SA Mining July/August 2021 print

R54.6bn: SA’s trade surplus in May

$1bn: value of the green hydrogen market

SA MIN NG JULY / AUGUST 2021

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READ WHAT REALLY GOES DOWN IN SADC R39.90 (incl VAT) International R44.50 (excl tax)

Invincible Valves MD Pam du Plessis

GOLD FIELDS GOES GREEN

GENDER EQUITY VODACOM

Minerals Council weighs in

Helps mines reduce costs

INVINCIBLE VALVES

Business is prospering

CORPORATE PROFILE

BERYL GROUP CHAMPIONS WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP

do not build a business, you build people, who in turn help build the business. People are the organisation’s greatest asset”. At board and executive management level, advanced leadership and learning are promoted.

The highly skilled, calculating and sharp female leadership of Beryl Group also includes Beryl Kambasha, partner and head

of corporate governance, who is a qualified accountant and a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, having majored in auditing and investment.

Fortunate Ramashidzha – Executive Director who holds an Honours Degree in Business Studies from the University of Greenwich (United Kingdom) and an Advanced International Diploma in Business

+R3-billion

Annual revenue from coal Beryl Group’s subsidiaries are majority women-led.

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s a Pan-African diversified investment company, Beryl Group’s focus is on strategic proprietary investments. It holds equity interests in companies across three core sectors: logistics and rail, coal, and financial services.

In order to expand the mining footprint of Beryl Group, Beryl Coal was established.

Beryl Coal’s strategic vision is to obtain various reserves and to continue supplying to the local market with a view to expand to the export market. This strategic view is driven by Dr Reabetswe Kgoroeadira, who is guided by the philosophy that “consistency and execution are the two most important currencies in business”.

The group championed gender equity even before the Mining Charter was instituted, and has been steadfast in promoting women’s empowerment. This is evidenced in the group’s subsidiaries being majority women-led. This strategy has proven fruitful in that under the leadership of Kgoroeadira, the group’s coal platform has raked annual revenues exceeding the R3-billion mark and created more than 2 000 jobs.

Skills development and investing in human capital have also been some of the driving forces behind the group’s growth.

Beryl Group ascribes to the notion that “you

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Beryl Group is a majority black female-owned entity under the astute leadership of group CEO and partner Dr Reabetswe Kgoroeadira

“

The group champions gender equity and has been steadfast in promoting women’s empowerment.

– Dr Kgoroeadira

BERYL BUILDS PEOPLE Beryl Group ascribes to the notion that “you do not build a business, you build people, who in turn help build the business. People are the organisation’s greatest asset”.

Dr Reabetswe Kgoroeadira.

© ISTOCK – agnormark

Beryl Kambasha.

Beryl Group promotes human capital investment.

Administration from NCC Education (United Kingdom); as well as Masego Molefinyana –Head of Capital Projects who holds a National Diploma in Marketing Management from the University of Johannesburg, Regulatory Examination Accreditation from Moonstone Institution and Wealth Management Accreditation from INSETA. Furthermore, in order to promote education and skills development within the group, a component of the Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives involves a “degree drive” that promotes furthering education for the group’s affiliates.

The group is a forward-looking company with a focus on long-term value creation. It selects its partner companies strategically, singling out seasoned players within each sector who share their progressive outlook. In exchange for in-depth industry

knowledge and expert capacity, Beryl Group offers its partner companies access to an expansive network of resources and business relationships.

Its partnership model has been tried and tested and has driven the vision of the company. Beryl Group’s dynamic, dedicated and highly specialised team oversees various aspects of the business strategy and is positioned to grow its Pan-African base.

Beryl Group has shown an upward growth trajectory since its inception 22 years ago, and continuously strives to become a leading driver in the market. It also aims to be a pioneering and highly diversified investment company with a culture and reputation of excellence, timeously seizing opportunities in high-growth emerging markets, and consistently converting these opportunities into value. ■

Fortunate Ramashidzha.

Masego Molefinyana.

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Unearthing Potential

Unlocking Wealth.

MINING & RESOURCES

Beryl Group is a Pan African diversified investment company, which focuses on strategic proprietary investments. It holds equity interests in a balanced portfolio of medium and large capitalised companies spanning across various sectors, namely Logistics & Rail, Coal, Financial Services and one non-core activity, which is ICT. Beryl Group 72 Grayston Drive Sandown Sandton, Gauteng, 2031 South Africa info@berylholdings.com +27 (010) 822 7667 www.berylgroup.co.za

AGRICULTURE

INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY

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LOGISTICS, RAIL & PORTS

CONTENTS JULY / AUGUST 2021

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28 Global and local Energy Trends.

IN BRIEF 6

Anglo American completes maritime biofuel trial Tove Andersen – TOMRA’s new CEO Thor Explorations lists on AIM Sibanye-Stillwater completes its first inoculations

FEATURES 10

Global and local energy trends Frank Blackmore of EF Consult shares his insights on global and local energy trends with a focus on hydrogen.

12

Gold Fields goes green Gold miner Gold Fields outlines its energy strategy and plans related to the development of its 40MW solar power plant at its South Deep mine.

24

Minerals Council weighs in on gender equity As we celebrate the strength and resilience of women, SA Mining speaks to Minerals Council South Africa’s Dr Thuthula Balfour about how the mining industry is faring in its transformation agenda.

32

When in doubt, consult Jim Pooley of Bara Consulting highlights the company’s strengths as a solutions provider to the complex mining industry.

32

When in doubt, consult, says Bara Consulting.

NEWS IN NUMBERS 2 10

R54.6bn: SA’s trade surplus in May $1bn: value of the green hydrogen market

REGULARS

Out of Africa Column by Peter Major

$1bn: value of the green hydrogen market

SA MIN NG JULY / AUGUST 2021

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JULY / AUGUST 2021

4 46

R54.6bn: SA’s trade surplus in May

AFRICA; EXPLORATION; PRECIOUS METALS; FINANCE & LEGAL; INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY AND MINE DEWTERING

Vodacom Communications specialist Vodacom outlines its product range, including cloud and SD-WAN technology, which has been helping mines to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

SA MINING

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Canyon Coal advances women in mining.

GOLD FIELDS GOES GREEN

Invincible Valves MD Pam du Plessis

GENDER EQUITY VODACOM

Minerals Council weighs in

Helps mines reduce costs

COVER STORY: PAGE 20

Invincible Valves has sought out opportunities presented by the pandemic to deliver a booming business, says MD Pam du Plessis.

INVINCIBLE VALVES

Business is prospering

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FROM THE EDITOR

TRADE SURPLUS MINING PLAYS VITAL ROLE

EDITOR

Nelendhre Moodley Tel: 011 280 5782 Email: moodleyne@samining.co.za Stacey Visser Tel: 011 280 3671 Email: vissers@businessmediamags.co.za

recovered a 1 174.76-carat diamond from its Karowe Diamond Mine in Botswana, which represents the third +1 000ct diamond recovered from the South Lobe of the AK6 kimberlite since 2015. The other two are the 1 758ct Sewelô and 1 109ct Lesedi La Rona.

And interestingly, auction house Sotheby’s has accepted cryptocurrency for a 101ct D colour flawless diamond, estimated at a whopping $12-millon. This is the first time that cryptocurrency has been accepted as payment in a public auction of a diamond in the +100ct category.

In fact, so coveted is the gem that hundreds of people flocked to KwaHlathi in KwaZulu-Natal recently seeking what they thought were diamonds – unfortunately the great find turned out to be quartz.

Aside from celebrating mining’s contribution to the economy, in this edition of SA Mining we also celebrate Women’s Month and pay tribute to high-flying women in the mining sector, including our cover story Invincible Valves’ MD Pam du Plessis, who continues to push boundaries as she seeks innovative ways to grow the business (pg 20).

The Minerals Council South Africa (pg 24), ENSafrica (pg 18) and Canyon Coal (pg 28) profile some key industry-leading women and give insight into measures being taken to promote gender equity in the workplace.

While the Minerals Council advocates for the need to get more young girls interested in maths and science, and follow a path into mining at university, the council itself recently elected new office bearers and Nolitha Fakude as its president.

This is the first time in the 131-year history of the organisation that the council has had a woman president. Fakude was formerly a vice president and chair of the Minerals Council South Africa Women in Mining Leadership Forum.

In this edition we feature energy, with Frank Blackmore of EF Consult giving insight into the hydrogen economy (pg 10) and Gold Fields sharing its renewable energy strategy (pg 12). In the information and communications technology feature, communications specialist Vodacom flags its offering to the mining sector (pg 36) and in the engineering feature, Bara Consulting highlights its service offering (pg 32). ■

R54.6-billion

Trade surplus in May

SA MINING

READ WHAT REALLY GOES DOWN IN SADC

ART DIRECTOR

s most businesses continue to struggle under level 4 lockdown, the commodities sector with its high metal prices has proved to be a shining star, giving the state coffers and mining houses a much-needed boost.

For insight into how well the mining sector is and has been performing, flip through to our regular columnist and avid mining enthusiast Peter Major, who reveals how some commodities are breaking price boundaries (pg 46).

Even President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his newsletter of early July, praised the resource sector which helped the country post yet another trade surplus in May. The president cited the South African Revenue Service announcement of this trade surplus – to the tune of R54.6-billion.

“The trade surplus is primarily driven by mineral and precious metal exports as well as exports of vehicle and transport equipment, chemical products and agricultural products. High commodity prices and rising global demand [are] good for our economy, particularly the mining sector.

“On the one hand, mining contributes over half of our goods exports, around 10% of GDP and 5% of employment. It is a pillar of our capital goods industry. It is not a coincidence that when global metals prices peak, our economy and job creation also surge,” he said.

Ramaphosa added that rising global metals prices would play a significant role in accelerating the country’s recovery from the pandemic downturn, as “they open up a host of new opportunities in the mining value chain, boosting the fortunes of the mines themselves and with them the suppliers of capital goods and the options for beneficiation”.

“Our new investments in mining must mobilise resources from outside of the government and contribute to broader economic development. Our recent decision to facilitate private generation of electricity up to 100MW demonstrates the kind of smart measure that we need.”

And while export commodities including platinum, gold and iron ore continue to trade at highs of the last commodity boom in 2011, diamonds are rocking many fronts – from the real to the unreal. Diamond miner Lucara recently

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ONLINE EDITOR

Nelendhre Moodley

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OUT OF AFRICA MALI

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CÔTE D’IVOIRE

AIM-listed Altus Strategies has announced a significant increase in the joint venture (JV) landholding at the Tabakorole Gold Project in southern Mali.

Altus holds a 49% equity interest and 2.5% net smelter return (NSR) royalty on the project.

The JV landholding increased by 56% to 292km2 at Tabakorole, the company says. Exploration activities at Tabakorole are being funded by Marvel Gold under its JV with Altus.

CE Steven Poulton says: “Marvel Gold, our ASX-listed JV partner, is aggressively advancing the project, with drilling currently targeting near-surface, high-grade intercepts which fall outside of the previously modelled mineralisation, as well as undertaking regional surveys to define further drill targets.”

BOTSWANA

Mineral exploration and development company Kodal Minerals has received positive results from its gold exploration programme at its Dabakala Concession in central Côte d’Ivoire.

Highlights include geochemical sampling which has returned high-grade surface samples at a new discovery zone, with new assay results identifying up to 1.97g/t gold.

Kodal Minerals CEO Bernard Aylward says: “The widespread, consistent surface gold anomalism at Dabakala is an enticing prospect with multiple newly defined gold trends in a previously unexplored region. We are excited to undertake the reconnaissance drilling here to determine the potential for primary gold mineralisation to be discovered.”

Diversified mining services company Perenti has announced that its surface mining business in Africa, African Mining Services (AMS), has been awarded a contract for open-pit mining services at the Sandfire Resources Motheo Copper Project in Ghanzi, Botswana.

The contract has an estimated value of $496-million. Under the terms of the mining services contract, AMS will identify a suitable local Botswana company or companies as a joint venture partner for the project and transition to the JV before the commencement of mining in early 2022.

