• OPERATIONS
DEALING WITH COVID-19
Despite positive advancements , Covid-19 continues to affect the mining industry , writes Nicolaas Steenkamp and Leon Louw .
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the global economy and specifically the mining sector . Large numbers of mining operations were either completely halted for several weeks or months , or could only operate as essential services , depending on the restrictions that were placed on their activities by their host countries .
There was , mostly erroneously , a perception that Covid-19 infections were higher in the mining sector than in other sectors . This was however actually due to the fact that mining operations were the first to engage in daily detailed monitoring of their workers and because they have health and safety measures at the mines , which enabled them to perform Covid-19 test more rapidly and accurately .
Mines in effect thus became control areas to monitor the rate of the spread of infection , severity , and duration of being affected . Mines also became the best indicator of a potential spike in infection numbers in a specific province .
First spread as a result of external factors It was found that most of the infections were not as a result of direct infection at the mines , but rather due to interaction outside of the mine . Due to the socio-economic position of most mine workers , they tend to congregate in communal living areas , even after the hostels were closed , and in packed public or private transport .
The only location where the miners are in close proximity to each other are in the cages , at the start and end of shifts , but measures have been put in place to conduct pre-entry health checks and sanitising .
Measures to reduce the spread of Covid-19 Mining operations introduced several measures to reduce the spread of Covid-19 , both on surface and specifically in underground operations .
The measures range from reducing the number of miners that are active in teams and conduct proper human resource planning and management .
In most countries , specific protocols or guidelines have been issued by the relevant state departments or organisations . In South Africa , the Minerals Council took the lead to issue guidelines in terms of behaviour and has been supplemented by the specific
All photos : © Leon Louw
Underground mining requires teamwork which brings workers in close proximity to each other .
28 • African Mining • November 2021 www . africanmining . co . za