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Underground Communications Infrastructure Guideline Parts 1 & 2

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Created: Monday, 22 May 2017 11:00

Underground Communications Infrastructure Guideline Parts 1 & 2

GMSG has successfully published the first two parts of its Underground Mine Communications Infrastructure Guideline: Positioning and Needs Analysis, and Scenarios and Applications. The guideline is being developed by the Underground Mining Working Group’s Communications Infrastructure sub-committee. It will provide a high-level view of the processes needed by mine owners and operators to meet planning and design requirements when creating or replacing underground mine communications infrastructure.

Battery Electric Vehicles Underground Guideline

The Global Mining Standards and Guidelines Group (GMSG) and the Canadian Mining Innovation Council (CMIC) are pleased to announce the publication of the Recommended Practices for Battery Electric Vehicles in Underground Mining Guideline. This document is meant to serve as a blueprint for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to move forward in research and development, and references existing standards and guidelines related to battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Before this publication, there were no documents specifically related to BEVs in an underground mining environment.

The Underground Communications Infrastructure Guideline Parts 1 & 2 and the Recommended Practices for Battery Electric Vehicles in Underground Mining Guideline are available for download in the GMSG library.

For more info on GMSG’s guidelines work, please visit www.globalminingstandards.org

Obituary – Emeritus Professor C. Tim Shaw

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Created: Thursday, 04 May 2017 11:07

Professor C. Tim Shaw joined the SAIMM as a Student Member on the 14th October 1960. During his over 56 years of membership with the SAIMM Professor Shaw transferred from Student to Associate in 1966, Associate to Member in 1970 and has been a valued Fellow of the Institute since 1976.

Professor Tim Shaw, who died on Friday 21st April at the age of 82, was Emeritus Professor of Mining Engineering at Imperial College London, having retired in 2001 after being appointed to the Chair in Mining Engineering at the Royal School of Mines in 1980. Prior to that he held an academic appointment at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He entered the academic environment after a successful career in the South African mining industry where he reached the level of Chief Consulting Engineer with the Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company.

Exxaro Prioritising the Environment and Local Communities

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Created: Tuesday, 02 May 2017 13:59

Exxaro’s CEO Mxolisi Mgojo and Exxaro’s Executive Head of Stakeholder Affairs and SAIMM Junior Vice President Mzila Mthenjane share “Exxaro’s Top Priorities” with the readers of the Inside Mining March 2017 edition.

Building a prosperous black-owned company in South Africa takes visionary leadership and courage, according to the management team of Exxaro. For them, the environment and community development are of the utmost importance.

Visit http://www.miningne.ws/2017/04/10/environment-and-communities-are-top-priorities-exxaro/ to read the full story Inside Mining March 2017 cover story.

Prof RT Jones, SAIMM Immediate Past President and Honorary Life Fellow, imparts invaluable advice to the 2017 Graduates of Wits University

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Created: Thursday, 13 April 2017 12:39

On the 31^st of March 2017 Prof Rodney Jones, Immediate past President and Honorary Life Fellow of the SAIMM, delivered a very inspiring address to the graduates of Wits University.

Prof Jones ended his address with the powerful and motivating words of advice for the graduates “You are graduating at a time of great difficulty in the world and in our country – a time of economic hardship and high unemployment. The challenge to your generation is to work to the best of your abilities to enable a world where we all work towards the welfare, safety, and health of all people, and care for our environment. Your success is determined not by the wealth you accumulate, or the position you achieve, but by how well you live your life.

My message to you today can be summed up as learn continuously, and care about others in our world".

To listen to the address visit: http://www.mintek.co.za/Pyromet/Files/2017Jones-WitsGraduation.mp3

To read the full address visit: http://www.mintek.co.za/Pyromet/Files/2017Jones-WitsGraduation.pdf

To read the Wits article “Invest in professional development” visit: https://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/graduations/2017/invest-in-professional-development.html

SAIMM President 2016/2017 – Professor Cuthbert Musingwini

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Created: Thursday, 30 March 2017 11:42

Elected as a SAIMM Member in 2005, SAIMM Council Member in 2011, SAIMM Fellow in 2013, SAIMM Office Bearer in 2013, Honorary Treasurer in 2014 and serving as SAIMM President for the year 2016/2017 Prof Musingwini has been actively contributing to the SAIMM for over 10 years.