Perenti MD Mark Norwell says Motheo represents a gamechanging growth opportunity for AMS and will substantially increase Perenti’s presence in Botswana.

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DRC

CÔTE D’IVOIRE

TSX-listed Ivanhoe Mines Kamoa Copper SA has signed copper concentrate and blister copper off-take agreements for 100% of Kamoa-Kakula’s Phase 1 copper output, which is projected to be around 200 000 tonnes of copper per year.

Kamoa Copper began producing copper concentrate in May and made its first delivery of concentrates to the nearby Lualaba Copper Smelter, outside of Kolwezi, in June this year.

The ultra-high-grade, clean concentrate produced by KamoaKakula is expected to contain around 57% copper and very low levels of impurities.

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ASX-listed Mako Gold has entered into an agreement with West African gold producer Perseus Mining to acquire its 39% interest in Mako’s flagship Napié Gold Project in Côte d’Ivoire.

The move will see Mako consolidate ownership of the Napié Gold Project from 51% to 90%. Mako’s exploration and growth strategy aims to extend existing high-grade mineralisation, test multiple high-priority regional prospects and support a future maiden mineral resource estimate, the company says.

Mako’s MD Peter Ledwidge says: “The consolidation of the Napié Gold Project to 90% ownership is a major milestone for Mako, simplifying the existing JV and providing our shareholders with a clearer path to the commercialisation of this asset. This transaction removes uncertainty around the future JV milestones and project equity/funding.”

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IN BRIEF

NEW CEO FOR TOMRA

ANGLO AMERICAN

COMPLETES MARITIME BIOFUEL TRIAL Anglo American has successfully trialled the use of sustainable biofuel to power a chartered Capesize ship during a voyage from Singapore to South Africa.

The biodiesel blend, produced by converting waste cooking oil from Singapore’s food and beverage industry, reduces carbon dioxide emissions compared to using 100% conventional marine fuel, the company says.

The trial conducted on board the Frontier Jacaranda, a Capesize bulk carrier owned by Japanese shipping company NYK Line, was instrumental in verifying the stability of the biofuel in storage and its performance as a fuel. Toyota Tsusho Petroleum supplied the biodiesel blend, consisting of 7% biofuel and 93% regular fuel. This combination reduces carbon dioxide emissions by around 5%.

Sustainable technology company TOMRA Systems ASA’s current CEO Stefan Ranstrand will be replaced by Tove Andersen by 1 November this year, the company says.

Andersen joins TOMRA from global agricultural products and environmental protection agents provider YARA International where she is currently executive vice president for Europe. YARA International, headquartered in Norway, has a turnover of $12.9-billion.

Commenting on her appointment, Andersen says: “I’ve seen the great work that TOMRA is doing to enable the circular economy while also ensuring resource responsibility and minimising waste across the food, recycling and mining industries. It is really motivating to be joining TOMRA to lead the resource revolution.”

LIBERTY GOLD

THOR EXPLORATIONS LISTS ON AIM

APPOINTS JON GILLIGAN AS COO

TSX-listed Thor Explorations announced its admission onto the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange in June.

CEO Segun Lawson says: “Today’s admission to the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange represents another milestone in the development of the company, offering wider access for investors as we progress through a transformational period in the company’s development.

“With near term production, a clearly defined growth strategy, a positive market setting for gold and a track record of exploration and development success, we are excited to have brought the opportunity to invest in our growing company to London.”

TSX-listed Liberty Gold has appointed Dr Jon Gilligan as chief operating officer effective 16 July. Gilligan is a senior mining executive with over 35 years of multi-commodity, international experience across technical services, capital projects, open-pit mine construction and operations. Before joining Liberty Gold, he held senior technical and projects roles with both Torex Gold Resources and SSR Mining.

LUCARA RECOVERS 1 174ct DIAMOND FROM KAROWE MINE Diamond miner Lucara Diamond recently recovered a 1 174.76-carat diamond from its 100% owned Karowe Diamond Mine in Botswana. The diamond, measuring 77mm x 55mm x 33mm, is described as a clivage gem of variable quality with significant domains of high-quality white gem material.

The 1 174ct diamond represents the third +1 000ct diamond recovered from the South Lobe of the AK6 kimberlite since 2015 including the 1 758ct Sewelô and 1 109ct Lesedi La Rona.

CEO Eira Thomas says: “Although complex, these diamond recoveries do contain large domains of top colour white gem that will be transformed through our partnership with HB Antwerp into valuable collections of top colour polished diamonds, very much in high demand in the market today.”

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JULY / AUGUST 2021

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IN BRIEF

EMBEDDED GENERATION

THRESHOLD RAISED TO 100MW

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The Minerals Council South Africa has welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement to increase the embedded generation threshold to 100MW. The council committed to working closely with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy and Eskom to ensure bringing to fruition at least 1.6GW, largely renewable and private-sector funded, embedded generation projects that were already being planned by mining companies.

“Our initial estimates are that this development could lead to additional short- and medium-term investment by the industry solely in embedded generation projects of around R27-billion.

This has the potential to raise South Africa’s overall growth rate,” the Minerals Council says.

SIBANYE-STILLWATER COMPLETES ITS FIRST INOCULATIONS Precious metals miner Sibanye-Stillwater reports that following receipt of 780 doses of vaccines, the company mobilised over a three-day period to complete an initial inoculation of 779 employees in line with the government rollout prioritisation strategy in South Africa.

This follows the group’s accreditation by the South African Department of Health to administer COVID-19 vaccines at four medical facilities at the SA gold and SA PGM operations.

The company has a workforce of 82 000 in South Africa.

Sibanye-Stillwater has capacity at its medical centres to administer 18 000 vaccines per day. “We look forward to receiving more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine from government to expedite the rollout, save lives and alleviate the burden on hospitals and the public health sector,” says Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman.

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GLOBAL AND LOCAL ENERGY TRENDS With a focus on hydrogen

By Frank Blackmore: CEO EF Consult

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SA MINING

JULY / AUGUST 2021

present, no electricity can be produced.

One way to overcome this problem would be to identify an efficient method to store the energy produced during favourable times for use when environmental factors are unfavourable for renewable generation.

The second problem with broad-scale adoption of renewable energy is that for industrial applications such as in cement, metals, chemical manufacturing and others, a far higher energy intensity is required than can be provided directly from renewable energy.

“

The clean or green hydrogen market is currently valued at around $1bn and accounts for less than one million tonnes.

– Blackmore

“

T

he movement to combat global warming and climate change has resulted in an increasing number of countries committing to reduced carbon and greenhouse gas emissions over the coming decades.

These commitments generally focus on reaching the ambitious target of zero carbon emissions by around mid-century with six countries – Sweden, United Kingdom, France, Denmark, New Zealand and Hungary – having already incorporated net zero carbon targets into law. And many more, including South Africa, have similar targets in proposed policy documents or under discussion for adoption. At the same time the global demand for energy is increasing.

In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the scale required to meet these global ambitions, the world will need to convert its energy generation away from fossil fuel-based sources of energy and into renewable energy sources including solar, wind and hydro. However, there are a number of barriers that have prevented the large-scale adoption and application of renewable energy.

The first of these has been the variability of supply of energy generated from renewable sources. Solar panels need sunlight to generate electricity and wind turbines need the wind and, in both cases, when the right environmental factors are not

Again, this barrier could be overcome if the energy created through renewable sources could be converted into a more energy-dense form that can be used to power industrial applications.

The final major barrier to broader

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adoption is that the cost of producing renewable energy has tended to be higher than that of fossil fuel-based sources, especially when considering the total costs involved, including energy storage and backup infrastructure.

It is generally understood that as the investment into and production of renewable energy increase, so the cost per unit will be reduced to compete with and ultimately become more affordable than fossil fuelbased sources of energy on a total cost basis.

HYDROGEN THE ENABLER TO BROAD-BASED ADOPTION

Hydrogen is the most abundant molecule in the universe. It is also very energy-dense, meaning that it has a higher energy content per unit of mass than any other source of fuel. This makes hydrogen an excellent flexible and transportable store of energy or energy carrier.

The potential uses of hydrogen include the generation of heat both for home applications such as heating and cooking, and for industrial applications like smelters, mobility solutions including uses in trains, ships and heavy-duty and long-distance vehicles, and as a chemical feedstock.

Hydrogen can also be used to generate electricity and can act as a store of energy in order to smooth the timing mismatches between supply and demand arising from

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ENERGY

process that splits water into its component hydrogen and oxygen molecules using electricity.

If that electricity is generated by renewable sources, the resulting hydrogen is known as clean, renewable or green hydrogen. Gasification involves combining coal and steam in a thermochemical reaction to extract hydrogen. Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide as well as other substances are however also produced in the process.

Steam methane reforming is the process whereby natural gas (methane) is mixed with steam in a reformer to produce hydrogen, carbon dioxide and methane. If hydrogen is produced using gasification or steam methane reforming and the by-products of those processes are released into the atmosphere, the hydrogen is known as grey hydrogen. If the carbon produced in these processes is extracted and permanently stored, clean or blue carbon-capture and storage hydrogen is produced.

Currently the majority of hydrogen is grey and produced using the steam methane reforming and gasification processes, but the need for sustainable alternatives and green hydrogen is driving the growth of hydrogen extraction through electrolysis using renewable energy.

$177-billion in 2020

Estimated value of global demand for hydrogen

© ISTOCK – Blue Planet Studio

the production variability experienced with renewable energy. Hydrogen can be used to generate export revenues as well, if sold offshore.

Currently the main applications for hydrogen include the production of ammonia used to produce fertilisers, methanol used in a number of industrial applications and for refining crude oil.

Hydrogen can be consumed in two basic ways – either in fuel cells, where hydrogen combines with oxygen across a membrane producing electricity, heat and steam, or alternatively through direct combustion.

Whereas fossil fuel-based sources of energy contain carbon molecules, hydrogen contains no carbon molecules and therefore when combusted does not release any carbon molecules into the atmosphere. The only byproduct of using hydrogen as a fuel is water vapour.

However, hydrogen is not found naturally on Earth and must be extracted from other substances that contain it, using energy in the process. To determine whether hydrogen is a zero- or low-emission fuel depends on how the hydrogen-extracting energy is derived.

Hydrogen can be produced using three basic processes: electrolysis, gasification and steam methane reforming. Electrolysis is a

The global demand for hydrogen was estimated to be valued at around $177-billion in 2020 according to research firm Frost and Sullivan, and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of over 5% per year from 2021 to 2030.

In volume terms the total demand for hydrogen, currently just over 70 million tonnes, is estimated to grow to around 220 million tonnes by 2050 at current average growth rates.

The clean or green hydrogen market is currently valued at around $1bn and accounts for less than one million tonnes, but will be the area with the greatest demand in future as economies around the world look to decarbonise in line with their emissions targets.

The green hydrogen market could become a key growth and innovation area for the South African economy not only for its domestic applications for hydrogen but also as an important export commodity of the future. South Africa is endowed with high levels of solar radiation as well as areas with good wind resources, allowing large potential expansions in renewable energy investment, some of which could be used in the production of hydrogen.

And, with the growing demand for a clean fuel source from those economies committed to a decarbonised future and the ability to provide a clean environment and sustainable future to its citizens in the process, South Africa should embrace this opportunity and invest in an industry of the future. ■

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The green hydrogen market could become a key growth area for SA.

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ENERGY

GOLD FIELDS GOES GREEN

By Nelendhre Moodley

G

old Fields recently received approval for the construction of a 40MW solar power plant at its South Deep mine. SA Mining caught up with the gold miner’s executive vice president: South Africa, Martin Preece, to chat about the company’s energy strategy and its focus on renewables.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES GOLD FIELDS FACES IN TERMS OF ENERGY, AND HOW IS THIS AFFECTING BUSINESS?

In South Africa, unreliable and unaffordable supply from the national utility Eskom poses a major risk for all mining companies.

This not only impacts on costs and erodes margins, but also has an opportunity cost implication as a result of the inability to operate due to load curtailment.

WHAT IS GOLD FIELDS’ ENERGY STRATEGY GOING FORWARD?

