News Briefs

The controversial open-pit copper mining project in the Lower Zambezi National Park will go ahead, says the Zambian government. Many conservationists and civil society organisations have opposed the Kangaluwi Open Pit Mining Project by Australian-based company, Zambezi Resources Limited. In 2019, thousands of people signed a petition against it.

But Zambia’s green economy and environment minister, Collins Nzovu, has told privately owned Radio Phoenix that after exhausting legal processes and the courts dismissing an appeal to stop the proposed large scale open-pit mine, the project will now go ahead. He says the state has been left with no option but to monitor the situation and ensure the developer operates within strict conditions. Zambians have taken to Twitter to express their feelings, many in opposition.

According to earth.org, the proposed site for the mine lies inside an International Conservation Union category II protected area in south-eastern Zambia, on the Zambezi River.

Egypt plans to extend submarine fiber-optic cable with Greece at a cost of US$60 million

Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has announced that technical studies are currently underway for laying a submarine cable at a cost of about US$60 million, linking Egypt and Greece to transmit data.

A memorandum of understanding was signed recently according to an agreement between the two countries to extend a fiber-optic cable through the Mediterranean Sea. The minister said that the current stage will witness the start of technical studies to determine the route of the cable under the waters of the Mediterranean Sea between the two countries. Talaat explained that Egypt’s strategic location allows it to play a vital role in transferring data between East and West. Egypt’s plan first included supporting local networks by increasing the number of paths in the country to find alternatives in the event of a failure of one of the paths so that the service is not affected.

The minister added that about 5,000 kilometers of new paths have been extended, in addition to the establishment of four landing stations to increase the efficiency of services.

The next step is to forge new partnerships with countries that have a strategic capacity in the field, he said including Greece, explaining that there are currently working paths with Italy and France across the Mediterranean Sea, and establishing a new cable with Greece will contribute to the multiplicity of connection paths with Europe.

The submarine cables are scheduled to reach 18 cables within three years, and planning is underway to launch the HARP cable spanning around the continent of Africa by 2023.

Zambia pursues open-pit mine despite huge opposition

The controversial open-pit copper mining project in the Lower Zambezi National Park will go ahead, says the Zambian government. Many conservationists and civil society organisations have opposed the Kangaluwi Open Pit Mining Project by Australian-based company, Zambezi Resources Limited. In 2019, thousands of people signed a petition against it.

But Zambia’s green economy and environment minister, Collins Nzovu, has told privately owned Radio Phoenix that after exhausting legal processes and the courts dismissing an appeal to stop the proposed large scale open-pit mine, the project will now go ahead.

He says the state has been left with no option but to monitor the situation and ensure the developer operates within strict conditions. Zambians have taken to Twitter to express their feelings, many in opposition. According to earth.org, the proposed site for the mine lies inside an International Conservation Union category II protected area in south-eastern Zambia, on the Zambezi River.

The Lower Zambezi National Park provides refuge to globally threatened wildlife species such as elephants and wild dogs and is home to unique vegetation types including the only protected and intact lowland deciduous thickets in the southern African region.

The organization warns that the potential longterm impact of this mine and the environmental threat it poses to the renewable resources of the Zambezi River ecosystem far outweigh any short-term economic benefits. River pollution caused by the mine could threaten the Zambezi river’s 2,000-tonne subsistence fishery, which provides food and protein security to 20,000 people along the river’s banks, adds earth.org.

Saice welcomes civil engineering prominence in capacity building

Industry body the South African Institution of Civil Engineering (Saice) welcomes that civil engineering features prominently on the scarce skills list President Cyril Ramaphosa referred to during his State of the Nation Address (SoNA) on February 10, when he articulated the need for capacity building, says Saice president Professor Marianne Vanderschuren.

Employment remains a critical priority for South Africa and for the civil engineering sector. Saice reiterated its call on government to continue to engage the available resources, entities and professionals in mapping out the far-reaching plans that were detailed in the SoNA.

