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Latest
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Written by Charlotte van der Westhuizen
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Thursday, 22 December 2011 11:16 |
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We wish all our members a safe and happy festive season, and best wishes for the New Year. May your New Year be filled with interesting events that take you, your colleagues and families to greater heights of achievement.
Office Closure:
The SANIRE offices will be closed from 01:00pm on Friday, 23rd December 2011 and reopen on Monday, 16th January 2012 |
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Personalities
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Written by Theresa Lee
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Friday, 09 December 2011 06:13 |
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“Setting achievable goals restricts performance and is only useful for performance appraisals. You achieve the incredible only by aiming for the impossible. Persevere,” advises Dr Nielen van der Merwe. Read on to find out more about this tenacious achiever.
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Hatches matches and dispatches
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Written by Geoffrey Potgieter
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Monday, 24 January 2011 09:24 |
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It is with sadness that I must inform you of the recent passing of one of our former colleagues, Dan Cloete.
A geologist by training, Dan worked for Anglo Vaal for most of his mining career.
In rock engineering, Dan will be remembered for his contribution to the success of cave mining at Hartebeesfontein Gold Mine.
As a geologist, his exploration efforts lead to the identification and delineation of the Target/Sun deposit in the Free State, now Target Mine. |
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Year-end Reports 2010
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Written by Peter Lehong
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Tuesday, 07 December 2010 17:32 |
Travelling long distances didn’t prevent Sanire’s Eastern Bushveld branch members from getting together regularly. Here’s a summary of what they got up to and what they hope to achieve next year, by the branch’s new chairman, Peter Lehong. He said:
Bushveld East plans fall of ground forum
We have attracted a lot of criticism for holding our quarterly meetings during the day and not after working hours. However, our members travel far to meetings and we see it as our duty to make sure that no-one has to drive for 200 km in the dark to get home. We have tried to change venues for every meeting.
Most of our attendees seem to be the suppliers, as rock engineers are scarce. This year, we have seen rock engineers from Xstrata, Samancor, Open House and Anglo Platinum, but not from Aquarius or Impala Platinum. In future, we will encourage strata control officers to attend our quarterly meetings.
Apart from hosting the usual demonstrations and presentations of new products and mining/supporting methods, we invited STS, who create interactive 3D simulations, to present to the branch. Their product is already being used, not only for rock engineering, but for all types of safety training, including for conveyors and trackless machinery. This is the future of training on the mines.
The Rock Engineering Tripartite consists of rock engineers, labour unions and government representatives (mine inspectors) and will soon form a fall of ground forum in this area. This will be along the same lines as those in other Sanire branches. The aim is to address falls of ground issues and discuss strategies to be implemented based on geotechnical conditions.
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The committee members are:
Peter Lehong (chairman)
Phil Garner (vice-chairman)
Bertus van der Kevie (treasurer)
Nico Meyer (secretary)
Justin Taylor (suppliers’ representative).
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Education
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Written by Charlotte van der Westhuizen
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Monday, 23 January 2012 09:45 |
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The Strata Control candidates’ examination results for the October 2011 examinations have been released by UNISA. Congratulations to those candidates that passed, your hard work has paid off.
Subject Pass rate
SCC Metalliferous 60%
SCC Coal 0%
Click here to dowload the full results.
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Latest
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Written by Theresa Lee
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Friday, 09 December 2011 06:17 |
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Sanire’s Back to Basics symposium was aimed at showing practically, through the presentation of case studies, how designs on different operations are developed and verified. It addressed the questions that have been raised as to the appropriateness of empirical designs, and rock engineering designs in general, following recent large collapses in the platinum mining industry. Get the lowdown here.
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Personalities
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Written by Theresa Lee
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Friday, 09 December 2011 06:07 |
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Les Gardner has taken on the role of Sanire President. Here’s your chance to get to know a bit more about him.
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Year-end Reports 2010
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Written by Wouter van Aarde
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Tuesday, 07 December 2010 17:27 |
Tough times drew Sanire’s Western Bushveld branch members closer. Read how in this summary of the branch’s activities from its chairman, Wouter van Aarde:
Westerners support their own
Some of the marginal mines in the Western Bushveld stabilised in 2010 because of the moderate improvement in the outlook of the resources sector.
The current committee’s initial challenges were to find alternative fundraising methods and to renew interest in the branch technical evenings.
The former was met by hosting a Sanire golf day at Mooinooi Country Club. It was a resounding success and left many members begging for more. The tournament was well sponsored by a long list of suppliers. It is envisaged that the golf day will become an annual event that will grow with each year and breathe new life into the branch.
The latter is being addressed by inviting academics and experts in the field of rock engineering to speak at technical evenings.
In the beginning of the second half of 2010, the branch was dealt a major blow. Some had to be part of enquiries into the multiple fatal injuries at Aquarius 4 shaft, an occurrence similar to that at Impala 14 shaft. The Western Bushveld rock egineering fraternity displayed great unity and shared resources.
The industry learnt a lot from the outcomes of these unfortunate events through workshops facilitated by the Department of Mineral Resources and the Chamber of Mines.
The branch centres on one of the FIFA World Cup host cities. The soccer was a momentous occasion for North West province and afforded members the rare opportunity to be part of the biggest sporting event in the world.
As each year presents its own challenges we wish all our members a safe and productive 2011. We hope to take all we have learnt into the unpredictable future.
| The committee members are:
Wouter van Aarde (chairman)
Marc Henderson (vice-chairman)
Obed Tsetsewa (treasurer and secretary)
Dave Gravett (suppliers’ representative).