Gold Fields’ energy objectives are based on four pillars that promote a shift to selfgeneration using renewable energy sources.

Energy must be available, reliable, costeffective and clean.

During 2020, renewable electricity made up 3% of the Gold Fields Group’s electricity consumption. Once the South Deep solar project is commissioned, renewable’s contribution to the group’s total consumption will rise to around 11%.

Also last year, Gold Fields successfully implemented solar and wind renewable projects, backed by battery storage, at two of its Australian mines, Agnew and Granny Smith. It’s also committed to renewables at its other Australian mines, Gruyere and St

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Ives, and the new Salares Norte project in Chile when it starts operations in 2023. All its other mines are reviewing renewable energy options.

HOW DOES THIS ENERGY STRATEGY INFLUENCE BUSINESS OPERATIONS AND ALIGN IN TERMS OF LOWERING GOLD FIELDS’ CARBON FOOTPRINT? After salaries and wages, energy is generally the second biggest cost item for our mines, accounting for between 10% and 20% of operating costs. As such, it is critical that our energy strategy not only ensures security of supply but also cost-effective energy supply.

As important is our focus on reducing our carbon emissions and meeting commitments we have made in this regard. Our approach is not only good for the environment, but makes business sense too.

The biggest contributors to carbon emissions are the electricity we purchase from outside suppliers and the diesel consumed by our fleet of mining vehicles and machinery.

Replacing coal-, diesel- and ultimately gaspowered electricity with renewable sources makes a direct contribution to lowering our carbon emissions.

Renewables have the added benefit of being

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largely on-site with many of our renewable sources directly supplying our mines without requiring an extensive grid network.

As for replacing our diesel-powered fleet, that will take time. And while we are trialling battery electric vehicles, this is still at an early stage and not viable yet. Over time though, we envisage that our fleet won’t be powered by diesel but rather by electric batteries and potentially hydrogen fuel cells.

DESCRIBE THE ROLE THAT RENEWABLES WILL BE PLAYING IN POWERING GOLD FIELDS’ PROJECTS, ESPECIALLY IN AFRICA AND SOUTH AFRICA, AS WELL AS GLOBALLY. In 2020 renewables accounted for only 3% of our energy mix, 11% if hydro was included, as our Peruvian mine receives power from a utility that uses mostly hydro power. This year the percentage will start rising as our Granny Smith and Agnew mines in Australia will have a full year of supply from their micro-grids.

Agnew on average is already consuming 57% of its electricity from renewable sources.

As the solar plant at South Deep comes on stream in 2022, renewables (excluding hydro) will account for 11%. Gruyere in Australia and Salares Norte in Chile, when it becomes

“ Once the South Deep solar project is commissioned, renewable’s contribution to total consumption will rise to around 11% of Group’s total energy usage.

– Preece

“

“ Energy accounts for between 10% and 20% of operating costs.

– Preece

“

South Deep plant.

operational in 2023, will also have a share of renewables in their energy mix in the near future. If all our current renewable plans come into fruition we should have up to 25% of electricity from renewable sources by 2025 (excluding hydro).

For now, the South Deep solar plant remains our only renewable plant on the continent, as our two Ghanaian mines, Tarkwa and Damang, currently have dedicated gas plants powering their operations and have only started commencing studies into the long-term viability of renewables.

WHAT DOES APPROVAL FOR THE SOUTH DEEP SOLAR POWER PROJECT MEAN FOR THE COMPANY? While other mining companies have developed or are in the process of developing their own solar plants, what makes the South Deep solar project unique is that Gold Fields is the first mining company in South Africa to build, own and operate its own solar plant on such a large scale.

This reduces our exposure to Eskom in terms of reliability and above-inflation cost escalation and allows us to enjoy the full cost benefit associated with the renewable energy source. It also addresses the opportunity

cost of lost production during frequent load curtailments instituted by Eskom.

Once completed, the solar plant has the potential to provide around 22% of South Deep’s average electricity consumption, translating into a cost saving of roughly R120-million per year and reducing our carbon footprint by 100 000 tonnes per year from 490 000 tonnes to 390 000 tonnes.

GOLD FIELDS RECENTLY RECEIVED THE GREEN LIGHT FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A 40MW SOLAR POWER PLANT AT ITS SOUTH DEEP MINE. PLEASE SHARE WITH US THE DETAILS OF THE SOLAR POWER PROJECT.

As far as possible, goods and services required to build the plant will be sourced locally in South Africa. We are evaluating local companies that manufacture and supply solar panels, which make up a significant portion of the capital spend. Specialised equipment such as inverters will however have to be imported.

We applied for our licence on the basis of self-generation for self-consumption in June 2020. The licence was awarded in February this year. We anticipate that construction will take between 12 and 18 months and should be completed during 2022.

www.samining.co.za

The 40MW solar plant has a generation capacity of 339KW per hectare and the plant footprint will cover 118ha, roughly the size of 200 soccer fields.

The plant will generate 22% of the average electricity consumption of the mine or 94GWh per year.

Two hundred and forty jobs will be created during the construction phase, while a team of 12 people will be required to operate the plant once commissioned.

While the plant will provide significant direct employment opportunities during construction, more importantly it will enhance the sustainability of the mine which means we can continue to employ and develop employees, contribute to community development projects through our social and labour plans and contribute to the fiscus through taxes and royalties.

ARE THERE ANY IMMEDIATE PLANS TO REPLICATE THE SOLAR PROJECT AT ANY OF YOUR OTHER AFRICAN PROJECTS? Our two Ghanaian mines, Tarkwa and Damang, are currently studying longerterm renewable options, including solar.

They currently have dedicated gas plants powering their operations and as gas is a low-carbon solution we have a bit of time before implementing renewable supplies. ■

SA MINING

JULY / AUGUST 2021

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ENERGY

ADVERTORIAL

BOSCH REXROTH LAUNCHES ELECTRIC SUBSEA VALVE ACTUATOR Fluid power and automation company Bosch Rexroth has engineered a disruptive innovation for electrically actuating valves in the subsea process industry. Called the SVA R2 Subsea Valve Actuator, it is the world’s first electric actuator that can replace conventional hydraulic cylinders with field-proven safety technology.

The actuator minimises energy consumption and is geared towards delicate ecosystems, and installation and operating costs are reduced.

When the SVA R2 is used in subsea factories at a depth of up to 4 000m, hydraulic pipes or power units are no longer required. The electric supply pipes which are already installed for sensors are adequate to ensure the reliable operation of the actuators. These functions, the operating life and actuator safety have been successfully tested in accordance with international standards, the company says.

Previously, process systems’ operators have mainly relied on hydraulic cylinders to open and close subsea valves with a

quarter turn and a defined force. With offshore installations like oil and gas production, these cylinders are supplied by a central hydraulic power unit with hydraulic pipes several kilometres long. This uses a great deal of energy to compensate for the cumulated losses and cannot control the movement with precision.

Designed for high-volume production, the electronics for the motion control system offer proven robustness and reliability. The SVA R2 is protected by a

number of patents and is designed to operate for 25 years.

The actuators for rotary adjustment complement the SVA L2 Subsea Valve Actuator for linear movements, which received the Spotlight On Technology Award from the renowned Offshore Technology Conference in 2020.

This valve actuator is available in Southern Africa through the Bosch Rexroth SA Group of Companies.

Bosch Rexroth has engineered the world’s smallest electric subsea valve actuator.

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ENERGY

© ISTOCK – dies-irae

GOSCOR POWERS KENRA HOLDINGS

GREEN LIGHT

FOR SASOL/ AIR LIQUIDE DEAL In Goscor Compressed Air Systems, distributors of compressed air and downstream equipment, Kenra Holdings has found a fitting compressed air solutions provider that ticks all the right boxes for its air and energy rental business, says MD Karen Kasavaloo.

Founded in 2015, Kenra Holdings is a 100% black womanowned level 1 broad-based black economic empowerment company that specialises in the rental of compressors, generators, tower lights/lighting plant, diesel bowsers and related services to various sectors such as construction, mining, industrial and state-owned enterprises.

Kenra Holdings has chosen Goscor Compressed Air Systems as its preferred supplier for compressors in the past 18 months. Most of Kenra Holdings’ clients use small power tools such as paving breakers, chipping hammers and rock drills.

To meet their needs, Kenra Holdings opted for the Sullair 185, a portable rotary screw air compressor that punches well above its weight with a remarkable 185 cfm at 100 psi.

“These compressors give our customers the ease of operating their power tools with maximum power, uptime and efficiency.”

© ISTOCK – kodda

Petrochemicals giant Sasol has received Competition Tribunal approval for its sale of 16 air separation units (ASUs) to Air Liquide Large Industries South Africa. The approval was received subject to various conditions relating to future ownership of the ASUs. These included joint procurement of renewable power up to 900 megawatts, decarbonisation investments by Air Liquide, ensuring that there’s no negative impact on employment and adhering to various commitments on broad-based black economic empowerment. This is in addition to support for localisation and small, medium, micro and black-owned enterprises.

“We are pleased to officially welcome Air Liquide as one of Sasol’s partners in Sasol’s decarbonisation journey,” says Sasol CEO Fleetwood Grobler. “This transaction is a significant contributor to us achieving our accelerated and expanded asset disposal programme targets, executed in line with our balance sheet, shareholder value and strategic objectives.”

Air Liquide will officially own and operate the 16 ASUs, which are located in Secunda, Mpumalanga.

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SA MINING

JULY / AUGUST 2021

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ENERGY

MINE CLOSURE IMPACTS Mineral Resources and Energy minister responds to closure impacts in the draft mine closure strategy 2021

By Ntsiki Adonisi-Kgame: natural resources and environment executive and Mihlali Sitefane: natural resources and environment senior associate

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Mihlali Sitefane.

© ISTOCK – zetter

M

ine closures often result in irreversible environmental degradation and economic hardship in mining-dependent communities. In an attempt to address this problem, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe published the Draft National Mine Closure Strategy 2021 (Draft Strategy) on 21 May 2021. The Draft Strategy’s intention is to minimise and prevent the adverse long-term environmental and socio-economic impacts related to mine closures.

Its key objectives are to: ■ Manage the closure of mines in a demarcated area in an integrated manner.

■ Create post-closure economies on demarcated mine sites through collaboration between mines.

■ Ensure that mines don’t negatively impact on the livelihood of adjacent/ interconnected mines in a demarcated area.

■ Promote a strategic approach to managing water at mining and mineral processing sites.

■ Make provision for post-closure stewardship and socio-economic sustainability.

The Draft Strategy envisions a Regional Closure Strategy which will consider mine closure within a particular region, at a broader and integrated level. The Regional Closure Strategy intends to set specific standards for all mines and to align each mine closure plan to the set standards contained in the regional mine closure plans. This would presumably be published subsequent to the Regional Closure Strategy.

The regional mine closure plans intend to include the requirements for: ■ The application for mine closure; ■ Environmental management programmes (EMPs); ■ Financial provision for rehabilitation.

■ There are four key focus areas identified in the Draft Strategy that will underpin the

Ntsiki Adonisi-Kgame.

implementation of the strategy as a whole: Mine closure regions that are suitable for integrated development will be identified.

■ Regional collaboration between mining companies will be fostered.

■ A regional approach to mine closure will be undertaken.

The overarching focus will be to ensure the closure planning is facilitated throughout the entire mine life cycle within the respective regions.

Significantly, the Draft Strategy makes recommendations for its implementation: ■ Aligning EMPs to manage the interconnectedness of mines in an integrated and sustainable manner.

■ Aligning closure plans to achieve selfsustaining ecosystems after closure.

■ Integrating EMPs, social and labour plans and corporate social investment objectives to reduce the duplication of efforts and to spend and aggregate available funding for coordinated regional projects.

■ Making contributions, presumably by mining right holders, towards regional mine closure funds to ensure that funds are available for post-closure monitoring.

■ Developing a mine closure policy, presumably by the minister.

■ Regularly conducting critical assessments of all applications to place mining operations under care and maintenance.

■ Establishing conditions on operations that are placed under care and maintenance, requiring that: ■ All critical mining infrastructure be kept in an operable condition or that future

■

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resumption of operations is not sterilised through the destruction or removal of critical mining infrastructure.

