News/Events Archives

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Created: 04 June 2023

Prof Francois Malan started his geotechnical career in 1993 and spent the next 11 years at the Chamber of Mines Research Organisation (later CSIR Miningtek). There he conducted research on the rock mass behaviour in deep tabular mines. His particular interest during this period was the time-dependent behaviour of hard rock and he used this as topic for his PhD thesis. In 2011 he joined Groundwork Consulting and worked on pillar designs and layout problems in the South African platinum industry, geotechnical problems in the deep gold mines and instrumentation development for geotechnical applications. In 2011, he joined the gold mining industry and was appointed as Senior Consultant Rock Engineering of Gold Fields South Africa. These mines were taken over by Sibanye Stillwater in 2013 and he remained with Sibanye Stillwater. In 2018, he joined the University of Pretoria as Associate Professor. In 2021, he was promoted to full Professor and is currently the Director of the Mining Resilience Research Centre in the Department of Mining Engineering. He has an NRF rating of B2 and currently has 1404 citations from his publications and an H-index of 17.

Over the years, he has received various awards for his contributions to rock engineering. These include five gold and silver medals from the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and three Salamon awards from the South African National Institute of Rock Engineering for best publications. The ISRM awarded him the Rocha medal in 2011 for the best PhD in the world and in 2017 he presented the ISRM Franklin Lecture at the AfriRock Symposium in Cape Town. He also presented the 29th ISRM online lecture during March 2020. He has now been appointed as ISRM Fellow and will be inducted in Saltzburg in October 2023. The position of ISRM Fellow was introduced in 2011 to recognise select individuals who have achieved outstanding accomplishments in rock mechanics and rock engineering and have contributed significantly to the work of the ISRM.    

Between 2007-2011, Prof Malan served as ISRM Vice-President for Africa. Prior to this, he was also the President of the South African National Institute of Rock Engineering for the period from 2003 -2005. Prof Malan is a Fellow of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, a Fellow of the South African National Institute of Rock Engineering and a member of the Society of Mining Professors. He acts as a reviewer for several rock engineering journals and is a member of the publications committee of the Journal of the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. He has now also been invited to join the editorial board of the International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences.  

Gerhard Potgieter is a mining engineer that has been employed in the mining industry for 40 years, of which the last 25 years were in senior executive and board positions.

He has spent the last 13 years with Impala Platinum Holdings and has been the Group Chief Operating Officer since 2018. Implats is a South African holding company that owns several companies which operate mines that produce platinum group metals, as well as nickel, copper and cobalt. It is listed on the JSE, in the top 20 companies in South Africa in terms of market capitalisation, employing 56 000 people at its operations in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Canada.

The Group has acquired the Lac Des Iles mine in Ontario, Canada in 2019 and is currently busy with the acquisition of Royal Bafokeng Platinum. It has further committed to spending R50bn of capital to strengthen and expand its operations over the next 5 years.

Duncan Adams is an engineering geologist by training and has spent the past 44 years in the South African mining Industry in rock engineering, the past two years with the Minerals Council South Africa leading the FOGAP programme.

He has spent time on a Gold Mine as a head of the rock engineering department, more than a decade with the COMRO/ CSIR Miningtek carrying out research in backfill technology and rockburst prevention and control, before working for the MHSC as the Fall of Ground Programme Manager. Duncan then established his own consulting company focusing on rock mechanics training, FoG safety and working with the Minerals Council in their MOSH Learning Hub for more than 10 years.

After retiring in 2017 he returned to help with the FOGAP programme in 2021, a challenge that he regards as a great privilege to be a part of.

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Created: 31 May 2023

Dear SANIRE Member,
On behalf of the Institute President and Vice President , we would like to welcome and ccongratulate the newly elected SANIRE Council (2023 – 2025).
The members elected to the SANIRE Council are:

1. Glorious Nkosi - Siyanda Bakgatla
2. Sifiso Mashile - Anglo American
3. Obakeng Rakumakoe - Minerals Council SA
4. Pearl Mosiane - Dwarsrivier Chrome
5. Jeanne Walls - Anglo American
6. Jannie Maritz - University of Pretoria
7. Thandile Dlokweni - Anglo American

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Created: 24 May 2023

Dear SANIRE Member,
Kindly contribute any articles towards the next SANIRE Newsletter issue. Please forward a neatly formatted word document to info@sanire.co.za / mbalenhleb@mpas.org.za by the 15 June 2023. We look forward to receiving your contributions and nomination for the next Rock Talk Issue.

WE ARE LOOKING FOR THE NEXT ROCK STAR...	SEND US YOUR ARTICLES...	ADVERTISE IN THE SANIRE NEWSLETTER...

