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How to identify and respond to the continuing threat of predatory publishers and journals

History and background
It is now more than a decade that Jeffrey Beall - a former librarian at the University of Colorado in Denver – coined the term ‘predatory’ journals to refer to journals (and their publishers) that exist for the sole purpose of making profit.

In his first major publication on the topic published in Nature in 2012, Beall provided a first description of what is meant by predatory publishing:

Then came predatory publishers, which publish counterfeit journals to exploit the open-access model in which the author pays. These predatory publishers are dishonest and lack transparency. They aim to dupe researchers, especially those inexperienced in scholarly communication. They set up websites that closely resemble those of legitimate online publishers, and publish journals of questionable and downright low quality. Many purport to be headquartered in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada or Australia but really hail from Pakistan, India or Nigeria. Some predatory publishers spam researchers, soliciting manuscripts but failing to mention the required author fee.

Beall uses the term ‘predatory’ to refer to journals that ‘prey’ on (often unsuspecting and often young) scholars to submit their manuscripts for the sole purpose of making money from these scholars. In this process, normal good editorial and review processes are violated or suspended.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL ARTICLE HERE (PDF 0.5MB)

SAIMM President Isabel Geldenhuys talks to Mining Weekly

South Africa on verge of nice breakthroughs in hydrogen, says new SAIMM president
17th August 2021
By Martin Creamer

Speaking to Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview, Geldenhuys expressed the view that all the big mines with big moving machinery will have the opportunity to move away from diesel and switch to a hydrogen-based fuel system because of the contained ecosystem. While the use of green hydrogen is always first prize, Geldenhuys pointed out that many processes have grey hydrogen as a byproduct and expressed the view that where grey hydrogen is at the ready, it should be used as an imperfect solution rather than being left to go to waste.

She said that South Africa had the required hydrogen know-how as a consequence of the Department of Science and Innovation having supported the hydrogen economy concept for nearly 20 years. “What really excites me is the focus on being greener and more efficient," Geldenhuys said. On the multidisciplinary front, she said: "There are many opportunities for us to work together and bring interesting, transdisciplinary thinking into metallurgy to solve our big problems.” Under her leadership, the SAIMM plans to strengthen its online presence so that it can communicate optimally with the rest of the mining and metallurgy world at a time of rising mining fortunes. South Africa’s mining and metallurgy history extends across more than a century, which has resulted in a wealth of knowledge being accessible from SAIMM’s databases.

Read the full article on miningweekly.com

SAIMM awards its most prestigious prize to Neal Froneman, CEO of Sibanye-Stillwater

Known for his skills as an ace dealmaker, mining giant Neal Froneman has been honoured with the 2021 Brigadier Stokes award by the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM), considered the highest distinction to be bestowed by the South African mining and metallurgical sector.

Having taken over duties as executive director and CEO on 1 January 2013, Froneman has spent the past eight years transforming Sibanye-Stillwater from a 1.5Moz South Africa-based gold producer into a leading precious metals miner with an international operating footprint ranking among the world’s top three PGM producers.

OBITUARY: NAVIN SINGH

Navin Singh 2107202114 November 1971 – 12 July 2021

Navin Singh was born on 14 November 1971 in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.

He started his career at South Deep Gold Mine in 1996 as Strata Control Officer, progressing to the position of Chief Rock Engineer (Operations). In 2000 he relocated to Australia, and joined Western Mining Corporation as Senior Geotechnical Engineer at Olympic Dam Mine in South Australia. He returned to South Africa in 2001 to take up the position of Research Manager for Rock Engineering at the CSIR, and subsequently that of Programme Manager for Mining. He served for a time as New Technology Manager at Gold Fields Ltd, then moved to the Mine Health & Safety Council as Chief Research and Operations Officer, remaining in that position for the next 6 years. Navin returned to the CSIR in 2015 as Manager for Mining R&D. He was involved in establishing the Mandela Mining Precinct in partnership with the DST and the then Chamber of Mines and became the Co-Director of the Precinct for the period 2016–2020. He held the position of Head of Technology, Kumba Iron Ore (Anglo American) when he passed on.