■ Non-critical infrastructure and equipment be deployed, where possible, to economic diversification projects and used in the implementation of the closure plan.

■ There be adequate security to protect infrastructure and equipment to prevent illegal mining.

Although the minister is empowered in terms of section 43(10) of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (MPRDA) to publish the Draft Strategy, the recommendations extend beyond the scope of the strategy and are simply not contemplated in the current, applicable legislation.

For example, the National Environmental Management Act, 1998 (NEMA) and the Financial Provision Regulations do not require mining companies to contribute towards regional mine closure funds.

If the recommendations in the Draft Strategy are to be implemented, then there must be amendments to a number of laws including the MPRDA and NEMA, as well as amendments to the Financial Provision Regulations and the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, to name a few.

Although the Draft Strategy makes strides towards regional mine closure impacts, its biggest pitfall will be the lawful implementation of the recommendations which are not underpinned by legislative provisions.

Interested and affected parties have until 23 July 2021 to submit written representations on the Draft Strategy. ■

RENEWABLE ENERGY Can mining become a driver?

A

s one of the most energy-intensive industries in the world, the mining industry in South Africa has suffered a double blow. Having been severely impacted by the continued energy shortfall and ongoing load shedding, it has also, over the years, come under increased scrutiny from climate change activists and investors.

And while the mining industry is not one that has traditionally been associated with clean, efficient, renewable and sustainable energy solutions, that is changing.

Key to this change is the deregulation of private energy generation. The changing regulatory landscape to be ushered in following the assurances in that regard given

by President Cyril Ramaphosa on 10 June 2021 will be a fundamental catalyst that could unlock the full extent of the vast potential of the mining industry as an essential contributor to the development of renewable energy solutions.

As part of this deregulation, amendments to Schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act will increase the National Energy Regulator of South Africa’s (NERSA) licensing threshold for embedded generation projects from 1MW to 100MW. Although it is still unclear what the registration requirements will be for these larger projects, there have been indications in the president’s speech as to what we can expect, including compulsory registration with NERSA (notwithstanding the removal of the licence application process) and a requirement to obtain authorisation from NERSA to operate.

There is some concern as to what this alternative process will entail and whether it will be practical to achieve the desired outcome of reducing the impediments to investments in such projects and enabling business to build or co-own generation facilities to contribute towards meeting their own energy needs.

Provision has been made in the current Integrated Resources Plan, 2019, for 4 000MW of new additional capacity by 2030 which will come from, among others, distributed generation capacity for own use, which are generation facilities operated solely to supply electricity to an end-use customer within the same property as the facility (also referred to as “embedded generation”).

As such, there is a committed allocation to allow for power generation for own use and an express undertaking from government to take the necessary action to achieve energy security and reduce the impact of load shedding on business.

There is also an acknowledgement that Eskom is not capable of sustaining its favoured monopoly position as sole state power utility, generating, transmitting and distributing power and that there is a need to reduce this burden. The ability that private generators will have to wheel electricity through the transmission grid is a telling indicator of where government is heading in relation to partnering with the private sector in addressing the energy needs of the country.

Poised as we are at the precipice of what may well become a new era of alternative sources of energy supply for the country, the mining industry is in the enviable position of being one of the most critical drivers of our time. This is so for a number of reasons.

“

We have an opportunity to move towards decarbonisation and the decentralisation of power supply.

– Hartley

“

Shafeeka Hartley.

By Shafeeka Hartley, corporate commercial executive at ENSafrica

Most of Southern Africa is in the favourable position of having abundant access to the elements, namely sunlight and wind. Adequately harnessing these natural resources allows for organisations to positively affect the environmental footprint of their operations. The remoteness of mining operations then becomes less of a risk in accessing sources of energy but more an opportunity to harness it.

This, coupled with the access that mining operations have to large tracts of land, positions them perfectly for accommodating larger solar PV plants, solar and battery

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storage solutions and, weather permitting, wind farm projects. It is also the mining industry that provides us with the metals and minerals required for these technologies that are essential for the transition to a green economy.

Of course the mining industry also stands to gain from this paradigm shift in alternative sources of energy, with the prospect of reduced dependence on fossil fuels minimising the impact of load shedding and volatile price fluctuations in fossil fuels on operations and profitability, improvements in energy efficiency increasing productivity and an enhanced ESG profile improving its attractiveness to all stakeholders.

The reality of a fairly regular disrupted energy supply over the years has meant that most established mining companies in South Africa had shifted their schedules to negate the impact of load shedding. The looming changes in legislation for increased off-grid production of power has mining houses excited. What needs to be legislated for now is how to ensure that a portion of this is from renewable sources and remains so.

The mining industry has already indicated renewable energy capacity gearing up over the years, although the build limitations and licence process has been prohibitive in bringing these projects to fruition. It is hoped that the new regulations will unlock this potential, and go some way towards introducing certainty, promoting investor confidence, stimulating production and boosting the economy.

We have an opportunity to move not only towards decarbonisation but also the decentralisation of power supply, a somewhat fortuitous two-pronged solution to address both the climate change objectives of the country as well as the economic recovery and growth needed as we continue to overcome the effects of the pandemic.

While the change may not be immediate or the effects felt within the next six months, by the end of next year we will probably have seen the beginnings of quite a fundamental shift, initially in the way the mining industry approaches its own energy supply, but ultimately the role it will play in contributing towards the country’s energy supply. ■

SA MINING

JULY / AUGUST 2021

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WOMEN IN MINING COVER STORY

UPWARDS AND ONWARDS

Invincible Valves inspires women in the sector

© ISTOCK – Bet_Noire

By Nelendhre Moodley

I

nvincible Valves MD Pam du Plessis – a driving force behind upskilling and mentoring of women in the sector– has sought out opportunities presented by the pandemic to deliver a booming business.

Armed with a revised strategy, a stronger multi-layered management team and an appetite for calculated risk, the East Randbased valve manufacturer and reseller, has in the midst of the COVID-19 doom and gloom bucked the trend to tell a really good story.

Despite COVID-19 putting the brakes on its strategy of expanding its global footprint, the valve specialist has looked to new markets, including the water segment, to grow its business.

R40-million

Value of Invincible Valves stockholding “We were reticent to enter the water segment, believing it was saturated. However last year we decided that as we already have a complementary product line, we had nothing to lose by forging a presence in the sector and supplying a competitively priced product. This has since proved to be a really good move and has resulted in the supply of valves to numerous small projects.

“But our most notable and largest endeavour to date has been a contract to supply valves on one of many current Umgeni water projects. We are also servicing the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) phase 11,” says Du Plessis.

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1P ball valve.

Invincible Valve’s product range is in demand.

Phase II of the LHWP is being implemented as two components: a water delivery system to augment the delivery of water to South Africa and a hydropower generation system to increase the current electricity generation capacity in Lesotho.

The programme involves the construction of the Polihali Dam and the Transfer Tunnel in the Mokhotlong district and a hydropower scheme.

WINNING WAYS

With the tough operating environment forcing many companies to think out of the box and actively seek out opportunities, Du Plessis says to open the doors for Invincible Valves’ strategy of exponential growth in the coming years, she had to revise the company’s strategy.

“We recognised that as a cash-positive company we had the option to take on strategic risks which could, if successful,

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3P ball valve.

unlock huge wins in the long term. We have taken some well-thought-out risks, including the opportunity to purchase the property down the road to grow our footprint and augment our skills set with high-calibre wellexperienced people.

“We have since employed a new management team consisting of two senior managers and three junior staff members.”

Furthermore, in taking the high road to rubber-line its products in-house the company has committed to ensuring that the end user benefits from cost-effective products delivered at a fraction of the time.

“We currently have a designated rubberlining production line on-site that operates daily which has helped in reducing lead times by four to five weeks.”

Invincible Valves plans to unlock further efficiencies by establishing a new rubberlining plant at the second property acquired late last year, which will effectively “double >

If its not INVAL, it’s not Invincible

WOMEN IN MINING COVER STORY

VALVES IN DEMAND

■

“

■

Invincible Valves focuses on upskilling and multi-skilling its staff.

“

As a cash-positive company we have the option to take on strategic risks.

– Du Plessis to triple current capacity” and increase stockholding. The plant is on track for commissioning by year-end.

Meanwhile, lessons learnt over the past 10 years, which include going the extra mile to supply clients with products beyond its core range, has led to Invincible Valves expanding its service offering to that of a one-stop shop.

“Time is money and most clients prefer to deal with a person with whom they have established a strong relationship to meet their requirements. At Invincible Valves we help clients procure as many of the products they require as we possibly can.”

Interestingly, the company’s massive stockholding of some R40-million has been its saviour and its tipping point to prosperity at a time when companies were falling by the wayside as a result of the pandemic. This helped the valve supplier service its core client base during the hard lockdowns.

Given that the company is a supplier to South Africa’s key industries – mining and petrochemicals – it was able to secure an essential services certificate at the onset of the pandemic, which allowed the business to remain operational during the initially hard lockdown last year.

“Access to product has ensured that clients were well supported during this time and that vital economic activity could continue,” says Du Plessis.

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With most metal prices soaring, the local mining sector has been booming and suppliers, including Invincible Valves, continue to reap the rewards as new projects come online and shelved projects get a new lease of life.

The company is busy supplying products to key mining projects, such as Ivanhoe Mines’ KamoaKakula Copper Project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Akyem Mining in Ghana, along with many others around the globe.

SUPPORTING LOCAL

Although the valve specialist’s cross-border strategy has been put on hold for the moment, discussions are ongoing with Du Plessis taking the time to forge “watertight’ relationships.

Post-COVID, the company will look to focus on expanding its global footprint.

“Although we are pitched as a global company, we are not represented globally.

However, we do have a strong presence on the African continent and agents at various key points, including in Ghana where our agent supports the mines locally and in the surrounding resource-rich countries with product.

“We fully support our agents across the continent and ensure that they are well informed about our product lines, have sufficient stockholding and aid them at relevant mining events, and where necessary, we help them to establish relationships with the mining clients.

Essentially, we invest vast amounts of time and money to help them succeed and be able to provide our client base with excellent service.”

MULTI-SKILLING

As an avenger of women’s rights, Du Plessis continues to be instrumental in creating a culture of mentoring women of all ages.

Further to this, the valves manufacturer

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has used the time of the hard lockdowns to upskill and multi-skill its staff, which has greatly benefited both the company and its employees. Some employees have used their newly acquired knowledge to springboard into new positions, including its receptionist, who has taken up a position in the administration department after advancing her skills set.

“We took the opportunity to drive our training agenda and aside from our in-house training, we encouraged our employees to take up online courses to improve their knowledge of our product lines. The training opportunities have provided our staff with many growth opportunities. In fact, our multi-skilled employees were able to slot into various positions on the factory floor when colleagues were infected with COVID-19, which ensured a smooth continuation of business operations.

Business continued seamlessly and clients were well serviced.” ■

ENSmining

ENSafrica | Breaking new ground for female leadership in mining

Ntsiki Adonisi-Kgame Executive | Mining

Dynamic, innovative ideas; solution driven; highly skilled.

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Executive | Corporate Commercial

WOMEN IN MINING

CELEBRATING WOMEN IN MINING Minerals Council weighs in on transformation

By Nelendhre Moodley

E

ach year in August, South Africa marks Women’s Month – celebrating the strength and resilience of women and their contributions to society and country. SA Mining recently spoke to Dr Thuthula Balfour, head: health at the Minerals Council South Africa, to find out how the mining industry is faring in its transformation agenda.

IS INDUSTRY MEETING THE MINING CHARTER’S TARGETS FOR TRANSFORMATION, IN PARTICULAR AS RELATED TO WOMEN IN MINING?

There are two ways of looking at this. The first is to look at whether or not the industry has met the Mining Charter targets, or – as we

Dr Thuthula Balfour.

Nolitha Fakude.

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Remote operation of the underground rock crusher, in the South Deep Central Control Centre.

prefer to do – look at what we are trying to achieve as an industry in respect of women in mining, and how we are doing against the stretch targets we have put in place.

