Mining security: can cutting-edge technology curb the South African mining sector’s $1 billion illegal annual outflow and other challenges?

By Tony Botes, national administrator of the Security Association of South Africa (SASA)

South Africa’s mining sector, which contributed an estimated R360.9 billion to the country’s GDP (gross domestic product) last year, is increasingly embracing technology to deal with the many challenges that it faces, not least of all being criminality.

A first for SA: Microsoft’s Mining Core facility

A key development in this regard is the Microsoft Mining Core in Johannesburg, which was opened in September 2020 and which will be focusing on AI and cloud technologies within the mining sector. A first for South Africa, the facility will work with its partners and customers to create solutions that not only overcome specific business challenges but also broadly enable the sector to grow and prosper, says Amr Kamel, Enterprise Director at Microsoft South Africa1 .

“Mining is a critical industry in South Africa, and has historically been a major contributor to the country’s GDP, tax revenue and employment: last year alone, the mining sector employed over 450 000 people, contributed R24.3 billion in taxes and R360.9 billion to GDP,” he says. “The sector’s importance to the economy is undeniable – but it has faced challenges in recent years. These include declining output, weakening global cost competitiveness based on the volatility of commodity prices, regulatory uncertainty and unreliable energy supply, according to a report by the Minerals Council.”

“Combined with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, it becomes clear that the sector needs solutions that can shift and boost it to regain its competitiveness and become a key contributor and driver of economic recovery in the wake of the pandemic. Technology holds the key to achieving those goals. Accelerated digital transformation and the introduction of solutions through emerging technologies such as AI, the Internet of Things and data analytics, have the power to help the industry adapt, reinvent and transform in a sustainable and responsible way.”

“Together with our partner ecosystem, we are working to help our customers to navigate three phases – response, recovery, and reimagine – in order to maintain continuity, remain open, drive operational performance and create new business models even in the most difficult of circumstances,” says Kamel, adding: “Solutions which are conceptualised and built collaboratively, are anchored in four main areas: community services and social impact; health and safety; environment; and responsible digital transformation.”

When it comes to improving health and safety in a Covid-19 mining environment, emerging technologies such as drones, cognitive services and video analytics, have a critical role to play, he avers. Aside from being able to manage health and safety protocols related to the pandemic, including social distancing and hygiene measures, he says digital solutions will also enable mines to reduce their environmental footprints, curb water usage and improve operational performance.

The world’s eyes are on Africa

Global risk and intelligence consultancy S-RM2 also believes that technology has a critical role to play in South Africa’s mining sector. “For resource-rich countries, investment in the mining industry can generate employment, spur economic growth and propel technological innovation. Indeed, the prospect of attractive returns and long-term growth has caught the attention of statesponsored and private investors globally. From Western Europe and the US through to Russia and China, all eyes are on Africa. But the continent’s mining sector has also been tainted by the so-called ‘resource curse’, with abundant examples of corruption, insecurity and the inequitable distribution of profits. Which is why, at the turn of the decade, commercial operators, consumers, governments and investors are taking stock. We are entering an age which is moving rapidly from opacity to transparency, and from tacit acceptance to meticulous scrutiny.”

The cost of illegal mining to SA

In its 2020 Mining in Africa Report, S-RM says South Africa’s illegal miners or “Zama Zamas” are costing the country $1 billion annually in terms of illegally exported gold. “This sum does not include the concealed impact and costs of increasingly violent criminal dealings in the illegal ASGM (artisanal and small-scale gold mining) sector, which include damage to private and public infrastructure and, in severe cases, loss of life,” it says. “Illegal syndicates typically operate in South Africa’s disused mines, meaning that, unlike gold panning operations elsewhere on the continent, artisanal mining in South Africa compromises large networks of underground cities where extortion, forced labour and violent turf wars are commonplace. Above-ground mass executions have also been reported in the previous mining hub of the East Rand, Gauteng Province, on several occasions. The Department of Mineral Resources estimates that there are 6 000 such illegal mines in South Africa, many located in the wealthiest Gauteng Province, and that 70 percent of Zama Zamas are undocumented migrant workers.”

S-RM continues: “The system exists within the context of South Africa’s worsening crime crisis, supported by organised human, weapons and precious metals trafficking. According to the global think-tank Institute for Economics and Peace, the cost of violent crime in South Africa amounts to 13 % of GDP. On average, violent crime costs countries 8.8 % of GDP globally. Pervasive crime and ineffective and, at times, complicit police services mean that the burgeoning crisis in South Africa’s ASGM sector has largely gone unchecked. Growing underground operations, as well as competition among Zama Zamas syndicates, have meant that these groups are infiltrating industrial mining sites more frequently.”

