Reutech Mining wins the Rock Hazard Identification and Safe Removal Innovation Challenge 2022.

The Mandela Mining Precinct, Minerals Council South Africa and champion mines SibanyeStillwater and Impala Platinum congratulate Reutech Mining for winning the Rock Hazard Identification and Safe Removal Innovation Challenge.

At the beginning of 2022, these organisations set out to identify novel solutions in rock hazard identification and safe rock removal – for further development, testing and piloting – with the aforementioned partners’ mines, with a focus on the reduction in falls of ground and improved worker safety.

A call for proposals in the Rock Hazard Identification category resulted in the submission of solutions featuring groundpenetrating radar technology, thermal and acoustic imaging, LiDAR-compatible drones and mmWave SAR imaging for realtime rock mass quality inspection, among others.

In November 2022, a panel of judges representing the Mandela Mining Precinct, Minerals Council South Africa, SibanyeStillwater and Impala Platinum shortlisted the top seven submissions by contestants. In December 2022, the shortlisted submissions underwent a final round of judging at a virtual “pitching den” event.

This culminated in the announcement of South African engineering trailblazer Reutech Mining as the challenge winner, with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s Advanced Internet of Things Group, TCS Research and Flyability being named runners up. Other finalists in the challenge were Stratafy, Ramjack Technology Solutions and RockMass Technologies.

The Rock Hazard Identification and Safe Removal Innovation Challenge was undertaken as part of the Fall of Ground Action Plan (FOGAP), a programme developed and approved by the Minerals Council’s CEO Zero Harm Forum, in conjunction with the Mandela Mining Precinct’s Advanced Orebody Knowledge (AOK) programme.

The FOGAP’s objective is to eliminate fallof-ground fatalities, which have historically been cited as one of the leading causes of worker fatalities in the mining industry, while the AOK programme seeks to improve geological confidence at and beyond the rockface.

“We are incredibly encouraged by the significant reduction of fatalities due to falls of ground this year, and hope this is a great step towards reaching zero fatalities – but the work is not done,” says Lerato Tsele, senior policy analyst for safety and sustainability at the Minerals Council.

Johan le Roux, Mandela Mining Precinct director, says innovation has shown to directly enhance performance in the environmental, social and governance space – the clearest evidence of this being improvements in health and safety and the significant progress made to date towards zero harm for the workforce.

Both Tsele and Le Roux express hope that the collective e ort between the Mandela Mining Precinct and the Minerals Council will uncover a fit-for-purpose solution that will provide tangible results of lives saved and a more e icient, productive workflow.

Mining, by its very nature, is a massive operation with quite arduous requirements for training, certification, safety and compliance. In any venture of this scale, it is important to focus on the core of the business. Using specialised suppliers for non-core business functions can make a huge di erence in the amount of core management time that needs to be invested into non-core functions. “Most printers in the market today are general printers,” according to Edge

Digital Print & Finish’s managing director

Francois Liebenberg. “General printers pride themselves on being able to print almost anything for almost anyone. “There are two types of specialised printers. First are those that focus on a niche product or service, like printing on ceramics, or gi branding. The second type specialises in servicing specific market segments, who understand the specific needs of those segments and then adjust their o erings accordingly.” He notes that using a printing partner that understands your industry can make a huge di erence. “They already have systems and processes in place, reducing the amount of time and e ort you will have to put into managing them as a supplier. They have a general insight into what you need, how you need it, and should be able to o er the most cost-e ective and practical solutions due to their alignment with your industry,” he says.

According to Liebenberg, understanding the industry goes a long way, but even in the same industry, every business is still unique, and this is where the correct printing partner really shines – by listening to and being able to adapt to your unique needs. Using a printing“ partner that understands your industry

Training has its own set of unique variables. Student numbers vary greatly across courses, and even for di erent rounds of the same course. Venues can be on the job, on-site classrooms, or o -site, and sometimes geographically distributed. Some course materials are updated regularly to keep up with the fast-evolving industry.

“Digital print on demand has made it possible to get the correct materials where, when and in the quantities that you need. Large quantities of stock are no longer required for e ective pricing. This reduces

■ Enthusiastic ■ Dedicated ■ Goal-driven ■ Ethical

losses due to redundancy, and keeps your cash in the bank, instead of on the shelf. This also makes distribution of training and related materials the responsibility of the supplier, leaving you to focus on your core business functions.”

