Comment
Local innovation
stirs the
mining giant
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W
ouldn’t it be remarkable if the South
African mining industry could change
as rapidly as the political and economic
outlook for southern Africa? A mere four or five
months ago, hardly any economist, commentator,
or analyst could have foreseen the earthmoving
political change that would blow a breath of fresh
air into the ailing economies of a region blighted
by graft and corruption, yet with so much potential.
Angola provided the first glimmer of hope when
the newly elected president João Lourenco started
dismantling the Dos Santos empire three months
after his appointment by sacking Dos Santos’s
daughter Isabel, the richest woman in Africa, as
head of Sonangol, which is Angola’s state oil firm.
Robert Mugabe’s record-long dictatorship
came to an end towards the end of 2017,
while South Africa’s fortunes were turned
around within a few days in December,
when Cyril Ramaphosa was elected as the
new president of the ANC and Jacob Zuma
started losing his grip on what was until then
nothing less than a catastrophic kleptocracy.
The political change has significantly boosted
the outlook for the economies of Angola,
Zimbabwe, and South Africa, and mining
will be one of the first industries to benefit.
In fact, it didn’t take long before exploration
companies started queuing at the office of the
Angolan Ministry of Geology and Mines.
Zimbabwe’s mineral potential and geology have
been mapped extensively and is well understood.
With what appears to be a new, business-friendly
government in Zimbabwe, mining companies
will be knocking on the Mineral Department’s
door soon. Although the closure date for many
of South Africa’s mines are looming, tonnes of
reserves are still underlying the decrepit historical
gold mining towns of the Witwatersrand.
Political stability and regulatory certainty will
go a long way to lure new investments, but
the problem is that the ore bodies occur at
depths of more than 4 000m below surface.
South African mines are at a crossroads: it
needs to modernise and mechanise within the
next three years to save the industry — and
thousands of jobs. To unearth and extract gold
at these depths require new and innovative
technology, but most of all, it necessitates a
mindset change. People cannot work at these
depths safely and productively — but machines
can. Neither can people effectively clean out
the back-ends of numerous platinum and gold
mines in South Africa. There is layer upon layer
of ore-bearing muck — worth a lot of money —
gathering dust in mines that have ‘supposedly’
reached the end of mining life. Dr Danie Burger,
CEO of local manufacturing company CMTI,
told me that by properly cleaning back-ends
and gulleys, a mine can increase the life of its
ailing operation substantially. CMTI designed,
manufactured, and tested the ultra-low-profile
MT950 sweeper, and it is creating quite a
stir in the underground equipment world.
With the changing political tide, a new wave
of innovation is lightening up the mining scene
in South Africa. Most exciting of all is the
fact that this technology revolution is led by
home-grown South African manufacturers like
CMTI, RHAM, AARD, and other members
of the Mining Equipment Manufacturers of
South Africa (MEMSA). It is encouraging to
have local manufacturers solving unique South
African mining challenges. Thumbs up for
MEMSA and may the major mining houses
get on board soon. Hopefully the new-found
optimism in the region provides more
opportunities for local entrepreneurs, stimulates
innovation, and prompts more Africans to
find solutions for unique African problems.
Leon
Editor
MARCH 2018 MINING MIRROR
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