“Saice, with our 15 000 members has the capacity to tap into the knowledge, skills and wisdom to move towards a sustainable, resilient and economically viable future,” she adds.

A major concern for Saice was the minimal reference to maintenance during the SoNA. With a challenged infrastructure, this should be at the top of the agenda, Vanderschuren emphasises.

“The President mentioned that this requires capacity in municipalities. To date, the lack of capacity has paralysed many municipalities, leaving inhabitants without services.

“While government builds capacity, we need interim measures to ensure that civil infrastructure investment and maintenance is monitored or audited. How about identifying infrastructure auditors that assist the municipalities while they build capacity?” she proposes.

Further, Saice would also like to see plans that identify building codes and standards to minimise the need for maintenance, she adds.

“Instead of infrastructure failing three months after completion, why do we not build to last? We need to work on standardisation for durable infrastructure.

“If the President commits to the capacity building and the commitment to education suggested, then scenario planning will need to take place unpacking what different future scenarios could look like, and what the advantages and areas of concern are on the journey ahead.

GTL becomes UAE’s first analytical testing lab to run on 100% solar power with support of Sharaf DG Energy

Geoscience Testing Laboratory (GTL), a subsidiary of Dubai-based Prime Group and the largest laboratory in the Gulf Cooperation Council for the construction industry, has reached a pioneering milestone in the realm of clean energy mix by becoming the first analytical laboratory to run on 100% solar power.

Facilitated by Sharaf DG Energy, GTL is now equipped with 950 photovoltaic solar panels that can generate approximately 723,500 kilowatts of electricity annually.

This shift to full energy independence will reduce the laboratory’s greenhouse gas emission by 510 metric tonnes every year, which is equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of 110 cars. The project marks GTL’s tangible policy towards supporting the UAE’s Net Zero by 2050 strategic initiative, which aims to generate 50% of its power generation mix from renewable sources in order to balance economic and environment goals. Mr. Abdullatif Abdulla Ali Al Gargawi, Chairman of Prime Group, stated: “Our decision to utilise only clean energy at GTL is one of the most important corporate initiatives we’ve taken over the years. This initiative reduces our carbon footprint with the invaluable technological support of Sharaf DG Energy and reflects GTL’s commitment to the UAE’s key economic ambition to achieve a green sustainable economy.”

Dr. Mary Jane Alvero-Al Mahdi, Group CEO of Prime Group, said: “In parallel with the national drive to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, GTL looks at energy sustainability as a top priority now and in the future. We are glad to have partnered with Sharaf DG Energy in our endeavour to adopting this green energy project that now powers up our equipment and machineries using renewable power from the sun. We encourage other establishments to follow this path for the sake of our world and generations to come.”

Mr. Nilesh Khalkho, CEO of Sharaf DG, said: “We are always looking for ways to support the UAE’s sustainability development goals by providing innovative green energy solutions to the country’s businesses and residential communities. The GTL project helped us show our commitment to the growth of sustainable energy and how businesses can benefit from it in their day-to-day processes while being part of the global efforts to mitigate the risks of climate change.” Dragon Oil Company, wholly owned by the Dubai government, announced a new petroleum discovery in the Gulf of Suez in Egypt. The initial expected oil reserves estimated at about 100 million barrels in the northeast Ramadan concession area.

The company said that there are possibilities to add a larger expected oil reserve when starting the development plan. It pointed out that the discovery is one of the largest oil discoveries in the Gulf of Suez in 20 years.

The new oil field is the first discovery by Dragon Oil since it became an active player in the petroleum sector in Egypt, after it acquired 100% of the British BP’s assets in all oil production and discovery concessions in the Gulf of Suez. The announcement came during a meeting on Tuesday for the CEO of UAE Dragon Oil company, Ali al-Jarwan, with the Egyptian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. Tarek al-Mulla. The meeting discussed the company’s activities in Egypt in the Gulf of Suez region.

