Research Research profile

RESEARCH PROFILE

The Department is currently involved in four key research focus areas, and efforts will be concentrated on growing research capacity in these areas:

A key achievement in 2019 was the awarding of a B2 rating (international recognition) to Prof Francois Malan, the Department’s Research Coordinator. Prof Malan was also invited to present two keynote lectures at international symposia on the research of the Department’s Rock Engineering Group. Another achievement that illustrates the international recognition of the research conducted in the Department was the awarding of the annual prize of the international Society of Mining Professors (SOMP) for best publication to the Department for a paper written by Dr Johann Uys and Prof Ronny Webber-Youngman. This paper focused on the 4.0D ® Leadership Development Model for mining and related industries in the context of the 4IR, which the two authors developed. Compared to the previous year, a larger number of papers was published in conference proceedings. This was partly due to a number of high-profile international Rock Engineering symposia, such as the 14th Congress of the International Society for Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering. Efforts were made to present high-quality papers at these symposia to increase the Department’s visibility and profile. The current focus of the Department is to publish more papers in similar journals. The drive to publish in internationally recognised high-impact journals will continue in 2020/21.

MECHANISATION AND AUTOMATION

ROCK-BREAKING AND EXPLOSIVE ENGINEERING

MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP

Efforts to increase the Department’s research outputs started to pay dividends during the period under review. The Department strives for a continuous improvement in the number of articles published in journals, an increase the number of citations these papers attract and to improve researchers’ H-index (based on citations per researcher). There is also a drive for staff to apply for National Research Foundation (NRF) ratings.

ROCK ENGINEERING

mining industry, minerals, chemical engineering, drones, air pollution, open-cast mines, rehabilitation, soil, mining sites, mineral resources, acid mine water, environmental engineering, water utilisation engineering, metallurgy, research, minerals, mining law, forensic engineering, mine health and safety, investigation, mechanical engineering, collision management, mines, accidents, energy, convectional heat transfer,, mining engineering, evaluation, hydraulic splitting cylinder, breaking rock, deep-level mining, flyrock, engineering education, problem-solving, professional development, leadership, rock engineering, pillar extraction, fracture zone, seismicity, coal mines, rockburst, shallow-dipping tabular stopes, depth, load-and-haul, operation, opencast colliery, town and regional planning, technology management, business strategies, coal-mining sector, projectification, South African mining industry, knowledge transfer, maintenance technologies, maintenance strategies, systems thinking, decision making, bottom line, leadership style, operations, digitisation, integration, asset management, life cycle management, supply chain management, geology, remote sensing, magnetite, exploration, coal, groundwater, natural gas reserves, CO2, sedimentary rocks, hydrocarbons, mineralisation, hydrothermal deposits, heat flow, geothermal energy, magmatic intrusions, dolomite mine, rock fractures, slope stability, design parameters, structural geology, mine facilities

Many collaborative, cross-cutting contract research initiatives were conducted during the period under review. Mining-related research in the various departments in the Faculty, as well as other faculties throughout the University, continues. This forms part of the Mining Footprint initiative, which is coordinated by the Mining Resilience Research Centre.

Prof Francois Malan, Director and Research Coordinator

MINING RESILIENCE RESEARCH CENTRE (MRRC)

The MRRC was established in the Department in 2017 to develop significant interdisciplinary research collaboration within UP and external organisations involved in research related to mining challenges. This forms part of the Department’s long-term strategy to become a world leader in mining research for practical implementation.

Its overarching goal is to enable the mining industry to transition from being reactive and compliant to becoming resilient in issues related to safety, health, environmental sustainability, social responsibility and community management through well-structured and committed postgraduate education and research. This is in an effort to ensure that the mining industry meets the full expectations of investors, government, employees, organised labour, communities and other stakeholders in the mining industry, particularly within the context of the role played by the industry as a source of economic growth and social transformation.

The MRRC draws on the multidisciplinary resources within the University, matching the right skills sets to any mining problem. It also aims to strengthen the Department’s mining footprint, as well as the University’s national and international minerals research profile. Its vision is to establish itself as a leading international contributor to solutions for complex problems in the mining industry. Its mission is to increase the resilience of the mining industry by developing practical solutions to productivity, safety, health, environment, social responsibility and community management challenges, through well-structured and committed postgraduate education and rigorous, integrated, scientific research initiatives. During the period under review, the MRRC experienced positive growth by obtaining new contract research projects from industry. The MRRC continued its excellent relationship with the Mine Health and Safety Council (MHSC) and is currently involved in the following two research projects as the MHSC’s Centre of Excellence: • Good ledging practices and the development of animated video training material based on good ledging practices • Reopening of old mine workings and the mining of underground mine pillars to prevent serious accidents

It has also continued its mechanised drilling and blasting work in the South African Mining, Extraction, Research, Development, and Innovation (SAMERDI) initiative. This is a collaborative initiative between the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the University of Pretoria, Wits University and the University of Johannesburg, coordinated by the Mandela Mining Precinct (MMP) initiative. Innovation is a key initiative in the Department and its involvement with SAMERDI will most likely continue despite the current delay in establishing research centres due to a COVID-19-related funding problem.