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Created: 23 May 2023

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Created: 19 May 2023

IMS will be hosting its 33rd annual Mine Seismology Seminar from 28 May to 2 June 2023 at the Asara Wine Estate in Stellenbosch, South Africa. The latest confirmed programme is attached.  

The seminar will cover a range of topics, including the latest techniques for monitoring and managing seismic activity, ambient noise methods, ground motion and rockburst hazard in underground mines, numerical modelling with seismic data, modelling the effects of fluid injection, and interpretation of seismic data with IMS software.

Registration is via the IMS website (https://www.imseismology.org/seminars/#stellenbosch). 

Registration is a two-step process: (i) create a user profile and (ii) register for the selected sessions/courses of your choice. The costs will be calculated accordingly. 

Details about hotel accommodation and airport transfers are also available on the weblink, but these items need to be booked separately and directly with the respective hotel or shuttle service (i.e. not part of the seminar registration process).

Download the programme...

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Created: 19 May 2023

Dwyka Mining Services herewith extends a no-charge VIP invitation to SANIRE and its members for Day 1 of our Tech*Carnival-23.  Additional information is available on our website: www.dwykamining.africa/events  

We have amongst the following technology partners attending:

• Emesent: The Hovermap LiDAR scanner and its applications for Geology, Geotechnology, Survey and Production Departments.
• Inertial Sensing: Gyro and magnetic surveying systems suitable for a range of applications in mineral exploration and geotechnical surveying operations.

We look forward to broadening our interaction with Rock Engineering professionals in the African Mining Industry!

Download the speaker programme...

Download the full event brochure...

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Created: 09 May 2023

Date: 1 June 2023
Location: Bundu Game Lodge (R70 Welkom/Riebeeckstad, Map included)
Time: Time: 9h30 for 10h00

Please to RSVP to: Blackie Swart Blackie.Swart@rscekusasa.co.za by 18 May 2023.

Download the full flyer...

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Created: 17 April 2023

The COAL BRANCH is intended to establish networks and equip professional with solutions available in the industry through the first Branch Colloquium.
Come and be part of insightful sessions on the 18 April 2023

RSVP: Yogendran Arunachellan
e: yogendran.arunachellan@seritiza.com
For more information
W: www.sanire.co.za
@SANIREofficial

DOWNLOAD THE INVITATION AND FULL TOPICS LIST

Event topics
– Regional SANIRE Presentation
– Early-Age testing of rapid hardening shotcrete to enable earlier re-entry
– De-sloughing Project at a High Wall Portal
– GPR on a Coal Mine
– Using laser technology to create value for geotechnical engineering in an open pit mining
– 900 Backfill Slope Failure Back Analysis
– Introducing the Xcell Cyclops monitoring system
– Geotechnical management of pans at collieries
– The use of LLMs in geotechnical writing and studies

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Created: 03 April 2023

The South African National Institute of Rock Engineering (SANIRE) is proud to announce that it will host a Turning Challenges Into Opportunities Symposium.

The Hybrid Symposium will take place on the 22^nd & 23^nd June 2023 at Emperors Palace Conference Centre.
 
Please visit the SANIRE 2023 Symposium events page here.

Kindly note that the SANIRE website will have more information and registration will open soon.

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Created: 28 March 2023

                                                                                                                 19 January 2023

Examination dates, registration dates and registration cost for Chamber of Mines Certificate Examinations 2023

Dear All

The Minerals Council South Africa is committed to an examination process that are monitored by three autonomous professional bodies in the mining industry.

• Registrations for the May 2023 examinations will close at midnight on 31st March 2023.
• Registrations for the October 2023 examinations will close at midnight on 31st August  2023.

Proof of payment and permission slips must be sent to the Minerals Council. No student will be allowed to register for and sit the examinations if proof of payment and relevant permission slips are not received by the above dates and times at the Minerals Council. No further correspondence will be entered into in this regard.

You can send your proof of payment and permission slips to the following individuals at the Minerals Council South Africa: -

• a) Ms. Mbali Mathenjwa mmathenjwa@mineralscouncil.org.za (Tel.) 011 - 498 7733
• b) Mr. Theo Mehana tmehana@mineralscouncil.org.za (Tel.) 011 – 498 7731

Survey & Sampling Examinations Dates & Times

Mine Environmental Control Examinations Dates & Times

Rock Mechanics and Strata Control Examination Dates and Times

Yours sincerely

OGODISENG SENYE

SENIOR POLICY ANALYST (SKILLS DEPARTMENT)

Tel: 011 – 498 7178

Email: OSENYE@MINERALSCOUNCIL.ORG.ZA