In terms of compliance with the Mining Charter, we can report that by the end of 2018 the number of women working in the mining sector had increased significantly – from around 11 400 in 2002, to 57 000 (or around 12%) in 2018. In 2018, women represented 17% of top management, 17% of senior management, 24% of professionally qualified people and 18% of skilled and technical professions.

On this measure we have made good progress, but there is of course room for more.

If you look at the issue of women in mining in a more holistic way, however, we would see this differently.

First, if we were to ask whether the issue of women in mining is firmly on the agenda of every mining company at the most senior levels of the industry, the answer would be yes.

Addressing gender imbalances and creating workplaces that are fair and safe for men and women have long been a focus of the Minerals Council.

Through the Women in Mining Leadership Forum, led by Minerals Council president Nolitha Fakude and former office bearer Sibanye-Stillwater CEO Neal Froneman, the Minerals Council placed the advancement of women firmly on the agenda.

Seven clear workstreams with action plans for each are in place: ■ Reaffirm zero tolerance for genderbased violence through the Stop Abuse campaign.

■ Develop gender diversity and inclusion policies.

■ Provide a reporting system for gender diversity issues.

■ Initiate unconscious bias training to

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transform culture.

Deploy an ongoing company-wide pulse check survey.

■ Build an inclusive physical environment.

■ Supply personal protective equipment for women specifically.

Minerals Council members set and agreed to stretch targets aimed at ensuring that the industry at least doubles the percentage of women in mining by 2025 and ultimately works towards 30% to 40% women’s representation across the industry and 50% in management over the next decade.

■

WHAT KIND OF IMPACT HAS COVID-19 HAD ON THE JOURNEY TO MEETING THESE TARGETS?

We don’t have specific evidence of this, but from what we do know there is an indirect impact. Firstly we know that worldwide, the burden of childcare and caring for the elderly and sick, especially during lockdowns, and job losses, have disproportionately affected women. We have no reason to believe that our industry would be any different.

Fortunately, most mining companies were able to pay their employees during this time, but we can only assume that there has been an impact at the level of the household.

Secondly, we know that globally and in South Africa too, lockdowns have meant an increase in femicide and gender-based violence.

Many Minerals Council members already have policies and systems in place to address sexual harassment and violence in the workplace. However the Stop Abuse of Women campaign, which forms part of our Women in Mining Strategy, aims to ensure that the right processes and mechanisms are in place to identify and deal with the physical and mental abuse of women.

It also aims to ensure we continue to train and educate men and women on what abuse means, and to provide support to women in

Closing the gender pay gap is one of the aspects the industry is looking at to promote gender diversity and inclusion at all levels within the workplace. We don’t have evidence of this at this stage, but will certainly be monitoring this in the future.

HOW COMPARABLE IS TRANSFORMATION IN MINING TO OTHER SECTORS LOCALLY AND GLOBALLY?

Lack of diversity is a challenge in boardrooms, and at a senior level the world over. But we are making good progress.

A recent analysis of our members showed that currently there are 13 member companies that have woman CEOs or board chairs. Is that enough? Absolutely not. But it would be interesting to reflect on this comparison with other sectors of the South African economy, especially when you consider that some of these companies are world-leading.

It is true that the mining industry lags behind other sectors in the country and other mining jurisdictions such as Australia and Canada where women represent 17% and 16% respectively in the workplace.

Mining has traditionally been a maledominated environment. Superstition and patriarchal beliefs have delayed an acceptance of women in this space, and infrastructure, equipment and the physically demanding environment serve as further barriers to entry for women in mining.

We need to develop and recruit woman engineers into the industry (and to do that we need to have a thriving, growing industry). Attracting women into mining faculties at universities and getting them to succeed academically is not the problem. But getting them to come and work for mining companies, and not for the more lucrative and currently attractive financial services sector, once they graduate is a challenge.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES FACED IN MEETING THE TRANSFORMATION AGENDA?

From a mining perspective, we have specific challenges that are unique to our mining environment and that relate to women in the workplace.

The outcome of a survey conducted by the Minerals Council among members indicated that the most common physical challenges are physical capacity, pregnancy and maternity leave, and workplaces not

“

“

IS TRANSFORMATION IN MINING ENCOMPASSING REMUNERATION?

© ISTOCK – Philipp Berezhnoy

mining and mining communities.

Thirdly, to be able to achieve our ambitious transformation targets we need the industry to be thriving – with new investment and job creation. Mining has fared better than most, but it has still been affected.

In 2018, women represented 17% of top management and 17% of senior management.

– Balfour accommodating the needs of women (such as through sanitation and ablution facilities, safety and security, and childcare facilities).

One of the biggest concerns facing women who work underground is safety, specifically the risk of sexual harassment and violence directed at them by their male colleagues and illegal miners. Underground conditions such as crowded conveyances, poorly lit tunnels and working areas, and other women in their direct proximity all make working underground more difficult for women.

South Africa has some of the deepest mines in the world (gold and platinum in particular) which are historically labourintensive, requiring arduous work under challenging conditions.

In general terms, most women don’t have the same physical strength as most men, which has a material impact on their ability to undertake underground work effectively.

Almost every woman who is physically able to work underground is of childbearing age. No pregnant woman may work underground, and mines are obliged to provide safe above-ground work during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

A significant challenge to women is the fact that equipment such as overalls, personal protective equipment, boots and tools have historically been designed for men.

This means overalls aren’t easy to adjust and women need to undress completely to use toilet facilities.

Boots are often too wide and long, gloves are too loose, and tools are designed for larger hands and weight-lifting capabilities.

Then of course the challenges faced by women in mining are often the same as women in any sector of the economy: equality in the workplace, unconscious bias, gender pay gaps, the ability to build alliances or networks, to name a few. And the burden of work-life balance because, as we know, the duty of raising a family and caring for

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the elderly is still seen to be the domain of women.

In general, mining majors seem to be moving apace with transformation. Can the same be said of the junior mining sector?

Absolutely. In fact we are seeing women in leadership and senior positions at a junior and emerging miners’ level often because these companies are more entrepreneurial, have smaller teams, and their structures accommodate women more easily.

HOW IS THE SECTOR GROWING ITS PIPELINE OF FUTURE FEMALE INDUSTRY PARTICIPANTS? A large part of every graduating class in our mining engineering schools is made up of women. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that they all find their way into mining companies.

They are in high demand from corporates and banks and consultancies, despite the fact that for almost all of them their education has been funded by mining company bursaries.

In order to address this, we need to implement and execute our women in mining strategy: ■ We need to get more young girls interested in maths and science, and follow a path into mining at university.

■ We need to develop and recruit those woman engineers into the industry (and to do that we need to have a thriving, growing industry). Women do enter mining faculties at universities, and they succeed academically. But we need to get them to come and work for mining companies, and not for the more lucrative financial services sector, once they graduate.

■ We need to make workplaces more welcoming and accommodating towards women, physically, mentally and culturally.

■ And we need to modernise the way we work – less reliance on physical fitness and greater reliance on mental agility. n

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WOMEN IN MINING

GENDER EQUITY

Canyon Coal advances women in mining

By Nelendhre Moodley

C

oal miner Canyon Coal continues to promote women in mining, with 79 of its 297 employees being women – translated, this is 26.5% of its workforce. SA Mining recently spoke to human resources manager Dineo Maphutha about the company’s focus on gender equity.

WHAT MEASURES DOES CANYON COAL HAVE IN PLACE TO ATTRACT WOMEN TO THE MINING SECTOR?

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Canyon Coal prioritises key and core career opportunities in mining for females, such as operators of articulated dump trucks (ADTs), excavators, dozers and graders, among others.

Canyon Coal has highly competent, dedicated and driven women ensuring that the company achieves its growth and sustainability targets.

– Maphutha

IS THE COMPANY ALIGNED TO THE MINING CHARTER REQUIREMENTS FOR GENDER EQUITY? HOW MANY WOMEN ARE CURRENTLY EMPLOYED AND WHAT PLANS ARE IN PLACE TO GROW THIS NUMBER?

The company is aligned to the Employment Equity Act (legislation that is used as a yardstick for the achievement of gender equity in the workplace). Of the 297 employees (as at the end of May 2021), 79 are

“

Memory Baloyi, metallurgist at Khanye Colliery.

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www.samining.co.za

female, and 51 are appointed in mining (with 28 in core mining positions and 23 in mining support services positions: weighbridge, stores and control room).

Across every department from human resources to mine management and everything in between, Canyon Coal has many highly competent, dedicated and driven women who are working tirelessly to ensure that the company achieves its growth and sustainability targets.

Lizzy Mtsweni, plant operator at Khanye Colliery.

Nonhlanhla Maseko, ADT operator at Phalanndwa Extension

NONHLANHLA MASEKO

Canyon Coal has chosen to profile Nonhlanhla Maseko, an ADT operator at its Phalanndwa Extension mine in Delmas, Mpumalanga: I am a 35-year-old single mother of two.

I was born and bred in Delmas. I attended schools in and around Delmas from preprimary to matric. After finishing school, I completed an administrator course.

However, I couldn’t find work in

administration, so I decided to also undertake an ADT course. After completing my ADT course, I applied for an ADT operator position at Phalanndwa Colliery in 2017.

I moved over to the then new nearby Phalanndwa Extension in 2020. My dream was in fact to become a social worker, but because of financial constraints I was unable to pursue this dream.

My parents passed away when I was a little child and I was raised by my grandmother, who has also passed away. But these challenges didn’t stop me. I started undertaking small courses that didn’t cost me too much, such as the ADT course.

I have learnt so much since starting work at Phalanndwa Colliery and Phalanndwa Extension because when I came here, I knew nothing about mining.

Since then I have learnt many key lessons, including how to always work safely, how extraction of ore happens in a mining pit, how to work with people, and I have since become a strong and confident woman.

Although operating an ADT can be tough

www.samining.co.za

Dineo Maphutha, human resources manager.

and tiring work, I find it very rewarding, and I enjoy it greatly. I encourage young girls to become ADT operators. They should always be striving to study new things, such as mining engineering, electrician, boiler maker, so they can advance their careers in mining.

Because of the experience that I have gained to date, I would like to become a mining assessor. This is because I would love to teach people about the many different and fascinating aspects of the mining industry, especially how to operate large mining machines.

I would like to teach people how these machines work and how to operate them safely. I am also currently a safety, health and environment representative, but I am also interested in one day studying more in order to become a full-time safety officer at the mine.

I also want to say that although this is a male-dominated sector, all my male colleagues have been very supportive of my female colleagues and me. Canyon Coal provides a healthy, safe and secure work environment for us as women in the mining sector. ■

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WOMEN IN MINING

DO LEGISLATIVE PREFERENCES FOR WOMEN DRIVE PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT IN THE MINING SECTOR?

By Lili Nupen, Director at NSDV From including “women” in the definition of “historically disadvantaged persons” in the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, to various legislated amendments (think the specific focus on the inclusion of women in ownership, procurement, and employment equity in the Mining Charter, for example), it’s clear that the will to empower women in a historically male-dominated industry is there from an industry and government perspective.

As a result, today you’ll find more female CEOs in major mining companies than ever before. That said, the question of genuine equality remains.

ARE WOMEN TREATED AS EQUALS, TAKEN SERIOUSLY AND RESPECTED IN THE SAME VEIN AS THEIR MALE COUNTERPARTS, OR DOES THE LEGISLATED PREFERENCE PLACE US AT A DISADVANTAGE BECAUSE OUR INCLUSION IS REQUIRED?

Many people fear that when women are hired to fulfil legal criteria, the merits of their appointment will be secondary to their selection. That apprehension is a little myopically misplaced, I think.

The legal requirements encourage companies to provide women with opportunities to perform critical roles and functions that were historically held by men. According to the Minerals Council South Africa,

women now represent 16% of top management in mining, and general representation has grown from around 11 400 in 2002 to 54 154 in 2018.

As these numbers continue to improve, more and more women have the opportunity to demonstrate their proficiency in ways that are hopefully impossible to ignore.