Kenya extends Base Titanium Kwale lease

Australian mining firm Base Titanium will not be exiting its Kwale location in mid-2022 after Kenya renewed its licence for 13 more months.

The news comes as a relief to more than 1,000 employees whose contracts would have been terminated at the end of June.

Base Titanium, which has also started exploration in Tanzania and is eyeing Madagascar to extend its mining exploration in Africa, is allowed to operate in Kenya till November 2023.

“Base Titanium is fully industrial. That is where we are aiming as a country, to encourage Kenyans to tap into and exploit the lucrative mining sector,” said Petroleum and Mining Principal Secretary Andrew Kamau.

If the firm gets another licence on the variation of Bumamani area in North Coast, it will extend operations by a further six months until June 2024.

Base Titanium’s General Manager for External Affairs Simon Wall expressed optimism after the renewal of the licence.

“The government finalised a variation to our mining licence last year that provided us with an extra 13 months to continue through to 2023. Minerals within our mining tenure area will be depleted, but we have a boundary variation location with the government, which will take us up to June 2024,” said Mr Wall.

He said the firm is at the back end of the project at the Coast as they identify satellite deposits.

“We have several prospecting licence applications with the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining in some parts of Kwale and North Coast closer to Lamu. If they are granted, it will allow us to take samples to determine whether the minerals that we are interested in exist in an economically viable quantity,” said Mr Wall. Thereafter, the firm will close those areas for future mining.

Early last year, Base Titanium officials set up a company known as Base Explorations Tanzania, and applied for licences.

“Our parent company has picked up a project in Madagascar but is in the early stages. In Tanzania, works started late last year, and it is very encouraging,” said Mr Wall.

On the pandemic that disrupted businesses globally, Mr Wall said Base Titanium saw a spike in demand on the international market. “The majority of our products go into the production of pigment in paints,” he said.

In the past two years, as parts of the world closed down and suspended travelling, people spent time at home renovating their houses, creating a spike in demand for pigments.

Subsea Technology & Rentals reinforces global rental fleet with investment in iXblue Technologies

Subsea Technology & Rentals (STR) is pleased to announce its continued investment in iXblue subsea navigation systems, strengthening its global rental fleet. STR’s investment notably includes the acquisition of iXblue’s long baseline (LBL) system; Canopus, making them the first rental company to offer the system for hire. Part of iXblue’s sparse LBL solution, Canopus brings together intelligent transponders, Ramses transceivers, Inertial Navigation Systems(INS), and Delph Subsea

Positioning Software. It is also a third-party friendly solution able to be easily integrated within existing operational fields.

The addition of iXblue’s Rovins and Rovins Nano Inertial Navigation Systems,as well as Gaps M5 ultra short baseline (USBL) system, furthers STR’s already significant investment in these technologies. The new systems join their global rental pool available from their five international service hubs.

STR’s Chief Operating Officer, Scott Johnstone says, “As we have entered 2022, we have welcomed the investment by Baird which will vault the growth trajectory of STR internationally in terms of our products and resources. This investment with iXblue is STR’s largest to date in our 20 years of offering our customers iXblue products. As a global leader whose proven technology is recognized worldwide within our industry, their systems are great assets to have and they’ve always met our customer’s requirements. In 2021 we invested in the Gaps M5and these systems have been widely utilized by our customers on geophysical surveys for offshore wind farm site investigations, and other tracking and towed services”.

Based on fibre-optic gyroscope technology, iXblue navigation solutions have become standard in the offshore industry. An asset for offshore wind farms, Gaps M5 is a ready-to-use and calibration-free system that offers accurate location, positioning and unrivaled horizontal tracking of subsea assets. It integrates an Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS) for stable heading roll and pitch compensation and a true north reference.