Edge Digital originated in the 1980s, he says, and has never been a general printer. The company started printing for the basic education market, giving it a strong foundation in educational and related needs, such as certificates and posters.

“This naturally evolved into the launch of our Digital Print Express brand eight years ago, which is focused on adult and commercial training. Being involved in training for manufacturing exposed us to compliance and safety needs, including custom safety signage (which is handled by our Sign Focus brand).

“O ering our specialised services to the mining industry was the natural next step, as our experience and capabilities aligned perfectly,” he says.

While not yet mandated into law, getting a head start on your ESG scorecard can help businesses build resilience, create sustainable value, and enhance profi tability and competitive advantage

The NSDV environmental, social and governance (ESG) scorecard facilitates an industry-specific scoring of a company’s ESG risk situation, as measured across all ESG dimensions.

According to Lili Nupen, a director and co-founder at law firm NSDV Inc, globally the mining industry is facing increased pressure to be more mindful about ESG compliance. Evaluating companies on their ESG score, or perhaps lack thereof, is rapidly gaining prominence within the global investment community, she notes.

“Some industry players may feel overwhelmed by the obligation to comply, but there are inherent benefits to ESG scorecard adoption. Using a reporting tool like ours allows these entities to build resilience and create sustainable value in their business, thereby enhancing profitability and their longterm competitive advantage,” she explains.

Nicolas Marsay, ESG and circular economy specialist at NSDV, adds that ESG is a focused lens that allows customers and investors to look deeper into a business, to understand how it is impacting society.

“A good way to explain this is that someone who invested early in something like cellphone technology would have made a significant profit. ESG scorecards, however, take into account issues such as the economic and social impact that occurs through the value chain as determining factors when reporting on these great returns,” he says.

“In such a scenario, there may be significant problems in the value chain, such as how cobalt plays such a big role in cellular technology. Much of this mineral comes from areas like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where exploitation is rife and doing business is challenging. Once you start taking such things into consideration, you begin to see the negative impacts such an investment has on broader society.”

Marsay notes that NSDV’s approach to ESG is to take a hands-on approach with each client, where the company delves deeply into the client’s data to truly understand their needs and requirements. Ultimately, an ESG scorecard o ers a company the opportunity to visualise the impact the business is having within the various ESG categories and to have a baseline from which to improve on.

“To be listed on the JSE, companies are required to have an ESG disclosure report, but this is not the same thing as a scorecard. In order to change the report into a scorecard, it is necessary to utilise metrics and weighting to determine the correct numbers for things like water quality, air pollution, community development, and job creation.

“The challenge is that because these scorecards are currently only for internal company use and nothing is o icially legislated, weighting for these various ESG categories remains subjective.”

He suggests that this is the big flaw in the ESG space currently, adding that to help resolve this, NSDV is able to develop custom weighting for specific industry sectors or individual businesses based on the team’s deep knowledge of the sector and combining law and business consultation to deliver a unique and tailored scorecard.

“The purpose of our o ering is to take clients beyond report-based compliance by helping them properly track, transform, and improve scores on the ESG scorecard. Obviously, you need to be able to track and measure your scores if you hope to improve.

“It is also worth recognising that scorecards will be increasingly important moving forward, because it o ers a reflection of what has been measured for shareholders and all relevant stakeholders. The NSDV ESG scorecard works on the same principle as broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) ones.

“As an example, if your business launched when you were BBBEE level 4, and you can now see you are at level 2, you can see exactly how well you have embraced transformation and made a positive impact on addressing legacy issues, and also how far you still have to go to reach your target.”

Marsay says with an ESG scorecard, you are essentially tracking from the start how you are improving in these significant areas. If a mine previously used 15KW of electricity per tonne mined, and now only uses 12KW per tonne, the company can demonstrate to the public that it has reduced its impact on the planet. In terms of investment, such positive disclosures also show potential foreign investors that the business is a less risky long-term investment.

“It is vital to remember though that everybody’s journey is completely di erent. Although the JSE has released disclosure standards, the process to get there, the understanding of which metrics should be tracked and much more, means there is a di erent process, method, and implementation depending on the individual client.