Legislated preference is the catalyst for women to emphasise their innate talent and put the cynical box ticking to rest.

Given the chance, women in mining are already excelling and driving significant performance improvement. Trailblazers like Nolitha Fakude and Natascha Viljoen are rising above the parapet and providing new and innovative ways of managing traditional operations, leading with an eye on inclusion and collaboration.

They proudly embrace their feminine approach while achieving phenomenal results in the process.

To my mind, this points to one thing: while the legislated regime alone might not achieve the desired result, it’s opening the door for more women who’ll have no trouble achieving it for themselves.

NSDV is a fully integrated law and consultancy firm specialising in mining, construction and environmental law.

The face of a resolution revolution Lili Nupen Director at NSDV

At NSDV, we specialise in dispute resolution. Our experts have a track record that includes the successful conclusion of several high-profile contract negotiations, and our services can help guarantee the smooth progression of your operations, too.

For more information on how you can benefit from our dedication and extensive experience, visit linkedin.com/company/nsdvfirm/ today.

Nupen Staude de Vries

If its not INVAL, it’s not Invincible

ENGINEERING

WHEN IN DOUBT, CONSULT

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n the complex mining industry, being able to understand a client’s challenge in-depth and come up with the right engineering concept to solve this requires a partner like Bara Consulting.

In a complex and varied industry like mining, the importance of working with consultants who are experienced industry professionals is paramount to success. By working alongside a consulting business that can tap into a deep well of collective knowledge and long-term sector experience, mining organisations are able to ensure they get the most effective evaluation, due diligence and feasibility reporting possible.

In fact, says Jim Pooley, MD at Bara Consulting, many mining clients prefer to seek out specific individuals with the relevant experience for such projects, while others prefer to stick to a known brand.

“At Bara, we not only have developed a recognised brand during the eight years since we started the business, but we also have many highly skilled and sought-after individuals within the business. More than this, we have crafted a reputation for delivering high-quality work at a reasonable price,” he says.

“I put our success down to a combination of two things: being able to understand the client’s challenge in-depth and then being able to come up with the right engineering concept to solve this. Beyond this it boils down to details, and with our professionalism and experience, the details never escape notice.”

We have crafted a reputation for delivering high-quality work at a reasonable price.

– Pooley Pooley indicates that Bara Consulting specialises in the study and economic evaluation of mining projects and operations from due diligence through mineral reserve statements to NI 43-101 and JORC-compliant pre-feasibility and feasibility studies.

“We make an effort to always work with our clients, rather than simply working for them. A lot of our success is due to building and maintaining good relations – something that can only be done when working alongside the customer.

“In fact, we attribute a lot of the repeat business received from clients over the years to them being pleased with the manner in which we have interacted with them.”

www.samining.co.za

NEW SERVICES

“This approach has led to a broadening of our company’s offerings, as we have found in working alongside several junior miners.

We find that after having engineered a mine for one of these players, they often prefer to build on the relationship that already exists with us, so they prefer us to stay involved through the implementation phase.

“This trust in our capability to undertake this role is built on our good relationship, and has meant we have added engineering design as an additional string to our bow,” he says.

Furthermore, adds Pooley, the company also provides services in the fields of

© ISTOCK – James

© ISTOCK – Thossaphol

By Rodney Weidemann

“ The company has expanded its service offering to include modelling, simulation, scheduling, mine planning and mine risk and safety.

– Pooley

“

CURRENT KEY PROJECTS

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■ ■

© ISTOCK – EvgenyMiroshnichenko

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Feasibility study and detailed design for Bauba’s Moeijelijk underground chrome mine in Limpopo.

Lead engineer for a feasibility study on an open-pit lithium project in Zimbabwe, for Premier African Minerals.

Optimisation of a feasibility study for a coal project in Madagascar for Lemur Holdings.

Feasibility studies for West Wits Mining, looking into the possibility of reopening several shafts in the Roodepoort area of Johannesburg.

In addition to these projects Bara is also currently undertaking various due diligence, CPR and valuation work for various clients across a number of commodities.

Bara Consulting has a highly skilled team.

modelling, simulation, scheduling, mine planning and mine risk and safety.

“These downstream services weren’t initially part of our plan when we launched, but the art of business lies in providing help if the client asks for it. With an organisation like ours, which has both the engineers and experience to deliver such services if requested, meeting customer requirements in this regard is a simple matter of adding extra value where we can.”

Asked about the impact of COVID-19 on the business, he says that when lockdown initially kicked in, Bara witnessed a negative impact on planned work and – more crucially – turnover for the initial period. This, he says,

was due to having a lot of site work planned, which couldn’t be undertaken during the lockdown period.

“We quickly reorganised, however, and in the past financial year, we have seen growth of around 50%. This has been a busy and successful time for us, having recruited new engineers and with the company now beginning to undertake site work again.

Essentially, we have had positive growth, despite the pandemic.

“Looking more broadly at the sector, my view is that a very positive period is on the way for the mining sector, and we are quietly confident about the immediate and mediumterm future of the industry.

www.samining.co.za

Jim Pooley.

“Bara Consulting plans to continue doing what it does in the general consulting and engineering fields, and aims to become more established on the implementation side – providing detailed designs and ultimately bringing clients projects to book. We are definitely eager for what the future will bring and look forward to continuing to grow and develop our skills in the implementation field,” he says. ■

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ENGINEERING

ARCADIA PILOT PLANT STARTS PRODUCING

A variety of grids from Major Wire.

UNBOTTLING MINERALS PROCESSING PLANTS Minerals processing equipment supplier ELB Equipment, in partnership with screen media manufacturer Major Wire, has spent several years fixing screening problems at an almost endless array of processing plants.

Waynne Martin, technical sales representative at ELB Equipment, says the company’s partnership with the supplier of screen media enables the company’s technical teams to identify the source of a screening problem and provide solutions to bring the equipment back up to the required spec and further improve on its performance through using a wide range of Major Wire screen solutions.

Examples of the type of improvements obtained with Major Wire screens in the mine and quarrying industry include a recent instance where imported anthracite was difficult to process due to its “sticky, wet” consistency and was grinding production to a snail’s pace. The introduction of a carefully selected Major Wire tensioned screen immediately boosted production by 50% with a host of other benefits to boot.

More recently a simple upgrade of its traditional panel-type mesh screens to Major Wire’s Flex-Mat screens allowed a major diamond producer to reduce carry over by more than 15%.

“This is a game of percentages, and even the smallest improvements can have a significant effect on a company’s bottom line. Savings as a result of reducing downtime, production volume increases and the move towards improved overall productivity can usually be measured in millions of rand and tonnes. Holistically it is not just about saving capacity on-site, but rather problem-solving overall screening efficiency, cost of ownership etc.”

Major Wire screens provide more durability and wear protection than traditional screens.

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ASX-listed Prospect Resources has completed its pilot plant project at its Arcadia Lithium Project in Zimbabwe on schedule and within budget. The project is on track to deliver technicalgrade petalite product to customers in June, the company says.

The miner is now focused on using the high-purity petalite samples from the pilot plant, and spodumene samples produced in a partner laboratory, to achieve final production qualification with customers. Prospect Resources is progressing engagement with a range of strategic groups from across Japan, China and Europe in recent months who have an interest in spodumene offtake and helping with the development of the project.

The company was also looking forward to welcoming offtake partner Sinomine Resources, as well as presidential representatives from various government ministries to site in June to preside over the first delivery of the product to Sinomine Resources.

Managing director Sam Hosack says: “We have successfully demonstrated our capability to deliver this project in Zimbabwe. We now look forward to delivering high-purity lithium products to the downstream supply chain to complete respective product qualification processes.

“The development and operation of the pilot plant allows us to substantially reduce metallurgical risk for Arcadia, while demonstrating our ability to successfully operate in our jurisdiction, delivering increased confidence in the outcomes of existing technical study work and projected economics.”

Crusher and stockpiles.

www.samining.co.za

ICT

CORPORATE PROFILE

CLOUD CONSIDERATION Helping mines reduce costs and improve efficiency

CLOUD COVER

By Nelendhre Moodley

N

ow more than ever as we face the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, companies are seeking ways to drive down costs, especially mining houses, which face extensive financial pressures.

Managing executive for cloud, hosting and security at Vodacom Business, Kabelo Makwane, recently shared insights into how Vodacom is able to assist mines with the adoption of cloud.

INVESTING IN NEW MINERAL PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES IS A PRIORITY FOR MINING COMPANIES. WHY SHOULD THEY CONSIDER CLOUD MIGRATION TOO?

While most established mining operations in South Africa have become deeper and more expensive to mine, new mining operations continue to be challenged by weaker commodity prices which are temporarily buoyed by the COVID-19 pandemic as capital markets prefer commodity safe havens, such as gold, in the presence of a global lockdown and uncertainty.

However commodities remain volatile and therefore there’s constant pressure to improve mining efficiencies while ensuring business continuity – especially in the wake of power outages.

For mines, cloud migration represents the opportunity to build a more resilient information technology (IT) operating environment, while allowing for flexible scale and agility, especially in scenarios described above where there may be opportunities to intermittently increase production capacity in line with cyclical market demands.

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For this reason, having the capacity to quickly scale the IT operational capacity in line with increased demand without traditional heavy overheads associated with it may prove more cost-effective in the long run.

For mines, cloud migration represents the opportunity to build a more resilient information technology (IT) operating environment.

THERE ARE A LOT OF “CLOUD” OPTIONS THESE DAYS. HOW DO YOU KNOW WHICH ONE IS THE MOST SUITABLE FOR YOUR BUSINESS? The cloud choice and journey does not have to be a complex exercise. It can begin with a simple “lift and shift” or moving the current IT infrastructure into a hosted and managed data centre.

The same IT services could be delivered more cost-effectively and with more consistent power and more access to connectivity to maintain system uptime compared to when they were housed at the mining premises.

This move represents the first step in using the managed data centre provider’s available private cloud infrastructure as a service, where the mine’s technology team can start to move some of their applications onto these private cloud infrastructures which are more modern and more scalable for their application and platform requirements.

The advantage of this is that their data and application are delivered more costeffectively in a “pay as you grow” model albeit still on the premises.

Vodacom Business has already built partnerships and cloud management platforms with leading global hyper-scale cloud providers such as AWS, Microsoft and

www.samining.co.za

Kabelo Makwane.

Google. Choosing a managed data centre service provider like Vodacom Business makes it easier for the mine’s IT team to extend their private cloud seamlessly into the public cloud and take advantage of greater scale and services as the need arises to deliver to the mine’s innovation and enterprise business requirements.

This migration where some applications may remain in the private cloud while others are run in the public cloud and consumed as SaaS (software as a service) running on PaaS (platform as a service) underlined by IaaS (infrastructure as a service) is what is typically referred to as a hybrid cloud architecture. It can be managed centrally through a cloud management platform or dashboard – even if it’s across different cloud hyper-scale providers as well.

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© ISTOCK – metamorworks

DOES YOUR MINE NEED TO BE OF A PARTICULAR SIZE FOR YOU TO CONSIDER MIGRATING TO THE CLOUD?

WHAT SHOULD ONE CONSIDER BEFORE MAKING THE MOVE TO THE CLOUD? HOW EASY IS THE MIGRATION PROCESS? HOW LONG DOES IT TYPICALLY TAKE? A good starting point for any cloud journey starts with a baseline assessment of the “asis” IT operating environment. In a number of instances this flows into a cloud business case to ascertain how much the quantifiable benefits are in moving to the cloud.

The length of this process largely depends on the degree of complexity in

Mines of all sizes can adopt cloud, and they can do so at their own speed – relevant to their enterprise requirements. In fact, in many of the newer start-up mining operations adopting cloud IT operation natively may prove to be a significant competitive differentiator in the long run.

They also serve to reduce the start-up costs of operating the mine with simple SaaS applications being consumed from the very beginning.

These include productivity applications like Microsoft O365, Google Suite or Amazon Workdocs as some examples of these SaaS cloud-based applications needed to equip the knowledge worker with the requisite productivity and collaboration tools.

Cloud journeys are about people, process and technology combined.

