MINING INDABA
geochemistry is a new technique that can help identify
mineralisation at depth and under cover.
Machine-learning and Minerals Systems modelling are no
doubt going to be central to much of what we do going
forward. Our ability to work with and integrate large
and diverse datasets and to model these in 4D is now a
reality. We can provide better decision-making tools by
quantifying risk and focusing on the most prospective
opportunities. Nothing will replace obtaining a physical
drill sample, but if we can get to that discovery intersection
faster and cheaper, the overall investment case for
exploration improves.
Where do you think will the next big deposit be discovered
in Africa?
In a jurisdiction that promotes exploration and is favourable to
long-term sustained investment in mining. Is this Cote d’Ivoire?
Time will tell.
Your outlook for exploration in Africa in the next three years?
There will be slow growth with focus shifting from traditional
areas such as South Africa and West Africa. Exploration across
Africa will not be without its challenges but the variety and scope
of opportunities across the continent will continue to provide
tantalising prizes for those explorers with the tenacity to accept
these challenges.
Ten years ago, the mining industry still questioned the value
proposition of technology investments. Since then, mining
companies have adopted technology on a grand scale – to the
point where one can ask: “How will the mining industry change
technology in the next five to ten years?”
In the past, companies shopped around for existing technology
solutions, which often did not help much; now, they are insisting
that technology companies supply them with real solutions that
will solve specific problems. Technology companies who cannot
respond to site-specific requests will soon find themselves out of
business.
What does Wits University do to address the challenges that the
future presents?
Across the globe, a range of technological, social, economic and
environmental changes are affecting how, what, when and where
we mine. Technology interventions will help, but this will increase
rather than replace the need for well-educated and ‘rounded’
professionals.
One of the biggest challenges in Africa for the mining industry is
a lack of the necessary skills in the countries of operation. How
can Wits in particular, and universities in general, contribute to
improve the mining skills on the continent, and what role will
technology play in the process?
Universities are key providers of human capital. At Wits, our
qualifications, offerings and approaches to teaching are constantly
being reviewed, revised and transformed to address the needs of a
21st century industry and society more broadly. Our first objective
is to develop the next generation of leadership; so, we build the
people who must build Africa, and this includes entrenching in
them a value system for responsible and inclusive growth.
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African Mining Publication
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Prof Cawood, how will technology change the mining industry in
Africa in the next five to ten years?
Prof Fred Cawood, director, Wits Mining Institute,
discusses how technology and training can
develop the next generation of leadership;
building the people who must build Africa -
including entrenching in them a value system for
responsible and inclusive growth.
TECHNOLOGY AND TRAINING
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Our second objective is more applied – or service-related. Here,
we identify shortcomings in our existing offerings and then fill the
gap through skills training by short courses or problem-solving,
commissioned research.
What research, that is of interest to the mining industry in
Africa, is currently being carried out at the university and what
potential impacts will this research have on the future of mining
in Africa?
Research we are currently engaged in includes the use of
microwaves to weaken rock and accelerate the cutting
process; mine health and safety; digital mining; the impacts
of climate change, and how to mitigate and adapt to it; and
geo-engineering, including the use of olivine-rich waste rock
(kimberlite, for example) to achieve negative carbon emissions.
We are also researching Big Data and the application of quantum
computing to mining, and arrange ‘hackathons’ to re-imagine
complex issues in mining. Topics include: the innovative use
of machine learning in ore grade estimation; the application
of Blockchain technologies to verify processes, such as the
traceability of materials in supply chains; cyber-resilience in the
face of malicious and accidental failures of cyber security; and
holistic, inter-disciplinary approaches to technology-human
interaction issues.
Is automation and mechanisation the answer to Africa’s high
unemployment figures, and how will the mechanisation of new
mines improve the safety aspects in especially underground
mines?
Mine modernisation on its own is not the solution to Africa’s high
unemployment, but it is the solution to keeping mines going
safely and protecting some of the jobs that would be lost in a
scenario where we do not advance our mining methods. The
coal sector showed us comprehensively that there are significant
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