Indaba preview
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’?
A key element of the mine of the future
will be the absence of humans working
in dangerous conditions; rather, they
[22] MINING MIRROR FEBRUARY 2018
would be replaced by robots doing the
‘coalface’ work in these high-risk areas.
Hennie Theart
Partner and corporate consultant
(Geology) – SRK Consulting (SA)
mining process that potentially employs
very little labour. This will of course
require the continual improvement of
communication technology in terms of IT
infrastructure — not just at mine level but
in-between mines and service providers.
This trend will also disrupt our
conventional occupational structure,
with fewer semi-skilled workers being
required and more highly skilled
people being employed. The traditional
mining-related disciplines will need to
be increasingly infused with IT skills,
and the skill sets most in demand are
likely to be those that merge engineering
ability with technological insights. These
are the skills that will implement the
use of driverless vehicles, for example,
or the use of robots underground.
As a company that welcomes the
opportunities of the Fourth Industrial
Revolution, we also look forward to
improved levels of profitability in the
mining sector through a more sustainable
recovery. This will create more space for
consultants like SRK to focus on high-level
strategic and technical interventions that
could move the mining sector forward and
help place it on a more productive footing.
Modernisation of mines will lead to automation,
which in turn will result in less people at the
coalface in underground mines.
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?
Exploration worldwide is at a low
level, as recovery since the last financial
meltdown has not really filtered
through to the exploration industry.
This slowdown is largely confirmed
by the high unemployment figures
among exploration geologists in the
world’s prominent mining countries.
The investment market is still very
hesitant to commit to new exploration
projects, as a result of the implosion
of many large expenditure projects.
These projects failed at the end of the
last boom period, due to the inherently
low grades of the mineral deposits
considered, or overly optimistic cost
estimates for establishing infrastructure.
The lack of exploration activity in
South Africa is caused by various
factors, including uncertainty in the
regulatory environment, with the
associated lack of confidence in the
security of mining project tenure.
Other factors are the deteriorating
or inefficient infrastructure, and the
expected future costs of electricity
and water. There is also a lack of
investment in new exploration targets
in other African countries where
similar regulatory uncertainties exist.
In terms of mining projects,
there does seem to be some
uptake in advanced downstream
projects where there is already a
known reserve estimate; this is
very much the case in Africa.
In those African countries where
the economies were in the past based
largely on oil revenue, there is some
interest in stimulating exploration
for other natural resources. However,
expectations in these jurisdictions
are yet to be adjusted for the
different business models required,
the returns, and the timing of the
returns expected from a non-oil
based minerals industry. b