– Makwane

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the enterprise’s IT operating environment, where there are legacy applications that would require modernising before migration and the extent of the digital transformation required.

Thereafter an application migration roadmap would be designed in line with the organisation’s expected speed and ability to transform – taking into consideration the change management required for full migration scenarios.

In some more simple scenarios, an organisation might want to just adopt a cloud-based SaaS application such as Teams for collaboration, in which case it becomes a simpler deployment exercise.

DO YOU HAVE ANY CLOUD MIGRATION IN MINING SUCCESS STORIES THAT YOU CAN SHARE WITH OUR READERS? Most clients do not want to disclose the full extent of their cloud migrations publically. But we can certainly broker these interactions for mining clients wanting to adopt and use cloud services so they can learn and hear first-hand from their industry counterparts. This is part of the value we offer our clients.

WHO WOULD OVERSEE THE CLOUD GOVERNANCE FOR THE COMPANY SHOULD THEY DECIDE TO MOVE TO THE CLOUD? WOULD VODACOM BUSINESS MANAGE THIS?

Cloud migration and governance is an integral part of how Vodacom Business delivers these projects to clients. The governance and migration would comprise a team from both the Vodacom Senior Cloud Specialist team and the Enterprise IT and Executive team, so that at any given time the IT transformation remains aligned to the desired business objectives and expected outcomes.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ARE SOME OF THE CLOUD GOVERNANCE BEST PRACTICE TIPS THAT MINING COMPANIES NEED TO BE AWARE OF?

Mines of all sizes can adopt cloud.

Cloud journeys are about people, process and technology combined. These journeys must always be done with consideration for security of information and data. It is important that cloud journeys at any given point consider the impact on all four elements.

With this in mind, the mining enterprise needs to be intentional about the cloud operating model and its impact on people.

The relevant process improvements must take into account the change management aspects to ensure frictionless user adoption and also what this means for the enterprise in terms of IT service management transformation and support.

Given cloud is a metered service consumed as a utility, it’s important to have a robust cloud optimisation strategy and partner beyond the migration to ensure one is consistently taking advantage of costeffective services that can deliver high value to the mining enterprise, while providing the requisite analytics tools to ensure spending is transparently managed to avoid any monthly “bill shocks”. ■

www.samining.co.za

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ICT

CORPORATE PROFILE

OPENING UP THE LINES OF

COMMUNICATION Vodacom’s SD-WAN connects

By Nelendhre Moodley

VODACOM

A

s key sectors such as mining adopt the advances related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including the internet of things, artificial intelligence, automation and big data, to transform operations, communications specialist Vodacom is at the forefront helping drive this digital transformation.

According to Rodney Moloko, executive head for mining and production at Vodacom Business, software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) technology is playing a critical role in easing the strain on existing networks and offering financial and operational benefits.

“SD-WAN is the overlay technology that connects all your mission-critical endpoints to the core network using cloud technologies. In fact, by adopting SD-WAN, mines in outlying areas can access highquality, reliable connectivity across all remote sites, even in rural areas where it would otherwise be very difficult to connect.”

WHAT IS SD-WAN?

SD-WAN is an acronym for software-defined networking (SDN) in a wide area network (WAN). SD-WAN simplifies the management and operation of a WAN by decoupling the networking hardware from its control mechanism.

This concept is similar to how software-defined networking implements virtualisation technology to improve data centre management and operation. A key application of SD-WAN is to allow companies to build higher-performance WANs using lower-cost and commercially available internet access, enabling businesses to partially or wholly replace more expensive private WAN connection technologies such as multiprotocol label switching (MPLS).

HOW CAN THIS BE USED IN THE MINING INDUSTRY?

The mining industry is focused on constantly wanting to implement faster access services as they adopt cloud-based services to enable

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Vodacom is a South African mobile communications company, providing voice, messaging, data and converged services to over 55 million customers.

them to deliver on artificial intelligence, automation services and machine learning.

With the budget constraints the mining industry is facing, upgrading their MPLS networks to deliver on this is very costly.

SD-WAN from Vodacom Business is the perfect alternative solution. It allows the mining industry to upgrade their network access links with Business Grade Broadband services and have a secure, integrated network that enhances network performance but also ensures customers have an enterprise service level agreement that manages their broadband SD-WAN network.

DOES YOUR MINE NEED TO BE A PARTICULAR SIZE FOR YOU TO USE SD-WAN?

With Vodacom Business’s array of access technology ranging from LTE to microwave and fibre services, it can deliver an SD-WAN solution to nomadic sites all the way to their large head offices. So no matter how small or large a customer’s office is, SD-WAN can be deployed cost-effectively to offer commercial and technical benefits.

WOULD SD-WAN WORK FOR MINING COMPANIES THAT ARE LOCATED IN REMOTE/RURAL AREAS?

Yes, using our broadband or having access to third party broadband in the remote site enables us to deliver access services to clients at the respective site.

www.samining.co.za

Rodney Moloko.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE ADVANTAGES OF SD-WAN FOR MINING COMPANIES?

The technical advantages are security and application performance manageability by implementing a quality of experience on application access. In addition to this is the seamless, secure integration with cloudbased services. The commercial benefits are the cost savings when compared to the current MPLS deployments.

Other benefits include: ■ Easier cloud adoption.

■ Deployment of internet of things capability which will enable digitisation, i.e. improved maintenance and monitoring of equipment.

■ Increase in health and safety compliance due to the availability of real-time data.

Typically, shareholders and investors believe in decreasing costs and increasing productivity. Wouldn’t deploying SDWAN add to operating costs for mining companies?

By using Vodacom Business’s SD-WAN solutions, customers can see a decrease in network operating costs, but at the same time they will see an increase in productivity as end users will have faster access to the application data. SD-WAN also reduces network management costs in managing the network. ■

UNDERGROUND COMMUNICATIONS Two Rivers Platinum mine achieves breakthrough

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wo Rivers Platinum, a large underground mine located in Steelpoort, Limpopo, has made great strides in setting up a reliable underground Wi-Fi network, providing wireless services to the rock face and full wireless coverage from the face to the tipping area.

This is the first time in 15 years the organisation has seen consistent communications from deep within the mine while realising the benefits to be gained via location-based services such as the remote monitoring of its underground fleet and realtime location data, as well as information on the health status of these vehicles, the company says.

Two Rivers’ platinum mine has a reliable underground Wi-Fi Network.

A WORLD WI-FI FIRST

“Our Wi-Fi dialogue with Datacentrix, an established preferred IT partner of Two Rivers, started as a casual conversation,” Joubert says. “The Datacentrix team really put its head on a block when it came to the proof of concept (PoC) project we rolled out last year.

© ISTOCK – Petmal

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A fully mechanised underground platinum mining operation that employs over 3 200 employees, Two Rivers is a joint venture between African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) (54%) and Impala Platinum (46%), which is managed by ARM. According to Two Rivers’ business leader JJ Joubert, one of the mine’s overriding strategic objectives is to achieve efficient operations, underpinned by the support of technology. However, due to the complex environment, where challenges include the density of the rock, establishing a stable underground communication network at Two Rivers has been difficult.

“The use of Wi-Fi communications underground is not new in terms of large mining set-ups, but our mine specifically is comprised of narrow, dense tabular rock. This posed a unique obstacle for Two Rivers, since many communications networks, like radiofrequency identification (RFID) technology, require line of sight to be effective. This lack of visibility meant that eLTE connectivity was not a viable option either.”

© ISTOCK – Juan Jose Napuri

OVERCOMING UNIQUE UNDERGROUND CHALLENGES

One of Two Rivers’ strategic objectives is to achieve efficient operations, underpinned by the support of technology.

– Joubert “The technology put forward is not typically used within the mining context, making it the first time in the world that underground distributed Wi-Fi has been attempted at this scale.”

Shawn Marx, business unit manager: Converged Solutions at Datacentrix, says: “The technology proposed to Two Rivers had to be ‘ruggedised’ to withstand the harsh mining environment, including blasting taking place underground. It also needed to be customised to meet the client’s specific requirements, so an off-the-shelf type product was out of the question.

“After testing several potential scenarios, the most effective solution comprised the use of Wi-Fi. This particular PoC leverages the cost-effectiveness and ease of integration of Wi-Fi,” Marx adds.

The distributed architecture installed at

www.samining.co.za

Two Rivers Platinum incorporates a central access point capable of connecting up to 48 easily installable remote antennas. The benefit of this technology is that it makes use of a single frequency network, so all antennas and end points connect on the same channel, therefore reducing interference.

The smart antennas provide for Wi-Fi 6, while enhancing signal strength and coverage area within specific spaces. They are also equipped with Bluetooth 5, used for locationbased services.

“This proof of concept with Datacentrix was the first time in 10 years in the board and pillar mining industry that we’ve made a breakthrough with underground communications,” says Joubert. “It’s live, immediate and working – to the extent that we can now even run virtual meetings underground.” ■

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JULY / AUGUST 2021

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SAFETY

CORPORATE PROFILE

© SHUTTERSTOCK

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION A vital benefit at every workplace

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Scores of people are at risk of contracting COVID-19 with economic activity in full swing.

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© SHUTTERSTOCK

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ith the ongoing global health crisis claiming lives and ravaging bottom lines, it has become essential for individuals to ensure that they are covered for any work-related injury or illness that may arise.

Scores of people have returned to work amid this pandemic and employees are at risk of contracting COVID-19 or any illness. Will they be compensated in the event of work-related injury or illness, while performing work within the cause and scope of their employment?

The answer is yes. Rand Mutual Assurance (RMA) is leading the way in providing cover for injured workers or workers who have contracted occupational diseases while in the workplace, in the mining and metal industries. Through the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases (COID) Act, employees are further provided with cover for medical treatment.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 places an obligation on the employer to maintain a working environment that is safe. The employer must ensure that the workplace is safe and free from any risk to its employees’ health and safety as far as it is reasonably practicable. Therefore the employer is obliged to manage the risk of COVID-19 infection in the workplace.

It is recommended that an employer supply a healthy working environment by

RMA ensures that beneficiaries and their families receive the compensation they are entitled to.

– Shezi providing a workplace that is clean and hygienic, promoting regular handwashing and good respiratory hygiene, and keeping employees informed on developments related to COVID-19.

Employers are obliged to report all suspected occupationally acquired COVID-19 cases to RMA in the prescribed format.

The COID Act is a South African legislation that helps employers take care of

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their employees. The act dictates that workers who are injured on duty or contract occupational diseases can claim compensation for work-related accidents and illnesses. The COVID-19 pandemic is a case in point of the COID Act coming into play to help companies and their employees.

Since most companies already hold COID cover, occupationally acquired COVID-19 is covered. In fact, employees who are proven >

RMA - Taking care of families since 1894 We are experts in administering workers’ compensation and offering comprehensive value-added insurance solutions to cover employees against injuries.

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SAFETY

CORPORATE PROFILE COID covers employees for COVID-19 claims

RMA has paid out over R36 million to employees who had exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace.

© SHUTTERSTOCK

The COID Act is a piece of South African legislation that helps employers take care of their employees.

An employer is obliged to manage the risk of COVID-19 infection in the workplace as per the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases (COID) Act.

to have acquired COVID-19 in the course of their employment can receive payment for temporary total disablement, permanent disablement, death and/or for quarantine site costs. Each case is assessed on its merit.

“It is crucial that our nation has legislation in place to protect its workers at all times. Legislation dictates that all employers are compelled to pay a premium in case of injuries or diseases that occur in the workplace, at no cost to the employee.

After all, in a professional and regulated environment, health and safety is the responsibility of employers. Ours is to ensure that beneficiaries and their families receive the care and compensation they are entitled to,” says Mandla Shezi, RMA Group CEO. This compensation goes a long way in ensuring that employees and their families have peace of mind financially, during difficult times.

“Think of the COID Act as a safety net in an effective and comprehensive health and safety strategy. Particularly, as we battle with the COVID-19 pandemic, employers need comprehensive cover for their employees if they contract COVID-19 in the workplace.

The COID Act has been a great help to many employees who have had exposure to the virus.