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Hatches matches and dispatches
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Written by Geoffrey Potgieter
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Monday, 30 November 2009 10:17 |
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It is with deep sadness that I must inform you that Dr Martin Pretorius, one of our well-known rock engineering colleagues and a former SANIRE president, has lost his battle with cancer. Martin passed away in the early hours of Sunday morning, 29 November 2009. Martin’s career spanned a long period with Gencor, as well as subsequent periods with Goldfields, SRK and Harmony. Many of us will remember Martin for his quick thinking, his willingness to share his knowledge and his positive optimistic attitude to life.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time.
The funeral arrangements for Dr Martin Pretorius:
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Education
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Written by Charlotte van der Westhuizen
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Thursday, 19 January 2012 13:27 |
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 SANIRE has numerous queries regarding publication of results for the Strata Control Certificate. The results for the approximately 150 candidates are being finalised and will be released once completed. Candidates are requested to be patient and to refrain from contacting the office or the examiner directly.
Thank you for your co-operation in this matter.
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Latest
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Written by Theresa Lee
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Friday, 09 December 2011 06:01 |
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During October, some Sanire members attended the 12th ISRM international symposium in Beijing. The conference was one of the biggest ever, with over a 1000 delegates attending. Read more about this impactful event.
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Personalities
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Written by Theresa Lee
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Tuesday, 04 October 2011 10:43 |
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Uli Vogler helped to provide a solid foundation for SANIRE and has spent a lifetime honing his rock testing expertise. He’s still at it and jokes that he was probably born to be an engineer: his birthday, 22/7, is also a way of expressing pi. Rock Talk asked this lively senior student a few questions.
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Year-end Reports 2010
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Written by Free State branch
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Tuesday, 07 December 2010 17:20 |
The Free State branch had an active year and decided to retain the past chairman on the committee to ensure continuity. Read more about their activities:
Free State retains talent
The Free State branch held four technical evenings, the most recent of which was combined with the annual general meeting and where the new committee was elected.
A number of interesting technical presentations were made by both rock engineers and company representatives. The topics covered included safety milestones, geotechnical characterisation, support items and their functions, practical aspects pertaining to support installation, seismic related issue and remnant extraction.
Two of the technical days were followed by sporting events: a bowls game and nine holes of golf.
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The committee members are:
Jaco le Roux (chairman), Kevin Brentley (past chairman)
Johan van der Merwe (vice-chairman)
Jaco Venter (treasurer)
Bill Coote (company representative)
Deon Louw and Albert Mokhatla.
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Hatches matches and dispatches
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Written by Geoffrey Potgieter
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Saturday, 09 October 2010 11:01 |
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It is with deep sadness that we must inform you that Jaco Combrink, a former SANIRE member, passed away on Sunday.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and colleagues in this difficult time.
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Education
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Written by Charlotte van der Westhuizen
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Thursday, 19 January 2012 09:27 |
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The examination results for paper one has finally been released by UNISA.
Subject Pass rate
RMC Paper 1 2%
The full list of results is available for download. Click here to download. |
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Personalities
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Written by Greg More O’Farrell
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Tuesday, 04 October 2011 10:39 |
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Greg More O’Farrell is off to Vancouver, Canada, to serve as a rock mechanics manager for Wardrop Consultants. He looks forward to expanding Wardrop’s mining rock mechanics capacity internationally and looks back on slightly more than 15 happy and productive years in rock mechanics, mainly in Southern Africa. Here’s his farewell message to SANIRE members.
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Year-end Reports 2010
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Written by Gauteng Branch
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Tuesday, 07 December 2010 17:16 |
Joint efforts characterise the doings of the Gauteng branch of Sanire. Read what they’ve achieved this year:
Gauteng capitalises on co-operation
The Gauteng branch was involved in two technical evenings in 2010.
The first attracted 31 delegates and was held in June at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Johannesburg. The topic was Core logging in the 21st century: A review of best practice and conventions and introducing StereoCore™ PhotoLog, a new photogrammetric logging tool.
The second was held jointly with the Surface Mining branch of Sanire and took place in August at Magaliespark, Magaliesberg. It took the form of a lecture on Slope Stability Risk Management.
The branch chairman, Thandile Dlokweni, has been co-opted to represent Sanire in the geotechnical division of South African Institute of Civil Engineers (SAICE).
SAICE, Sanire and the South African Institute of Engineering Geologists (SAIEG) have proposed a joint technical evening to further strengthen the relationship between geotechnical engineering, rock engineering and engineering geology. SAICE has asked Sanire to assist with the upcoming Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (YGE) conference.
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The committee members are:
Thandile Dlokweni (chairman)
Willie Snyman (vice-chairman)
Jody Thompson (treasurer)
Robert Armstrong (secretary)
Pieter Groenewald (events co-ordinator).
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Education
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Written by Charlotte van der Westhuizen
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Wednesday, 18 January 2012 14:46 |
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The Rock Mechanic candidates’ examination results for the October 2011 examinations have been released by UNISA. However paper one and the Strata Control results will only be released at a later stage due to unforeseen circumstances.
RMC Paper 2 36%
RMC Paper 3.1 22%
RMC Paper 3.2 25%
RMC Paper 3.3 25%
RMC Paper 3.4 10%
Click here to download the list of results. |
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Latest
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Written by Theresa Lee
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Thursday, 08 December 2011 14:58 |
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Brown dust gave way to new green leaves at three primary schools on 28 October, thanks to Sanire and Food and Trees for Africa. Take a look at these pictures to see what a difference your institute made.
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