Contract research projects conducted by the MRRC during the period under review include the following: • Proposed illumination guidelines for equipment operating in the South African mining industry • Mechanisation of gold and Platinum Group Metals (PGM) mines using drilling and blasting • A review of the use of a yielding pre-stressing device to mitigate the effect of the excessive down-rating of elongate strength. • Numerical modelling of the shaft pillar at Impala #16 and the interaction between the UG2 and Merensky reef horizons • Investigating the effect of alteration contacts on pillar behaviour • A review of the test methodology for thin sprayed liners

ROCK ENGINEERING RESEARCH GROUP

The Department continues to emphasise rock engineering research, which is undertaken by four key researchers in this area, supported by a number of postgraduate students. A key aspect of this research is to develop new design criteria and layouts for the hard rock mines to ensure their sustainability in future. Improved formulae and methods for designing hard rock pillars are also being investigated. Close collaboration has been established with the mining industry, especially with Northam Platinum, Impala Platinum and Harmony Gold. The following topics are currently under investigation at postgraduate level in support of the research of Prof Francois Malan and Prof John Napier on pillar behaviour and design criteria:

The effect of pillar shape on strength

The time-dependent spalling of pillars

Gold remnants and pillars: new design criteria

The effect of rock mass strength on seismicity

Layout design for massive ore bodies at great depth

The effect of weak layers on pillars

Manganese pillar design

AEL INTELLIGENT BLASTING CHAIR FOR INNOVATIVE ROCKBREAKING TECHNOLOGY

Chairholder: Prof William Spiteri | est. 2018 Joint Chair: Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering

The Chair has allowed AEL Intelligent Blasting to exploit the University’s virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) expertise and facilities to further strengthen its market and technology leadership position. These visual technologies can be applied advantageously in several areas, including training and the 3D scanning of mining environments, which would allow analysis and visualisation in an immersive virtual setting. During the period under review, the Chair supported the following ground-breaking projects that would resolve pressing issues within the mining industry:

The development of a quantitative measuring technique to physically capture and study the in-flight motion of fly-rock so as to improve on predictive models and better understand the causative factors. The application of VR technology to enhance learning. The assembly and operation of the Detnet electronic detonator system and components was selected as an initial pilot project. The game-based programmes allow problem scenarios to be interactively solved and the trainees’ performance evaluated. The development of techniques to convert visual data, such as video footage obtained from a drone flying over an open-pit mine, into 3D VR and AR images. This work is being carried out by the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering under the auspices of the Chair.

HARMONY GOLD CHAIR IN ROCK ENGINEERING AND NUMERICAL MODELLING

Chairholder: Prof Francois Malan | est. 2016

The Chair conducts research into techniques to simulate the rock mass behaviour in South African deep-level gold mines. To date, the limit equilibrium model has found significant application in industry. As an example, for the first time, it is now possible to simulate the crushing of pillar edges, the effect of mining rate and the effect of mining increment size. International publications on these topics emphasise the high quality of the Department’s work in this regard. The calibration of these complex models remains a challenge and continued work with more underground measurements is planned. This includes the development of enhanced design criteria for deep mines. The current criteria are problematic to use in areas where remnants are mined and aspects such as total closure cause non-linear rock mass behaviour. Research topics include the following strategic projects:

Developing enhanced design criteria for mature deep-level mines. Investigating the use of a limit equilibrium model to simulate pillar and remnant behaviour in gold mines. Investigating the use of closure data as a proxy measure of energy stably dissipated during fracture formation and stable movements on discontinuities such as bedding planes. Investigating the use of underground instrumentation as a diagnostic measure of rock mass behaviour. Testing the newly developed concepts and criteria in a number of practical situations at Harmony Gold operations. The continuous development of the inelastic constitutive models used in numerical codes. Investigations to improve the ability of the code to handle large-scale mining areas while providing accurate and detailed results will be undertaken.

MURRAY & ROBERTS CHAIR IN INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP 4.0

Chairholder: Prof Ronny Webber-Youngman | est. 2019 (inception January 2020) Senior researcher: Dr Johann Uys*

The research projects in leadership relevant to mining range from acceptance of technology by leaders to the safety and risk leadership that is required to navigate the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) on South African mining companies. To supplement the Chair’s research, the final-year students’ Mine Design curriculum through the Murray & Roberts Mining Engineering Leadership Academy (M&R MELA) has expanded to incorporate the futuristic leadership aspects required by the 4IR.

Prof Ronny Webber-Youngman, Head of Department

The involvement of M&R in this Chair will further position it as a leadership brand globally. Through its support of the Chair and the Department, M&R has indicated its willingness to be part of this journey in leadership development, for which we are grateful.