Journal CommentJournal Comment - v119n10
- Details
- Created: Friday, 29 November 2019 12:05
- Written by B. Genc
In this edition of papers for general interest, you can find twelve contributions from different part of the world – Botswana, Canada, China, France, Iran, Spain, and South Africa. This is a good indication that the SAIMM Journal continues to attract papers from the international community, which is one of the requirements for inclusion on the Department of Higher Education and Training’s (DoHET) list of accredited journals. The DoHET list includes ISI, IBSS, South African journals (DHET), Scopus, SciELO SA, and Norwegian journals; and articles in these journals are eligible for subsidy. Academic institutions in South Africa rely on that subsidy to support their research initiatives. This highlights the importance of publishing articles in the SAIMM Journal in a timeous manner.
In the past, the SAIMM Journal accumulated a considerable backlog of papers of general interest awaiting publication, and such papers used to take up to a year to appear in print. The SAIMM Publications Committee understands the importance of publishing research results as soon as possible, and efforts are being made to address this issue in the most efficient manner.
The twelve papers that have been selected for this edition of the Journal cover topics ranging from a coupling simulation model between a coal mine ventilation network and gob flow field; the use of forensic laser scanning technology in mining incident investigations; prospects for value addition in copper in the emerging Kalahari Copper Belt of Botswana; modelling of generic excavation sequences for bore-and-fill mining; and evaluation of shaft locations in underground mines by means of fuzzy multi-objective optimization. Papers about the dissolution kinetics of tellurium during alkaline sulphide leaching of gold concentrate, CO2 reactivity of briquettes derived from discard inertinite-rich Highveld coal incorporating lignosulphonate and resin as binders, and microcrack formation in vanadium-titanium magnetite using different crushing processes also make for interesting reads.
The Publications Committee hopes you enjoy reading the general papers in this month’s Journal.
B. Genc
This edition of the Journal is dedicated to the Diamonds: Source-to-Use conference held during June 2018 at the Birchwood Conference Centre in Johannesburg. It was attended by 107 delegates, some of whom came from as far away as Botswana, Namibia, Canada, the UK, and Belgium. It was the seventh conference in the series, which targets the full spectrum of the diamond pipeline from exploration through to sales and marketing. 2018 saw a renewed enthusiasm in the diamond mining sector in Southern Africa, even if it was tempered by tough economic conditions and political uncertainties. The theme of the 2018 conference, Thriving in Changing Times, bears testimony to how large and small companies are adapting to these circumstances, addressing risk and applying advanced technologies to well-tested exploration, mining, and processing methods.
As we approach the end of another eventful year, it’s good to reflect on where our mining industry and the contributions it makes belongs in the local and global picture.
The second Copper Cobalt Africa conference was held in the Mosi-oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls) National Park, Zambia. Recent strong rises in the prices of copper and particularly of cobalt, coupled with increasing international interest in developments in the African Copperbelt, attracted over 300 delegates, representing 22 countries.
On behalf of the South African Underground Coal Gasification Association (SAUCGA) I am delighted to present papers in this edition of the SAIMM Journal. The UCG edition showcases work by various researchers, through their respective institutions, highlighting the active and diverse research areas of importance to the SAIMM readership and to South Africa as a whole. The research work also supports the general consensus and drive towards cleaner and more sustainable mining technologies that are required for emerging countries that are endowed with coal resources. Some of the work reproduced here is the result of a number of workshops and important discussions held by SAUCGA members over the last few years. We are sincerely grateful to the SAIMM, the editorial board, and the reviewers for affording us this forum to communicate the pertinent issues relevant to UCG in the South African context.