“Following the implementation of Compensation for Occupationally Acquired Novel Coronavirus Diseases (COVID-19), RMA has closed and accepted liability for over 5 000 COVID-19 claims, assisting many of our clients’ employees during this trying time. To date, over R36-million has been paid out to employees who had exposure to COVID-19 at the workplace,” says Shezi.

Moreover, RMA has developed technologies to help provide better longterm care for critically injured beneficiaries

RMA is leading the way in providing cover for injured workers or workers who have contracted ailments such as COVID-19 while in the workplace.

Employees must report all occupationally acquired COVID-19 cases to RMA withing 14 days of being notified by an employee who has contracted COVID-19.

RMA has closed and accepted liability for over 5 000 Covid-19 Claims since the start of the pandemic.

Over R36-million Paid out to employees who had exposure to COVID-19 at the workplace such as its mobile prosthetic clinic, funeral, and top-up insurance plans to add value to its members’ quality of life.

RMA is committed to providing services that support the underwriting and administration of both the COID and insurance benefits. ■

© SHUTTERSTOCK

© SHUTTERSTOCK

Most companies already hold COID cover, and COVID-19 is covered.

42

SA MINING

JULY / AUGUST 2021

www.samining.co.za

We’re proud of our rich past and together we are ready to take the mining industry where we’ve always been headed: FORWARD.

www.mining.komatsu

SAFETY

KOMATSU KPRIME TOOTH SYSTEM Delivers increased productivity and safety

W

ith excavator owners and operators always looking for more productive, reliable and safer tooth systems for their buckets, Kprime, a new generation of ground engaging tools, now offers significant advances over previous systems, says Komatsu.

Komatsu’s new Kprime Tooth System from Hensley Industries is available as standard on new Komatsu excavators, and has been designed as a stronger and longer-lasting product, offering additional safety and productivity enhancements, the company says.

Replacing Hensley’s KMax and XS Tooth Systems range of teeth, the Kprime Tooth System is suitable for excavators with operating weights from four to 400 tonnes.

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According to Sifiso Dubazana, Komatsu South Africa’s GET Specialist, the Kprime Tooth System builds on Hensley’s experience and expertise with its KMAX and XS Tooth System, offering significant advances in safety, ease of use and extended periods between tooth changes.

“With Kprime, we have built a truly unique product that delivers significantly more strength, productivity, reliability and is safer,” he says.

Safety enhancements to the Kprime Tooth System include an intuitive locking system, pry slots on the tooth and wear cap for easier removal of worn parts, a low-torque pin for easier tooth changes, and the weight of individual units marked on each part.

Reliability has been improved through a 10% stronger adapter nose design, an improved pin design that reduces the potential for accidental unlocking even after extended use, and an optimised design to reduce wear on adapters.

Stability of the tooth on its adapter has also been improved through a tighter fit.

Productivity has been significantly improved through a number of design advances, including increased wear material – so teeth don’t need to be changed so often, improved penetration, and a design that ensures the tooth stays sharp throughout its life.

“Kprime teeth are rotatable, to further extend life, while wear indicators on the wear cap and fastener let users know when those parts need to be changed,” Dubazana says.

“And losing teeth into a crusher or conveyor is far less likely to occur with Kprime due to a new locking system that means no torque loss after multiple cycles, ensuring the holding pin remains locked throughout the life of the tooth.”

Buckets fitted with Kprime adaptors have the option of using different styles of teeth to meet individual digging and loading requirements.

“While Kprime teeth will be offered as standard on all Komatsu excavators, this system is also ideal for all other brands of earthmoving and mining equipment, from compact utility-class machines up to large mining machines,” Dubazana says. ■

STRATA DOES SAFETY RIGHT Safety compliance in companies is of utmost importance to prevent incidents, particularly in the mining industry, where people are exposed to harsh working environments.

At Strata Mining Services, management is committed to ensuring safety, health, environment and quality (SHEQ) standards are upheld through various campaigns. Every two weeks, management teams interact with the workforce on-site by conducting visible felt leadership (VFL).

“We use this tool to check if there is safety compliance,” says Stoffel van Deventer, compliance manager. “It makes a huge impact and reinforces our culture of safety, especially when our employees understand procedures and why they’re important.”

Some of the other initiatives that Strata uses to maintain their safety culture include holding weekly health and safety meetings and running campaigns that report near misses. These campaigns highlight the need to stay alert and encourage staff to report potential hazards.

As an added incentive, the employees who regularly report near misses are awarded shopping vouchers at the end of the month.

“This campaign enables us to learn from

Strata’s comprehensive maintenance plan ensures that machines are kept in great working condition.

each other’s mistakes. If something happens once, we investigate the near miss, put protocols in place to prevent it recurring and then we share this best practice within the group,” Stoffel says.

More recently, a new traffic management plan has been implemented at the company’s Northern Cape premises which

saw the installation of fisheye mirrors at blind corners and stop signs at possible collision points.

Strata’s comprehensive maintenance plan is yet another preventive system in place to ensure its machines are in great working condition and that operators are kept out of harm’s way.

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COLUMN EQUIPMENT

MININGSTORY WITH THE MAJOR COVER

ARE COMMODITIES IN A SUPER CYCLE OR IS IRRATIONAL EXUBERANCE IN ONE?

A

46

SA MINING

JULY / AUGUST 2021

www.samining.co.za

The views expressed are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect SA Mining’s editorial policy.

© Robert Tshabalala @ Financial Mail

or in some cases a decade or more.” lan Greenspan, already famous for Yes. These commodity prices are being caused playing the saxophone, working for Ayn by a genuine rampaging, now worldwide demand Rand in his first job out of university and that is not being readily matched by a comparable becoming US Federal Reserve chairman increase in supply. And what makes this super cycle in 1987, coined the phrase “irrational seem more genuine as time goes by is the frequency exuberance” in his now famous speech of 5 of periodic breaks and corrections yet subsequent December 1996. resurgences in the various commodities’ prices.

It was an otherwise mundane (though televised) A commodity cycle gone mad is when all (or speech given to a rather mundane, little-known nearly all) commodities run up simultaneously and a entity called the American Enterprise Institute, a large element of speculative money becomes readily non-profit, Washington DC-based think-tank that apparent. gets its funding from grants and contributions via That is not the case, at least not obviously, this numerous diverse sources. time. The cycle we are in now has few metals and Greenspan was expressing his concern for Peter Major mineral commodities trading at or below their longthe rampaging dot-com boom that had the price Mergence Corporate term average prices. Most are trading above their earnings ratio of the SP 500 rise to over 20 and Solutions Director: Mining long-term means and some metals are trading at many shares on NASDAQ escalating to as high as a multiples of their long-term average price levels.

45 PE (Heaven forbid – almost as high as the SP 500 In fact, a few are even trading at multiples of their previous all-time PE ratio today). highs. This is astounding. As an example, rhodium’s previous all-time Greenspan was concerned that the low inflationary environment of high in real dollar terms was about $11 000/oz. Yet in the past six months the time was fuelling or at least abetting “irrational exuberance” and we saw rhodium hitting $29 000-$30 000 an ounce. unrealistic expectations. The SP 500 had risen 30% so far in 1996 and the Iridium and even palladium NASDAQ Index had just hit 1 290 nearly matched this “multiple” of the day before – up 72% from Gold $oz real 150yr avg is $625oz 1 June 2021 $1900oz their previous all-time highs. And the 750 it was at just two years 2400 the most famous commodity, or at before.

2000 least metal, gold, has been trading However, how could above double its long-term $625/oz Greenspan ever have imagined 1600 average for over a decade now. that the dot-com mania was only 1200 All in all, commodities – after just starting and that NASDAQ 800 falling for most of the ’80s, ’90s and would hit 4 000 in just three more 400 early new millennium, have been years (29 December 1999) and having a great 20-year run now and 5 000 barely two months after 0 1870 80 90 1900 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 2000 10 20 still show little signs of cooling off. that? He couldn’t have. No one With oil prices now at 50% could have.

Copper $ ton metric real 140yr avg is $2.98lb $6 570ton above their long-term averages, Eventually Greenspan was 14000 gold at double, iron ore at three to proven right, but only three years 12000 four times its long-term average and three months after his now 10000 and many other metals and famous speech. Yet when one 8000 minerals at least 50% above their bubble or irrational exuberance 6000 historical real averages, it is hard to leaves, another soon arrives to 4000 see when and how it is going to end. take its place. In this instance, 2000 A sudden collapse (like in 1980, commodities and property soon 0 2008 and 2020). Or just a gradual began their irrational exuberance/ 80 90 1900 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 2000 10 20 long-term trend down like we pretty super cycles which lasted from much saw from 1980 to 2001.

2002 until mid 2008, only to The majority of the world today are possibly stimulating their resume again the following year. economies too much, creating too much cash, credit and spending – and Commodities quickly recovered from 2008’s huge pullback, but nearly all are throwing conventional central banking and prudent cost began falling again in 2014 through 2015. Yet in 2016 they took off and management to the wind. many of the metals reached unimagined heights in 2021. All this during Greenspan reigned long enough (until 31 January 2006) to see a worldwide rampaging virus pandemic that came with unprecedented his original dot-com “irrational exuberance” finally come back down lockdowns and falls in world economies. to Earth. But by then it seemed to be manifesting itself in worldwide So how could this not be the world’s largest and longest commodity property prices, if not commodities as well. Today poor Alan Greenspan super cycle ever? can only shake his head at how now, maybe the NASDAQ is justifiably The most common definition of a commodity super cycle is when deserving at an average PE of 24. But the SP 500 at a 45 PE? there is a decade of commodities trading above their long-term price Obviously he could never have guessed inflation and interest rates mean. This is longer than the accepted six-year business cycle that being so simultaneously low for so long. Nor could he have imagined the Americans and Canadians are used to since World War 2. kind of multitrillion-dollar helicopter money economic stimulations the There is no doubt that what we have been seeing for the past two whole world is experiencing today. decades fits most authorities’ description of a commodities super As Mark Twain famously said: “Prediction is difficult – particularly cycle, i.e. “A sustained spell of abnormally strong demand growth that when it involves the future.” ■ producers struggle to match, sparking a rally in prices that can last years

VENDEL EQUIPMENT SALES (PTY) LTD T/A

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TO ADVERTISE IN SA MIN NG www.samining.co.za

READ WHAT REALLY GOES DOWN IN SADC

ADVERTISING Ilonka Moolman 011 280 3120 moolmani@samining.co.za Noël van Breda 011 280 3456 noelvb@samining.co.za

INDEX TO ADVERTISERS AECI Mining Explosives ....................................................................... 9 Air Liquide Industries ........................................................................... 8 Air Products ....................................................................................... 44 ASPASA .............................................................................................. 35 Astron ................................................................................................. 15 Beryl Group ...................................................................... Gatefold; IFC BLC Plant Company ........................................................................ IBC Bosch Diesel Service ......................................................................... 17 Bosch Rexroth SA .............................................................................. 14 Brelko Conveyor Products................................................................. 45 ENSafrica ........................................................................................... 23 Invincible Valves...................................................................... 20-22; 31 JH Fletcher & Co ............................................................................ OBC Joburg Indaba .................................................................................... 48 Keller Netherlands ............................................................................... 3 Komatsu ............................................................................................. 43 KSB Pumps & Valves ........................................................................... 5 Liebherr ................................................................................................ 7 Menar Capital ................................................................................26-27 NSDV .................................................................................................. 30 Rand Mutual Assurance ...............................................................40-42 Vendel Equipment Sales .................................................................... 47 Vodacom .......................................................................................36-38

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ANSWERING MINING’S TOUGHEST QUESTIONS

Since 1937, Fletcher has been answering some of underground mining’s toughest questions. Are you facing any operational obstacles? Contact your local Fletcher distributor to find a solution to help your operation reach maximum efficiency. ®

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J.H. Fletcher & Co. cannot anticipate every mine hazard that may develop during use of these products. Follow your mine plan and/or roof control plan prior to use of the product. Proper use, maintenance and continued use of (OEM) original equipment parts will be essential for maximum operating results. 2020 J.H. Fletcher & Co. All Rights reserved.