Two South African Sanire members who are part of the Homecoming Revolution told Rock Talk about their experiences overseas and their reasons for going, and then returning. Read on to find out what Rick Ferreira and Willie Snyman have to share with you.

Rock Talk: When did you emigrate, and where did you go?
Rick: In October 2008, just as the waves from the global financial crisis began to rock the world markets in earnest. It was unforeseeable, of course, but in hindsight it was probably the worst time for a family to embark on such an endeavour. My wife and I, along with our two small boys, moved from Carletonville to the city of Perth in Western Australia. I took up a position with a large consultancy firm.
Willie: I emigrated to Queensland, Australia in January 2008.

Rock Talk: What is your current job and how does it compare with the job you held at the time when you emigrated?
Rick: I'm a Rock Engineer, specialising in Mine Seismology. Although my job now involves a number of additional mines in the Gold Fields stable, in a centralised structure, the role profile is essentially the same as before.
Willie: I am Chief Rock Engineer at Khuseleka Mine. I was Senior Rock Engineer with BLA in the Free State.

James Dutchman is spending some time in South Africa while in pursuit of his BEng (Hons) in Engineering Geology. He chatted to Rock Talk about his reasons for coming here and his experiences thus far.

James Dutchman, a Consultant Intern (Engineering Geology) at SRK Consulting, hails from Hastings on the South coast of England, in the county of East Sussex.
"As part of my four-year university sandwich degree course (Engineering Geology and Geotechnics) at the University of Portsmouth, we are encouraged to take up an industrial placement with a company in the field of Engineering Geology as part of our third-year studies," he told Rock Talk.
"Having already worked in the UK for four years with a ground investigation contractor, I felt that I needed to broaden my experience, so I took a conscious decision to look for placement opportunities outside of the UK. I applied to a number of consultancy companies both in Australia and South Africa."

Roger 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 to his name, covering the sciences, engineering and even theology. The latest of these is an MEng (Mining Engineering from Wits, which he gained in 2011. He is also a fellow of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM) and a Sanire member.

Still, he modestly points out that he is the only one of his immediate family not currently studying. His wife, Caroline Tuckey, is completing her PhD in ethics; his son, Matthew (23) is doing an MSc in physics at Wits and his daughter Naomi (20) is in 3rd year medicine at UCT. "I do plan to learn Spanish" he says, even though he is taking a break from formal study for now.

Les Gardner has taken on the role of Sanire President. Here’s your chance to get to know a bit more about him.

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.

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.

David Minnie told Rock Talk a bit about himself and what Sanire has meant to him. Read about him here.

RT: When did you enter the mining industry?

DM: I started in 1974, working for De Beers at Oranjemund, doing a Geologist’s job.

RT: What attracted you to a career in mining?

DM: From my perspective, mining, farming, forestry and fishing are the foundations of any economic system. There are always opportunities in the fundamental industries.

In my degree course at Strathclyde University, we were given a strong foundation in Engineering Geology for Civil Engineering and Rock Engineering for the mining industry.

Mining site tours were always more interesting than the civil engineering visits and I bonded better with miners than civil engineers.

Once I had arrived in Africa, I started to network and gather information on where the opportunities lay. I started as a Strata Control Officer in Welkom in 1977.

The challenges of running a branch are many. Wouter van Aarde, chairman of Sanire’s Western Bushveld branch, offers some insights into how to give the “mandla” back to members.

Wouter van Aarde of X-Strata Alloys is heading up a Western Bushveld branch committee that is determined to bring positive change.

Ensuring that members get value for their membership locally is the challenge that faces every branch committee. The Western Bushveld branch is a case in point.

“Our biggest plan for 2010 and 2011 is to revive the Western Bushveld branch,” says Wouter van Aarde, the branch chairman.

Asking members

As a start, the committee took an opinion poll to provide an insight into issues affecting the branch’s success. It yielded some valuable information.

First on the committee’s agenda is to encourage non-members who are attending the meetings to become members by communicating the benefits to them.

The opinion poll got this drive off to a good start. The meeting was attended by 11 non-members, all of whom indicated in the poll that they would like to become members.

“We also want to provide a platform where the members can give input into the functioning of the committee and to ensure that there is more effective communication between the council and the branch members. In short, we want to give the ‘mandla’ back to the members,” Wouter says.

For instance, more junior members of the profession will be encouraged to interact with Sanire and maybe do presentations.

Such presentations are a major drawcard for Sanire meetings. At the first meeting organised by the current committee, William Youghin of SRK (Steffen Robertson & Kirsten) Consulting gave a presentation on Quantifying Rockfall and Rockburst Risk in Underground Mines. It was very well received.

Practical steps

Wouter goes on to set out more of the committee’s challenges: “The branch is struggling financially and is totally dependent on sponsorships for its meetings. This will change.”

The change will be two-fold.

Firstly, sponsors will get more for their money. “The aim is to reward sponsors by giving them branding space at the meetings, including their logos in all communication to members,” Wouter explains.

At the most recent meeting, a start was made on this. Dureset and New Concept Mining were thanked for their sponsorship.

Fund-raising will also enter the picture. “We are planning to host at least one golf day and to include as many of the members and suppliers as possible,” Wouter announces.

Meet the Western Bushveld Branch committee:

• Wouter van Aarde, chairman

• Marc Henderson, vice-chairman

• Obed Tsetseswa, secretary

• Dave Gravett, suppliers’ representative

• Chris Rademan, treasurer

At present, there is no technical co-ordinator on the committee.