“You simply cannot adopt a cookiecutter approach, which is why NSDV makes an e ort to sit with each client to clearly understand what they do, how they work, where their pressure points are, and what they are currently doing in the ESG arena.”

He explains that the hard data is supplied in raw form by the client, and the scorecard is produced by NSDV experts using this data, which has to be verified against thirdparty audits.

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Nupen adds that as a boutique law firm, NSDV focuses on remaining a trusted adviser to its clients. To this end, the team will explain what the legal requirements are (if any) to clients while also helping them understand what to measure, how to measure it, how this can be improved, and how to ensure they remain compliant in future, particularly in the “E” and “G” space.

“We already have a few clients who are familiar with the requirements so that when a scorecard is finally mandated into legislation (which is inevitable in our view), they are ready. Legislation aside, this is the way in which the world is moving and we’re very proud to help our clients do better business with better insights.”

As mining, construction and environmental specialists, NSDV works with investors who clearly understand the value of a business in relation to its contributions to the greater climate good.

“We are facing a future where there will be increasing penalties levied on those who fail to demonstrate environmentally friendly approaches. In fact, I have no doubt that we are reaching a point where the penalties for not going ‘green’ become so substantive that they begin to negatively affect a company’s share price directly.

“This is why NSDV recommends developing an ESG scorecard sooner rather than later. This will afford businesses significant experience in the preparation of their scorecards, which can be finessed and sharpened over time and with increasing data,” says Nupen.

The global shift towards doing business more conscientiously is set to continue. Now that’s all well and good for communities and the environment… but it’s positively brilliant for our clients who want to do good and well. By monitoring, and optimising, all things ESG on their behalf, NSDV’s experts have been able to turn their client’s great intentions into even greater profits – and we’d love to do the same for you.

The need for mines to measure ESG performance – and demonstrate improvement – is key to their approach to sustainability, as well as to their being added to strong investment portfolios

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) is essentially a key driver in measuring a company’s progress and maturity. Government incentives and taxations are rapidly moving to incorporate ESG scores, and JSElisted companies are required to disclose their ESG impact, obliging companies to incorporate ESG into their business models. According to Minnette le Roux, principal environmental specialist at law firm NSDV, mining companies adopt an integrated and holistic approach to operating in an

ESG-targeted manner. Within each of the

ESG pillars, there are metrics which overlap legislation that mines are required to comply with. “From an environmental perspective, mines have started to adopt the circular economy approach and begun moving towards renewable sources of energy to improve their ESG performance and set targets. Responsible energy and water usage, considering climate change and resource optimisation are all key disclosure areas in

ESG. “Mines have started to power their operations with renewable energy, operate electric or hydrogen-powered truck fleets, and integrate recycling in their value chains. These mines will be best placed to sell lowcarbon premium minerals,” she says.

“From a social perspective, mines have identified the lack of adequate education, employment opportunities, poor health facilities, and infrastructure as areas to focus on, when acting on the issues raised by local communities. Mines have started to adopt a holistic approach to managing health and wellness programmes, not only for their employees, but also for the host community members.”

Le Roux says the interrelationship between the ESG pillars has resulted in mine closure planning moving from a regulatory compliance tick box to a tool for sustainable end land use. And where there is an increase in collaboration with regulators, stakeholders, employees, and local communities involved and consulted on during all phases of the planning for closure of the mines.

The legislation on closure planning in South Africa is also catching up to the trend of involving stakeholders and communities, with a dra Mine Closure Strategy that was published for comment in 2021, she says.

“Investors, regulators and local communities are pressuring mines to disclose their ESG performance and set targets. Therefore mines are being forced to improve their ESG data gathering in order to collect accurate and reliable ESG data to assist with disclosure in their integrated reports.

“Adequate information will further enable stakeholders to quantify the ESG impact of their investment and evaluate the company accordingly, giving the business a competitive advantage over its rivals.”

Law firm Norton Rose Fulbright notes that ESG scores highlight whether the company is promoting natural resources and sustainable use by minimising environmental impacts, or perhaps transitioning to a low-carbon future.

By way of example, relevant metrics could include reducing electricity consumption, water consumption and waste to landfill, considering alternative energy sources, reducing greenhouse gases and improving biodiversity management and air and water quality.

