(1929-2016)
We are sad to announce that Professor Robbie Robinson passed away on the 21st of January 2016, after a battle with cancer.
Robbie Robinson had a distinguished involvement with minerals beneficiation in South Africa for about 65 years. He was an innovative chemical engineer and a visionary leader and research commentator.
The 2015 list of the 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining was recently released and included several South Africans and a Botswanan on the list. We are very proud that three of these South Africans are members of the SAIMM. Our congratulations to them on this accomplishment.
There are few who live life to the full in their work as well as their private lives. One such person was David Lawrence. David managed to fulfill a career in engineering that contributed to the civil development of major mining projects in his home country, South Africa, as well as several landmark infrastructure projects, including the Drakensburg Pumped Storage Scheme, where his connection with the international tunnelling fraternity began.
James McKelvey, a respected and internationally-recognized tunnel design, construction, and risk management expert, passed away suddenly on 20 July 2015, at the age of 60.
Born in South Africa on 15 September 1954, Jim earned his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Natal in 1976, and that same year, joined Murray & Roberts Roads and Earthworks and began work on what would become numerous South African tunnelling projects.
C.A. van Wyk (known as Cedrick) - Process Development Manager
Cedrick Van Wyk was born and grew up in Luderitz, Namibia. He completed schooling at the Concordia College in Windhoek, Namibia.
Cedrick joined JCI in 1989 as a learner official and completed the Higher National Diploma in Extractive Metallurgy from the University of Johannesburg (Wits Technikon) in 1993. He completed the Anglo American MDP with the University of Stellenbosch Business School in 2005.
Darius was born and grew up in the Luanshya district of Zambia’s Copperbelt Province. He graduated from the University of Zambia (UNZA) in Lusaka in 2004 with a BSc in chemistry, and worked as an Environmental Project Assistant with the Advocacy for Environmental Restoration Zambia (AREZ) group at UNZA School of Mines.
Christo was born on 18 November 1963 in Vereeniging and matriculated in 1981.
He obtained his Dip Tech (T5) in Metallurgical Engineering from the Vaal Triangle Technikon. He worked at Iscor Vanderbijlpark in Blast Furnaces Production for a year, then moved to Iscor Research and Development in Pretoria, where he worked in the Process Metallurgy Department for four years. His area of focus was iron manufacturing, with particular interest in the evaluation and characterization of iron ore, coal, and coke for the blast furnace, direct reduction, and the newly developed Corex-process.
Ian has been a member of the SAIMM Johannesburg Branch committee since 2009. He was elected Vice Chairperson in 2011, and has been Chairperson since 2012. He also represents the SAIMM as an observer on the Council of the Geological Society of South Africa.
Ian started in the mining industry as a learner official with Rand Mines in 1985, and graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand with a bachelor’s degree in mining engineering in 1989. He worked at Durban Roodepoort Deep, Douglas Colliery, and Harmony Gold Mine before leaving Rand Mines in 1993 to take up the position of mine manager of a small gold mine on the East Rand.
Pierre Bredell, Pr.Eng. - B.Eng.(Mining)
Pierre has been an active Mining Engineer since 1995. His early years were with Randfontein Estates Gold Mines and Centrocen Projects. In 2000, Pierre co-founded and developed LQS International, a geological and mining engineering consultancy with offices in Johannesburg, Perth, Vancouver, Santiago, and London.
Scientific progress relies on the publication of ideas and experimental results that can be replicated, tested,and improved over time.
The first printed book on metallurgy to have been published in Europe is considered to be De la Pirotechnia, written in Italian by Vannoccio Biringuccio, and published in Venice in 1540. Together with De Re Metallica, written by Georgius Agricola and published in Latin in 1556, this can be considered to mark the start of scientific and technical literature in this field. Scientific publishing of journal papers has been in existence for 350 years, since the world's oldest and longest-running scientific journal, the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, was first published in London in 1665.
