• Mission
    SANIRE promotes advancement of the discipline of rock engineering through the following objectives: Mission
  • Mission (a)
    Encouraging interest and the advancement of education in rock engineering; Mission (a)
  • Mission (b)
    Maintaining professional practice and high standard of ethics; Mission (b)
  • Mission (c)
    Encouraging networking, collaboration and information exchange; Mission (c)
  • Mission (d)
    Identifying, promoting and facilitating rock engineering related research; Mission (d)
  • Mission (e)
    Providing access to the global rock engineering fraternity through the ISRM. Mission (e)
  • Vision
    To promote the interests of a vibrant Southern African rock engineering fraternity Vision

News and updates

RMC Paper 1 Download - Important Information

Friday, 30 March 2012

 Dear SANIRE Member, we are apologizing for any problems being experienced during the download process, but we are experiencing very large download volumes. Be patient and try again. When successful downloading please check the following:

Install Paper 1 Material

o   Download the Installer file from the website
o   Double click of the Installer and allow it to install the information on your computer
o   When done, the Installer will create an Icon on your desktop that reads 'Rock Mechanics Theory', use this icon to open the document. You do not need to open any other files, but work through th...

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MOSHing towards zero harm

Monday, 19 March 2012

moshRock related safety is a major issue. The Chamber of Mines' Mine Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH) initiative is helping to address it. Find out more by reading on.

In 2003, representatives of the South African Mining industry - employers, labour unions and government - set historic and significant milestones for health and safety, to be reached by 2013, en route to zero harm for all employees.

The Chamber of Mines realised that the milestones, let alone the targets, would not easily be met without significant effort on the part of mines. Therefore the Chamber of Mines Learning Hub was ...

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From maths and computers to rock engineering

Monday, 19 March 2012

rogerjohnsonRoger Johnson's enjoyment of his job is based on the people he works with; the diversity in terms of commodity, geographic location and mining method; and the challenges and opportunities to introduce new technology, better practice and improved solutions. Here, he shares some of his ideas and experiences with Rock Talk.

Roger Johnson (56) had more of an interest in sport, the outdoors, music and social activities than in academics in his time as a scholar as La Salle College on the West Rand, but that was no predictor of his future.

Today, he has a slew of degrees and other qualifications t...

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March will bring your first free downloadable paper

Monday, 19 March 2012

exampaperComprehensive rock engineering learning material for the South African mining industry is almost complete – and you can download it for free. Read more about it.

The writing of comprehensive rock engineering material for the South African mining industry started in the first half of 2011. It should be completed by end of March this year. At the time of writing this article, Paper 1 was complete. It should be available for download, free of charge, on the Sanire website by the time you read this article. The other papers will be available for download as and when they are completed.

Why is t...

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Design of Merensky Reef crush pillars

Monday, 19 March 2012

saimmlogo2The Bushveld platinum group metal deposits are two distinct, shallow-dipping stratiform tabular ore bodies which strike for many hundreds of kilometres. Mining is extensive, with depths ranging from close-to-surface to 2300 m. The mining method is a variation of planar open stoping. Pillars are widely employed to support the open stopes. In the deeper levels, in-stope pillars are required to fail in a stable manner soon after being cut, and the residual pillar strength is used to stabilize the hangingwall. These pillars are commonly known as crush pillars. Little work has been done in the p...

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How Tuks makes positive change a constant

Monday, 19 March 2012

janniemaritzThe University of Pretoria's Jannie Maritz asks: Are teaching and learning really making an impact? At Tuks, he thinks they are. Read on to find out why.

The University of Pretoria's department of Mining Engineering celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2011. The first mining engineering student enrolled for the degree in 1961 and subsequently graduated in 1964.

A lot has changed on and around the campus, yet one thing has stayed the same: The quality of mining engineer graduating has improved. Every year, Tuks Mining is delivering around 30 newly developed mining engineers into the industry. ...

Dec 07 2010 An active year for Sanire’s Coalfields branch saw students being encouraged to play a greater role in the branch’s running. Branch chairman Dr Bernard Madden filled RockTalk in on what the branch achieved. Read his summary here.

Coalfields got students involved

The Coalfields branch’s annual general meeting in January included a technical talk on the Texan Computer Code by Dr Francois Malan.

The 2010 committee rung the changes by including two student members in its ranks. The thinking behind including students was to increase potential candidates’ exposure to varying strata conditions and technical presentations to boost their chances of successfully completing the Chamber of Mines Strata Control and Rock Mechanics examinations.

The branch made two underground visits.

The first, in April was to see very poor ground conditions at Forzando South, where a dolerite sill had affected the coal seam as well as the roof and floor strata. Following a technical presentation by Dr Bernard Madden into the design and construction of the incline shaft and portal access to the coal reserves, an underground visit was made to the incline shaft. Mining through strata affected by the dolerite sill was still being conducted, using a support installation of full column resin roofbolts, oslo-straps, cable anchors, wire mesh and Fibrecrete to support the roof and sidewalls. Seven aspiring candidates got to see this.

The second underground visit was held in October, prior to the Chamber of Mines examinations. It involved 11 candidates visiting the Khulata Colliery. They saw the areas where delamination of the roof strata has occurred over time in the main travelling roadways used to access the workings, as well as the remedial measures being taken. Dave Neal presented the technical background to the remedial work, including the design and testing programme undertaken to solve the fall of ground problem.

A presentation on the development of roofbolting in South African Collieries was held in November, including a visit to a supplier of roofbolts.

The year-end function in December will offer members technical presentations from guest speakers.

The committee is: Dr Bernard Madden (chairman), Dave Neal (vice-chairman), Steve Ploczik (treasurer/secretary), Danie Bierman (student member), Sibusiso Mazibuko (student member), Frans Cronje (suppliers’ representative) and Duncan Lees (co-opted member).

The committee is:

Dr Bernard Madden (chairman)

Dave Neal (vice-chairman)

Steve Ploczik (treasurer/secretary)

Danie Bierman (student member)

Sibusiso Mazibuko (student member)

Frans Cronje (suppliers’ representative)

Duncan Lees (co-opted member).

Upcoming Events

Mon May 28
EUROCK 2012 - ISRM International Symposium
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Sun Jun 24
46th US Rock Mechanics / Geomechanics Symposium
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Tue Aug 07
ISRM Regional Symposium - II South American Symposium on Rock Excavations
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Mon Oct 15
ARMS 2012 - 7th Asian Rock Mechanics Symposium
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Thu Oct 25
2012 SANIRE Symposium - “Mechanica Saxorum”
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