As to the social pillar of ESG, social considerations include communities, stakeholder engagement and safety and health. Furthermore, questions that can be asked include: Is the company supporting local communities through economic empowerment? Has the mine delivered on programmes and improved living conditions? Is there proactive and meaningful engagement with stakeholders based on inclusion and transparency?

In addition, have all work-related injuries and diseases been reduced? And lastly, has the health of employees and the surrounding communities been improved?

By way of example, relevant metrics could include undertaking social assessments and monitoring deliverables in terms of a mine’s social and labour plan; providing appropriate grievance mechanisms; considering land-use rights; implementing measures to reduce risks in terms of safety; and monitoring and measuring occupational hygiene and health of employees and the community.

In terms of governance, these questions should be considered: whether e ective processes have been identified to evaluate compliance with all applicable legal requirements; whether there are adequate controls in place to minimise any environmental, health, safety and social risks; and whether the mine’s performance is being adequately disclosed.

NSDV’s Le Roux says: “We believe that as sustainability disclosure matures, the measure of a mine’s good standing will be measured, weighted and indexed according to the di erence between the inputs it receives and the outputs it gives.

“Sustainable disclosure that could be measured would provide for continuous improvements and alignment with the global sustainability frameworks. It will further disclose a company’s ability to achieve sustainable growth and prosperity by identifying the risks and opportunities, and providing for a consistent, complete, comparable, and verifiable disclosure to regulators, communities, investors and stakeholders.” When it comes to the matter of investment, the jury remains out on the issue of ESG. But according to Campbell Parry, resources analyst at Investec, the real di erentiator will ultimately not be between those who are either good or bad at this, but rather investment will be driven based on who is improving their ESG scores, and who isn’t.

“For example, a mine whose previous carbon footprint is 60 million tonnes of CO2, but which reports say is 55 million tonnes, can be said to have made a huge improvement. At Investec, we feel that if we can see that a business is making a material di erence to the world from an ESG perspective, then they may well be worth investing in,” he says.

“One might query whether it is worthwhile having a mining company in an investment portfolio, but we consider it from the point of view that electric vehicles, wind farms, photovoltaic panels and other renewable technologies cannot function without key rare earth elements being mined.

“Thus one cannot separate the old economy from the new – wind and solar cannot exist without mining, so mining must be an enabler of the renewable transition.”

It is also worth noting, he says, that a business added to an investment portfolio needs to score well from an ESG perspective – and the mining sector has been at the leading edge of ESG for a long time, simply because these are areas where this industry has had to be responsible to some degree for many years.

“At Investec, we take a pragmatic view of things – our world won’t be able to reach net zero unless everything works in lockstep together. This process begins with mining, and we recommend owning mining stocks as this industry is a key enabler of the green energy transition.

“But only of those mines that demonstrate significant improvement in their ESG scores and demonstrate they are leaders in tackling the change the world requires,” he says.

The need to mitigate climate change clearly requires much of industries, and none more so than the mining sector, whose transition to a low-carbon economy is vital.

According to Adam Gunn, legal director at multinational law firm Pinsent Masons, less than a decade ago environmental issues were still peripheral ones, and certainly not considered core to a mining business. However, he suggests that this is now a focus that is taking centre stage, as these entities recognise the need to go green.

“Mining clearly understands the need for the Just Economic Transition (JET), and many mining organisations are making progress and setting ambitious goals. For example, Anglo American launched their hydrogen-powered mine trucks a er realising that the fuel they burn impacts around 15% of the company’s emissions. This is basically the low-hanging fruit in terms of emission reduction,” he says.

“Naturally, the next step is to consider renewable, self-generated power. A er all, this is not only the right thing to do to reduce one’s carbon footprint, but also minimises the impact of load shedding on the business, by ensuring cleaner, cheaper and more reliable energy.”

Gunn notes that as a law firm, Pinsent Masons views climate change as a key focus going forward, which is why the company took a strategic decision to focus on this area, both internally and externally.

In fact, he notes, the firm runs courses on this for all employees, covering issues like sustainability and climate change. He says this is because they recognise that environmental issues are everyone’s business, rather than just that of certain specialists in the organisation.