Annual General Meeting Thursday, 12 August 2021 at 12:00, via Zoom

REGISTER HERE FOR THE AGM

AGENDA:

1. Welcome
2. Confirmation of minutes
3. Obituaries
4. Honorary Life Fellowship
5. Brigadier Stokes Memorial Award
6. Announcement of awards, medals, and certificates
7. Announcement of student prizes
8. SAIMM 5 Star Incentive Programme and Top Advertiser in the Journal
9. Annual report of the Council and accounts for the year ended 30 June 2021
10. Declaration of election of Office Bearers, members of Council and other positions for the year 2021/2022
11. Election of auditors and honorary legal advisors for the year 2020/2021
12. Outgoing Presidential Award
13. Induction of President—I.J. Geldenhuys
14. Presidential address
15. Vote of thanks

OBITUARY: DENNIS LAUBSCHER

OBITUARY: DENNIS LAUBSCHER
PIONEER OF BLOCK CAVING


A legend in the mining industry, Dennis Laubscher, South Africa’s and the world’s foremost authority on block caving techniques, died 3 February at the age of 91 at Bushman’s River Mouth, Eastern Cape. He is survived by four grown-up children (Susan Stampanoni, Dionne, Tessa, and Robert Laubscher) from his first marriage to Patricia May (nee Binnie) who died on 29 August, 2002; their elder son Carl having also passed away. On 27 February 2004, Dennis married Michelle (nee Broster).

Born in Tulbagh, Western Cape, on 1 October 1929, Dennis Laubscher earned a BSc (Eng.) in mining geology in 1952, and a PhD in 1964, both from the University of the Witwatersrand. His career was highlighted by numerous awards: the South Africa Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM) Gold Medal in 1995; a Lifetime Achievement Award from the South African Institute of Rock Engineering in 1998; the De Beers Mass Mining Award at Massmin 2000; and the Brigadier Stokes Platinum Medal from SAIMM in 2007.

POSTPONEMENT OF NORTHERN CAPE BRANCH STUDENT EVENT

During this difficult and uncertain time, we know that the health and safety of you, your families and the wider community is of the utmost importance. We as an organisation share both your individual and organisational concerns on the virus’ expanding global reach. SAIMM has been closely monitoring the spread of the disease, especially related to our conference registrants and their travelling. As always, your safety is our highest priority. Due to the increasing urgency of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, we regret to inform you that the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy Northern Cape Branch has decided to postpone the Student event that was due to take place on the 20th of January 2021 at the Kalahari Country Club. This event will be postponed until further notice.

Obituary - Dr Ferdi Camisani


Ferdi Camisan10122020Dr Ferdi Camisani,
July 1939 – November 2020.

Ferdi Camisani was born outside Parma, Italy just a few weeks after the declaration of World War II
He was a student of the father of geostatistics, Georges Matheron, in Fontainebleau, France and together with Danie Krige, wrote some of the first papers on the application of geostatistics in South Africa.
During his long career in South Africa he worked with De Beers, Anglo American, the Atomic Energy Corporation, and Anglovaal.
Ferdi was a member of the Geostatistical Association of Southern Africa (GASA) and the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM). On his retirement from SAIMM activities in 2012 the President, Gordon Smith, acknowledged his contribution as follows.

Dear member, kindly update your details

There is a high likelihood that your profile information was last entered into our database when you applied for membership. Your records on our database continued to be static. However, your career has been dynamic. You have most likely acquired further professional qualifications, changed jobs or climbed up the corporate ladder.

Wherever your path has led you, we want to thank you for your ongoing membership and support. Moreover, we would like to be your professional resources partner in reaching your next career milestone.

Therefore, if you have not already done so, we kindly ask that you update your details so that they accurately reflect your biographical, education and employment profile. This information will enable us to:

- develop and offer products and services that are relevant to your current and future career goals; and
- segment our membership so that we can communicate with you more effectively.

Please don't hesitate to contact us if you need assistance with accessing the member self-serve portal or updating your details. Contact kea@saimm.co.za.

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Other mining news

Mining Weekly | Africa

28 March 2024

The latest mining world news and project information from Africa. providing updates on the progress of future, new and existing projects. Developments in mining legislation, policies, investments and infrastructure will be highlighted
  • Nigeria to grant mining licences only to companies that process locally
    Nigeria will only grant new mining licences to companies that present a plan on how minerals would be processed locally, under new guidelines being developed, a government spokesperson confirmed on Thursday. This signals a shift from Nigeria's decades-old policy of exporting raw materials as African governments take steps to extract more value from their solid mineral deposits.
  • Kore expects EPC finalisation in Q2, following which financing will ensue
    Congo-Brazzaville-focused miner Kore Potash has advised that the condition for conversion of five convertible loan notes (CLN) totalling $530 000 has been met, and, accordingly, these will now be converted into 109-million new ordinary shares in the company at a price of 0.38p apiece. The company will use the proceeds to advance work on the Kola project, as well as for working capital.
  • Ironveld ramp-up slower than expected
    Although high-purity iron, vanadium and titanium producer Ironveld marked the first sales of metal products, including high-purity iron and titanium slag, from its Rustenburg smelter to local buyers during the six months ended December 31, 2023, operational challenges and modifications delayed the expected ramp-up for the remainder of the year. Located on the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex in Limpopo, Ironveld's project continued with various activities during the period. Directors provided working capital support of up to £500 000 to ensure flexibility in funding. The company also carried on with the refurbishment of the Rustenburg smelter and initiated mining activities.