TMS EPD Pyrometallurgy Best Paper Award

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Created: Tuesday, 28 March 2017 09:31

On the 28th of February 2017 Joalet Steenkamp, SAIMM Fellow, received the Extraction and Processing Division’s (EPD) Pyrometallurgy Best Paper Award on behalf of the authors of “Tap-Hole Life Cycle Design Criteria: A Case Study Based on Silicomanganese Production". The Award winning paper by J. D. Steenkamp, J. J. Sutherland, D. A. Hayman and J. Muller was published in JOM June 2016, Volume 68, Issue 6, pp 1547–1555. In the picture Dr Steenkamp is receiving the award from EPD Vice-President, Cindy Belt, in San Diego, California, USA.

L. R. Nelson was the first Extraction and Processing Division’s (EPD) Pyrometallurgy Best Paper award winner in 2015 followed by N. Tzouganatos, M. Dell’amico, C. Wieckert, J. Hinkley and A. Steinfeld in 2016.

Visit www.tms.org for more information regarding The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society and the TMS journal JOM.

SAIMM Annual Banquet 2017

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Created: Wednesday, 15 March 2017 08:34

On Saturday the 11th of March 2017 the SAIMM Annual Banquet was held at the Sandton Convention Centre. The programme for the evening included the presentation of certificates to Fellows who were elected in 2016, the announcement of the 5 Star Incentive Programme winners, a raffle for the Scholarship Trust Fund, a three course meal as well as performances by The Society of Mining Engineering Students (SMES) Choir. The sponsors of the banquet included Advisian, Anglo American , Anglo American Polokwane Smelter, Bara Consulting, CSIR, Detnet, Exxaro , FLSmidth, Ivanhoe Mines, Masimo Chemical Logistics, MineRP, Mintek, Multotec, ProProcess, Engineering, Redpath Mining, Sandvik - Mining & Rock Technology, Sehwai Exploration Drilling, Siyanda Resources, Sound Mining Solution, SRK Consulting, Theo Pegram & Associates, University of Johannesburg Dept of Mining Engineering and Mine Surveying, University of Pretoria - Dept of Mining Engineering, Wits School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering and Wits School of Mining Engineering.

Top Five SAIMM Journal Papers

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Created: Thursday, 02 March 2017 13:04

Top Five SAIMM Journal Papers Viewed Online

1.Tapping of PGM-Ni mattes: an industry survey by I. Nolet*
2.An overview of the design, operation, and maintenance practices relating to tap-hole management on a PGM smelting furnace by B. van Beek*, T.J. Goff*, P.E. Nel*, E. Rex*
3. Response surface optimization of process parameters for the removal of F and Cl from zinc oxide fume by microwave sulphating roasting by T. Hu*†‡, Z. Li*†‡, C. Liu*, L. Zhang*†‡, J. Peng*†‡, and B. Wang*†‡
4. Coal seam fracturing by a high-pressure waterjet technique to increase efficiency of coal mine gas drainage by T. Lu*, Y. Guo*, and X. Yang*
5. Tap-hole monitoring technologies by W. Braun*, P. Gebski*, R. MacRosty*, R. Pula*, A. Sadri*, and W. Ying*

Global Mineral Professionals Alliance (GMPA)

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Created: Friday, 17 February 2017 10:12

On the 3rd of February 2017 the Global Mineral Professionals Alliance (GMPA), which is made up of the AusIMM, CIM, IOM3, SME, IIMP and the SAIMM met in Somerset West, Western Cape for their annual meeting. During the meeting the revised Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed.The MoU can be viewed here.

The GMPA member institutes take a leadership role in the pursuit and continuing development of best practice professionalism in the minerals industries. Areas of focus include science, engineering, mineral processing, environmental stewardship, community engagement and mineral economics and finance. For more information regarding the GMPA visit http://www.saimm.co.za/other-organisations/gmpa

The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) selects a photograph taken by Isabel J. Geldenhuys as the cover photo for the February 2017 JOM Journal: JOM, Vol. 69, Issue 2

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Created: Friday, 03 February 2017 08:55

‘I joined Mintek in 1996 as a recent chemical engineering graduate and started a journey of amazing discovery, namely the world of pyrometallurgy. While watching my first pilot furnace being tapped in 1996, a spark was ignited and I fell in love with the bubbling cauldron we call furnaces. In the February issue of JOM, I was privileged that my review paper on practical perspectives of DC smelting was accepted for publication. The paper reflects on the lessons learnt during my 20 years of operating DC furnaces. In my paper I featured a favourite photograph I took in 2004 during a large demonstration project. JOM’s editorial team spotted the photograph during production and subsequently requested permission to use the photograph on the cover of the current issue. This picture truly captures the passion and spark that ignited a love for smelting and continues to inspire me in my field of interest, and I hope it will inspire others in the future.’ – Isabel Geldenhuys, SAIMM Fellow and Manager of the Pyrometallurgy Division at MINTEK