field and his three sons, Kenneth, Alan and Douglous have a combined 174 years of mining experience within the South African Mining Industry. All the Fields are Mining Engineers, and all ended up in Managerial Positions within the Industry.

Denis was a Coal Mine Manager in various mines, out and within the Anglo American Coal Stable. He retired from the Anglo Coal Head office and became the Head of Mining at Wits Technicon. Kenneth was a General Manager of Impala Platinum Mine and held Managerial positions in both Gold and Diamond Mines. He was the President of the Association of Mine Managers. Alan was a General Manager and Consulting Engineer within the Gencor Group and Head of Mining for Anglo Platinum. He was Chairman of Mines Rescue Services for 11 years and Vice-Chairman of Minerals Education Trust Fund. Douglous was a Mine Manager on Platinum and Gold Mines within the Gencor Group.

The Fields have played an important role in the industry by developing, coaching, and mentoring many young Mining Engineers over many years, some of which now hold very senior positions in the industry.

Bennie Havenga

Bennie Havenga Process Specialist: Smelting at Impala Platinum.

I have attained my B.Eng Cemical Engineering degree with specialization in Mineral Processing from the NWU in 2008 and started my career at Impala Platinum as a graduate metallurgist in 2009. Since then, I have been part of the Processing Projects Department, providing and managing technical support services to the Rustenburg Smelter operations and assisting with the planning and execution of various capital projects.

Currently employed as Process Specialist: Smelting, I drive optimisation projects and am involved in several Stay in Business and Compliance related capital projects aimed at renewing or extending processing unit lifecycles. During my time at Impala, I have gained valuable experience within PGM smelting unit operations, off gas handling circuits and technologies as well as project management.

I hope to continue to add value and adapt with the changing environment within the PGM and processing sector for years to come and would encourage aspiring students to consider a career in engineering and support institutes such as the SAIMM, because collectively we can achieve more.

Relebogile Mile

Relebogile Mile is an Operations Manager at Impala Platinum.

Relebogile is a qualified Chemical Engineer with a BEng Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Pretoria. She is also a Certified Energy Manager with the Institute of Energy Professionals Africa (IEPA) and Association of Energy Engineers (AEE).

Relebogile has moved up the ranks in her career and has extensive experience in pyrometallurgy, gas conditioning and chemical processing. She has assumed roles in the technical space as well as in operations, assuming roles in the organisation namely Metallurgist, Senior Metallurgist, Metallurgical Engineer until her current role of being Operations Manager at Impala Platinum Smelter Plant. As a leader in her team, she is passionate about driving high performance within her team.

Relebogile lives by the saying, “It always seems impossible until it’s done“, and being the youngest member in her management team, she hopes to inspire other young professionals to pursue careers in the mining industry because with drive and tenacity, anything is indeed possible.