Indaba preview
Marcin Wertz
Partner and principal mining engineer – SRK Consulting
SRK Consulting( SA)
What does the term‘ modernisation’ of mines mean, and what opportunities do modernisation offer?
One of the key aspects of modernising mines is achieving better productivity through automation, especially in our underground mechanised mines. In these operations, it normally takes workers a very long time to reach the workplace from surface. Automation can extend the length of working shifts, which have for many years been eroded by increased travelling time to the working face.
The automation of certain underground activities will also provide opportunities to make mines safer. In applications where machines can undertake certain tasks, this will lead to fewer people being required underground and, specifically, fewer people in those places underground that could be unsafe.
With the employment of advanced communication and information technology, there has been considerable progress in monitoring operations from a distance and detecting early signs of problems. This allows faster reaction times, as managers can make decisions in real-time rather than waiting for manual reports at the end of a shift. As this process is enhanced by the growing power of the‘ Internet of Things’( IoT), the control function can also become more readily automated. IoT turns a mine into a network of physical devices( vehicles and other equipment) embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network connectivity— enabling these objects to collect and exchange data.
How should mine managers and operational managers prepare for the future, and what are the major changes they should start introducing?
Mechanisation and automation are likely to lead to fewer people on mines, but the roles required to run a modern mine will increasingly require not just a higher level of skill, but also new skill sets in which traditional engineering disciplines will be augmented by modern IT or computer-related skills. Managers are already needing to adapt their staff requirements to include a broader range of abilities within both the professional and other levels of the mine.
Mine managers can also expect to be spending more of their time on stakeholder-related issues, such as engagement with government departments responsible for safety, social, or environmental compliance, for instance.
Which aspects of mining should we prioritise when we talk about modernisation? What are the challenges and the opportunities in what we refer to as‘ modernisation’?
There is often resistance among various stakeholders to new technologies. Trade unions, for example, may see mechanisation as a means of reducing employee numbers on the mines. Getting buy-in therefore needs to be prioritised when new technology is introduced, as stakeholders need to consider that modernisation is imperative to extend the life of mine and thereby to preserve jobs.
What is your vision for the‘ mine of the future’?
There have already been a number of developments that are turning visions of the‘ mine of the future’ into reality. Advances in rapid development in hard rock mines have been made using prototypes capable of reaching development rates of 20m or more per day. These are fairly high-cost solutions, but have the potential to improve productivity and reduce operating costs. They also require the mine to be designed with tunnel profiles to accommodate the machines’ turning radius.
Battery technology is also improving rapidly for use in underground haul trucks and scoops, with the advantage of reducing the high ventilation costs associated with diesel equipment.
Increasing digitisation of communication technology has allowed access to real-time data, location tracking, data management, and the creation of tools that can optimise how mines are planned and managed.
Managing‘ big data’ will be a key feature of the modern mine, as this information needs to feed dynamically into varied applications such as resource block models, mine optimisation strategies, and integrated hydrogeological and geotechnical models. Cloud-based systems are becoming popular options for storing and managing such data.
With the Mining Indaba coming up in February, what are the major issues in the mining industry that you would like to be discussed, even if it is on other platforms?( In South Africa, Africa, and globally, respectively.)
The single biggest challenge to South African mining is the lack of investment, arising mainly from the sector struggling with profitability. These forums need to continue raising the policy and procedural obstacles that are preventing explorers, miners, and investors from entering the sector or from continuing their involvement— which is leading to a shortage of significant greenfield projects.
There seems to be a dearth of new exploration projects in South Africa specifically. Do you feel this is the case in the rest of Africa as well? Do you think it is a global concern? If it is, what are the reasons for it?
Aggravating the difficult economic climate has been the procedural difficulty of obtaining exploration permits in South Africa. One of the country’ s oldest and most established mining companies recently engaged in litigation with the DMR over the non-granting of a number of exploration permits. The cost of obtaining permits is also prohibitive, and time delays in receiving permits make it difficult for start-up explorers— whose position is made more onerous by the Mining Charter’ s ownership requirements at exploration stage.
In your opinion, which constraints are preventing investments in global, African, and South African mining projects?
South Africa recently dropped again on the global rankings in terms of ease
FEBRUARY 2018 MINING MIRROR [ 19 ]