“STR has taken a position of expansion in the past year, and we are thrilled to help bolster their rental fleet to support their international growth,” says iXblue’s Regional Sales Manager, Maverick Piccininni. “It shows their commitment to their customers; by investing in a dynamic fleet of equipment they are able to adapt and respond quickly to their needs.” Added Piccininni.

mdGroup acquires GeoCue to strengthen Drone Surveying offering, plans US expansion

MdGroup has bought aerial Lidar mapping technology provider GeoCue Group for an undisclosed sum from its founders. The company already owns Microdrones, a Germanybased business that supplies aerial data to make digital twins of industrial sites.

The acquisition is expected to complement Microdrones’s existing offering including high-end surveying drones, photogrammetric measurement tools and data interpretation packages.

GeoCue Group brings its TrueView line of drone Lidar/Imaging sensors and Lidar data processing software TrueView EVO/LP360 with the acquisition. Lidar, an acronym for light detection and ranging, is a sensing method of eye-safe laser beams that creates 3D representations of the surveyed environment. The technology is used to establish the variable distance between an object and a sensor.

It’s part of a “one-stop” shop strategy under which mdGroup plans to collate drone and digital twinrelated services.

“This further establishes mdGroup as the go-to provider of industrial-grade, high quality and Western-made aerial surveying equipment and software,” said Francois Gerner, mdGroup’s chief financial officer. “In the medium to long term, mdGroup expects customers of both companies to benefit from the outcome of GeoCue and Microdrones collaboration in the technical field.” The deal is also set to expand mdGroup’s reach in the U.S., where GeoCue’s sales are focused, while offering GeoCue the opportunity to target European clients.

Their services won’t change immediately but customers will have the choice of Microdrones’ survey equipment or GeoCue’s Lidar sensor package.

GeoCue was founded in 2003 and started offering drone-based imagery services eight years ago. It now focuses on selling kinematic Lidar processing tools.

GeoCue’s flagship hardware product, TrueView 3DIS, can be installed on any rotary drone platform to collect Lidar and camera sensor data, while also extracting photogrammetric measurements from the same flight.

The sensor mount is marketed alongside cloud processing software as well as training, support and consulting services. Users can also log in to GeoCue’s Amazon Web Services-hosted platform, Reckon Portal, to calibrate their sensors, host product data and run visualization commands.

Flapmax Partners with Microsoft to Scale Africa’s Digital Ecosystem

Flapmax has announced joining forces with Microsoft to help strengthen and scale Africa’s digital ecosystem with the launch of FAST, a startup accelerator. Entrepreneurs based in Africa are invited to apply by February 22, 2022 to participate in the program’s first accelerator cohort, starting March 2022. FAST is designed to help startups that are building cloud technology and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled products and services supporting Africa’s communities, governments, and companies.

“At Flapmax our mission is to enrich the lives of everyone on the planet and make the world more sustainable, using accelerated AI technology,” said Dave Ojika, founder and CEO, Flapmax. “We are proud to partner with Microsoft to make that dream a reality for startup founders committed to strengthening the digital ecosystem in Africa. Together, we can build an AI-enabled future that serves everyone, everywhere – improving industries from healthcare and education to agriculture and government services.”

Created by Flapmax in partnership with Microsoft, the FAST program combines business development,

technology integration, funding and community building opportunities designed to enable African startups to scale more rapidly and sustainably. Program participants will work with Microsoft engineering team members on co-innovation projects ranging from product integrations to new offerings. Members of the Flapmax engineering team will help startups apply new technology solutions, including Measure, Coral Imaging, and Fast Portal. Participants will benefit from additional perks including up to $250,000 in Microsoft Azure cloud credits, access to Founders Hub, Dynamics 365, and Microsoft 365 (including Teams).

“Africa is poised to become the next international technology hub,” says Gerald Maithya, SME and Startups Lead: Africa Transformation Office at Microsoft. “We are excited to partner with Flapmax in our mission of empowering every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. The FAST program will provide direct investment in the technology leaders of tomorrow in the region, helping build key infrastructure that uses artificial intelligence as the basis for solutions development.”

