MINING INDABA 2018
digital workforce engagement); and the
broader ecosystem in which mines operate.
“I think that's probably one of the most
important dimensions,” Du Plessis said. “If
you're going to make investments in digital
infrastructure, extend it to the community
around where you operate. If you need to
develop new skills and understanding for
the workforce of the future, develop those
skills within the community using digital
platforms.” This extends to establishing
partnerships within the community to
develop suppliers and the workforce of the
future through digital education platforms,
among other solutions.
One of the other sustainability issues in
focus over the course of the event was local
procurement, with the question “how local is
local?” being raised more than once. When
we speak of local procurement, are we talking
about the national, provincial or community
level? Does having South African suppliers
from outside the ‘local-local’ community
fulfil the spirit of the endeavour, or do
companies need to focus more on those in
the communities directly surrounding their
operations? And if the latter, how can this be
done in a manner that is sustainable in the
long term?
Overall, the feeling at the Investing
in Africa Mining Indaba 2018 was
optimistic, with a clear focus on ways to
integrate technology and innovation into
mining operations and the surrounding
community to build an industry that is
sustainable. And with the industry, and
the economy, finally beginning to recover
from recent downturns, the outlook
for the future of mining in Africa is
unmistakeably positive. ■
be more proactive in understanding what
the workforce of the future will look like.
Resource management includes areas such
as infrastructure, utilities, energy which have
historically been managed as a fixed cost.
“I think that in the future we will manage
these as variable costs through the value
chain, in the same way we manage material
flow,” said Du Plessis. Finally, when it comes
to how value is shared, Du Plessis pointed
out that, “The fourth industrial revolution
is not necessarily a zero-sum game. You
operate within a broader ecosystem, and
value should be shared with all stakeholders
in that ecosystem.”
Deloitte’s Centre of the Long View
business unit makes extensive use of AI
technology to identify the drivers that will
shape the business of the future, organised
within the broad categories social, politics,
technology, economy and environment.
And, unsurprisingly, many identified drivers
are linked to technology and to the fou rth
industrial revolution (Industry 4.0). Looking
at why this is important to the mining sector,
Du Plessis said that according to an analysis
Deloitte conducted back in 2012, the impact
of technology is going to be what he referred
to as, “long fuse, small bang,” meaning it will
take a long time to come to fruition and have
a (relatively) small impact on business. “I
think that the disruption for mining will come
not in mining itself, but in all the supporting
industries – your clients, your customers.”
Emphasising a point that was raised
multiple times throughout the event,
Du Plessis said that, “digital solves real
business problems.” The benefits to mining
organisations impact a few main areas:
core processes (reducing process variability
with real-time information, enhancing and
augmenting decision making and automating
processes and improving the whole system);
the workforce (improving safety, increasing
Andrew van Zyl, partner and principal consultant at SRK Consulting and Marcin Wertz,
partner and principal mining engineer at SRK.
QUARRY SA | MARCH/APRIL 2018 _ 17