The potential – and the risks – of the latest technology in the mining sector

Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technology has the potential to address many of the criminal, economic and social challenges that have long characterised the mining sector.

It also, however, comes with a whole lot of new threats including cybercrime thanks to the interconnectivity of the Internet of Things (IoT), warns S-RM. “For years, operational technologies (OT) used by miners have been siloed and shut off from IT networks, which limited the cyber risk they were exposed to. However, as OT digitises and moves into a 4IR environment, the associated risk grows markedly. CyberX’s 2019 Global ICS & IIoT Risk Report found vulnerabilities and flaws in basic cybersecurity at industrial sites around the world: 53% of industrial sites used outdated Windows systems which will not be supported by patches if vulnerabilities are found and can therefore fall prey to more advanced cyber-attacks. Furthermore, 57% were not running antivirus software that updated signatures automatically. The consequences of an IoT device that is within a corporate network but does not have appropriate security can be disastrous. These unprotected devices may provide an entry point to infect corporate databases, potentially exposing a huge volume of private customer or employee data over a short period of time.”

Another concern arising from the use of AI algorithms is that of attacks. Automated, unchecked business decisions could cause great harm to customers, businesses and brands alike, says S-RM. “If an attacker was able to manipulate an AI algorithm used by an entity to make key business decisions, they could cause havoc. And if these algorithms are black boxed (ie a company will not know what the internal workings are, just the input and output) it may not even be obvious that they have been manipulated. While many would assume this sort of attack would require a high level of sophistication, it is feasible for nontechnical individuals to use existing online tools to launch such attacks, making them a potentially much more ubiquitous threat.”

That said, the risks don’t outweigh the benefits of 4IR technology, continues S-RM. “Indeed, it will likely become increasingly difficult to avoid them and remain competitive, which is why the mining sector has embraced technological leaps in recent years. But companies must remember to adequately protect themselves to ensure that they do not lose the benefits of this revolution as a result of weak cybersecurity measures. According to a 2019 survey of mining firms carried out on behalf of Inmarsat, 87% of respondents reported that their processes to combat cybersecurity threats were inadequate, while just 22% said they had invested sufficiently in new cybersecurity technologies.”

Protect, prepare and proceed

Urging businesses to embrace the 4IR, S-RM stresses the importance of prioritising cyber safety at the same time. “People,” it says, “are often the weakest link in a company’s cyber defences, and training for mining employees, who may be presented with internet-connected technologies - despite never having to seriously consider cyber security before - is an essential step. Both education and investment in cybersecurity is vital if companies don’t want the opportunities presented by the 4IR to slip through their fingers.”

The Brookings Institution, an independent non-profit research organization, says in its Foresight Africa 2020 report3 that the Fourth Industrial Revolution and digitization has the potential to transform “Africa into a global powerhouse”. “The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)— characterized by the fusion of the digital, biological and physical worlds, as well as the growing utilization of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, robotics, 3D printing, the Internet of Things, and advanced wireless technologies, among others—has ushered in a new era of economic disruption with uncertain socio-economic consequences for Africa,” say co-authors Njuguna Ndung’u, Executive Director of African Economic Research Consortium and former Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya and Landry Signé, Senior Fellow at the Africa Growth Initiative of the Brookings Institution and Chairman of the Global Network for Africa’s Prosperity.

10 key enabling technologies

Further in the report, Youssef Travaly and Kevin Muvunyi of the Next Einstein Forum, list the 10 key enabling technologies required to drive Africa’s digital economy. These include cybersecurity, cloud computing, big data analytics, blockchain, the Internet of Things, 3D printing, biotechnology, robotics, energy storage, and AI. “AI in particular presents countless avenues for both the public and private sectors to optimize solutions to the most crucial problems facing the continent today,” they maintain, adding: “The future is intelligent: By 2030, artificial intelligence (AI) will add $15.7 trillion to the global GDP, with $6.6 trillion projected to be from increased productivity and $9.1 trillion from consumption effects. Furthermore, augmentation, which allows people and AI to work together to enhance performance, “will create $2.9 trillion of business value and 6.2 billion hours of worker productivity globally.” In a world that is increasingly characterized by enhanced connectivity and where data is as pervasive as it is valuable, Africa has a unique opportunity to leverage new digital technologies to drive large-scale transformation and competitiveness. Africa cannot and should not be left behind.”

1. Link: https://news.microsoft.com/enxm/2020/09/15/using-the-power-of-technologyto-transform-and-reimagine-mining-in-southafrica/)

2. Link: https://www.s-rminform.com/)

3.Link: (https://www.brookings. edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/ ForesightAfrica2020_20200110.pdf)