Subsea Europe Services wins six-figure funding to accelerate autonomous survey development

Anew round of funding has strengthened hydroacoustic technology specialist Subsea Europe Service GmbH’s commitment to taking autonomous technologies to the next level for marine survey applications.

The investment boosts the company’s unique approach which focuses on the integration of new generation smart, A.I. and machine learning enabled hydroacoustic systems with diverse survey platforms including Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, Unmanned Surface Vessels, and crewed vessels as survey motherships.

Subsea Europe Services is working with several autonomy-focused partners globally and the first fruits of these collaborations will be shown as early as April 2022, during demonstrations of a new solution created with MARTAC Inc., and based on the high-performance Mantas T12 Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) with a tightly integrated hydrographic survey payload.

The solution is expected to be ready for operation in May, with short, on-demand surveys at offshore wind farms projected to drive demand for the combination of a high-speed USV and increased autonomous payload functionality.

“The autonomous and unmanned platforms available today are incredibly advanced, but survey technology payloads are still complex systems that require an experienced and professional operator to utilise properly,” said Sören Themann, CEO, Subsea Europe Services. “This investment is a platform for our on-going autonomy R&D, which aims to unlock more agility and efficiency through the seamless integration of survey system and platform to create a single, holistic solution that ultimately, will collect more data, of higher quality and at a faster rate than traditional survey operations,” adds Luis Carlo Soto, Survey Manager, Subsea Europe Services.

Tropical Seafloor Secrets Discovered as Mission to Map World's Entire Seabed Gains Momentum

Satellite technology has been used to chart shallow areas of the Cook Islands’ seafloor in never-before-seen detail by scientists at the

National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) working with the satellite data analytics company, EOMAP GmbH. The work was carried out as part of The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO

Seabed 2030 Project – a collaborative project aiming to bring together all available bathymetric data to produce the definitive map of the world ocean floor.

The discovery coincides with the One Ocean Summit, held in France, which saw UNESCO call on the international community to strengthen efforts in pursuit of mapping the remainder of the ocean floor – 20.6 per cent has been mapped to date.

The chart of Suwarrow and Pukapuka in the Cook Islands builds upon decades-old surveys, with more accurate positioning and wider coverage, including information on harder to reach areas such as shallow lagoons. Kevin Mackay, a Researcher of Marine Geology at NIWA, also heads Seabed 2030’s South and West Pacific Ocean Data Centre – one of the project’s four Regional Centres, each responsible for data gathering and mapping in their territory.

Commenting on the use of satellites as a tool for measuring the shallow parts of the ocean floor, Kevin says “To measure the depth of the ocean, you would traditionally have to send out a boat with an echosounder, which costs a lot of money and can be dangerous in rough and shallow seas.

“With satellites, we can access extremely remote locations, with less carbon footprint, and without having to endanger people.”

The images are taken from two commercially owned satellites, World-View-2 and GeoEye-1, which provide extremely high-resolution pictures of the earth’s surface. As a result, data accuracy is greatly improved. Satellite derived bathymetry can be used to a maximum water depth of 30m.

Stuart Caie, Manager Hydrographic Survey from LINZ, said: “The technology and processes are very clever – the satellite can see the shallow sea floor in exquisite detail, but to derive the water depth the software needs to get rid of obstructions such as shadows and waves.

“The software therefore strips away the water and uses complex algorithms to produce depth estimations before creating a map with colourings of what the seafloor would look like without any water, which we then use.”

Seabed 2030 – which is formally endorsed as a flagship programme of the Ocean Decade – is a collaborative project between The Nippon Foundation and the General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO) to inspire the complete mapping of the world's ocean and compile all bathymetric data into the freely available GEBCO Ocean Map. GEBCO is a joint programme of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC).

The South and West Pacific Ocean Regional Centre is made up of NIWA, GNS Science and LINZ, who are working together to map over 123 million km2 of ocean.

The nautical chart will be published in February and is hoped to improve ocean safety and scientific knowledge.