Professor Cuthbert Musingwini, head of
the School of Mining Engineering at the
University of the Witwatersrand (Wits).
MINING IN FOCUS
BME
MINING IN FOCUS
Joe Keenan, CEO of blasting company
BME.
Technology drives the future
Technology and modernisation are not only affecting how we mine, but also what we mine.
According to Joe Keenan, CEO of blasting company BME, technological disruption is replacing
the need for copper infrastructure, for example. Digital and renewable technology has provided
a path to development that requires fewer of the traditional minerals on which many nations
industrialised – and more of others. While copper cables carried voice communication and
television signal to millions of homes in the northern hemisphere during the 20th century,
many developing countries have jumped straight to cellular phones and satellites.
Keenan says further that strategic economic and political decisions are also being driven by the
need to reduce carbon emissions. “After more than a century of hydrocarbon-powered cars and
vehicles, there has begun a drastic shift towards battery power. Minerals like lithium, cobalt and
rare earths – some of the constituents of the batteries and fuel cells that will drive vehicles –
are increasingly becoming where the mining industry’s interest will lie. Even the lubricants for
these vehicles will need to change. The oils we use for today’s internal combustion engines, as
advanced as they are, are still not refined enough to suit an electric motor,” says Keenan.
Keenan says that the known deposits of many of these new ‘battery minerals’ tend to be located
in non-traditional mining areas. Rare earths, for example, are mainly in Asia, including China
and Japan. Lithium deposits are highly sought-after. The growing demand for cobalt – once
a little-appreciated by-product of copper mining – has now led to mines that focus on the
mineral itself. This will be to the benefit of countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo,
which hosts many of these rich deposits.
“This is likely to affect the strategic geopolitical status of certain countries – in the same way that
the presence of oil or coal reserves has done in the past. At the very least, the shift in mineral
demand will bring the opportunity for economic development to new areas, where gross
domestic product could be substantially boosted by this turn of fortune. For the mining industry,
players are needing to look beyond their traditional geographic horizons,” says Keenan.
Education and research
In all of this, the importance of education and research should not be understated. According
to Professor Cuthbert Musingwini, head of the School of Mining Engineering at the University
of the Witwatersrand (Wits), the University and gold mining company Gold Fields have
recognised that South Africa lacks sufficient skills and expertise to run deep-level mechanised
operations. The School has been a pioneer in conducting research and developing solutions
in the field of digital technology and mechanised mining systems in partnership with the Wits
Mining Institute.
According to Musingwini, young researchers play an important role in finding economically
viable strategies to mine South Africa’s deep deposits. “These partnerships between academia
and industry can make our deep-level mines safer and sustainable, continuing their vital
contribution to the economy,” says Musingwini. Gold Fields CEO Nick Holland emphasises
that deep-level mining in South Africa will only be sustainable in the long run if it’s done in
a mechanised manner. The School of Mining’s new focus on deep-level, mechanised mining
research points the way,” says Holland.
Modernisation and innovation have for many years taken the back seat to profit and increased
margins, at the expense of the South African mining industry, and the people of the country.
Trying to revive and modernise its ailing mines is almost like flogging a dead horse, although
it is not too late. But the experience gained are ideal case studies for other African countries
pinning their hopes on a sustainable mining industry.
www. africanmining.co.za
African
Mining
September 2019
Mining
43
African
Mining
Publication
African
African Mining September 2019
43