“We continue to educate our people because this is a rapidly developing area of law and business. Not only do we study our clients’ business carefully, in order to o er the correct advice, but we have added to our competitive advantage with the recent acquisition of international sustainable finance specialists, Morgan Green Advisory. In this way, we can help businesses to reach their sustainability goals by accessing market opportunities, adding value and mitigating risk.

“However, our o erings are still broader than this, as we are more than a climate change advisory – we are also recognised as an infrastructure and energy specialist firm. Therefore, with the drive towards renewable energy and independent power producers, we are also fully involved in all aspects of the environmental, governance and regulatory issues relating to this.”

He suggests that it is a field that o ers multiple opportunities, adding that the company has assisted clients with measuring their carbon footprints and helping them understand where the low-hanging fruit is. Self-generation, he adds, is a wonderful opportunity for these organisations, as it reduces both emissions and costs, while a ording the possibility of selling excess power back to the grid.

“Ultimately, the environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects are challenging and it is a broad framework that, depending on the definition, can cover the entire operations of a company. Moreover, it is both a business issue and a governance one – meaning organisations have governance obligations to meet, not forgetting the social challenges around gender equality, job security and community upli ment.

“We are a purpose-led and -driven firm, with values around equality, fair opportunities and continuous education around ESG and sustainability. Ultimately, in terms of what we are trying to achieve as a business, we view ourselves as more than just lawyers, but rather as a firm that can make a positive and beneficial impact on our clients’ businesses,” says Gunn.

Jannie de Villiers, a partner at Pinsent Masons, points out that a key part of “going green” lies in the transition away from coal power, something that is already under way. South Africa is still heavily reliant on coal power – and will be for the foreseeable future – but net-zero targets, compounded with

Pinsent Masons have extensive experience in the mining Pinsent Masons have extensive experience in the mining sector that will enable our expert team to provide end sector that will enable our expert team to provide end to end transactional support in a number of key regions, to end transactional support in a number of key regions, including Africa, Asia and Oceania. Our mining team includes including Africa, Asia and Oceania. Our mining team includes dual-qualified lawyers fluent in English, French, Spanish, dual-qualified lawyers fluent in English, French, Spanish, Chinese and Arabic. We provide support to investors from our Chinese and Arabic. We provide support to investors from our o ices in Beijing and Shanghai and are actively involved in o ices in Beijing and Shanghai and are actively involved in Francophone Africa from our Paris o ice. Francophone Africa from our Paris o ice.

Jannie.deVilliers@pinsentmasons.com Jannie.deVilliers@pinsentmasons.com

Adam.Gunn@pinsentmasons.com Adam.Gunn@pinsentmasons.com

In the year ahead, we can expect to see more large private renewable energy projects announced.

South Africa’s electricity supply troubles, have fast-tracked South Africa’s energy transition.

In the year ahead, we can expect to see more large private renewable energy projects announced, especially a er the cap on private energy generation has been wholly removed.

“The two solar plants currently being developed for Tronox Mineral Sands, by SOLA Group, have set the scene for future private renewable energy projects, while demonstrating the scale at which these projects can be operated in South Africa,” he says.

“Following the removal of the cap on private generation, we’re seeing more large projects announced. Rio Tinto’s Richards Bay Minerals has announced a 148MW project with Voltalia – estimated to be the largest renewable power plant dedicated to a single corporate customer. And similarly Sibanye Stillwater, Gold Fields, Harmony Gold and Exxaro have all announced, or are in the process of developing, renewable energy projects.”

De Villiers also notes that as a law firm, Pinsent Masons is at the forefront of leading renewable energy companies through large-scale private generation projects, having recently advised SOLA Group on the o take transaction with Tronox Mineral Sands, and currently advising a number of other clients, including Voltalia, on similar projects.

The benefits of these projects and transactions are numerous, says De Villiers, with the most obvious being the removal of large electricity consumers from the Eskom grid. Another benefit of the mining companies getting involved in these large projects is the possibility of reskilling their employees, thereby securing employment not only at the mines, but also in local communities that surround the renewable projects.

“In fact, preserving and creating employment is likely one of the biggest challenges to South Africa’s JET, because some of the most polluting industries are some of the most significant players in South Africa’s economy – and some of the largest employers.

“While job losses are a key concern for the just transition, it’s worth noting that there are also a number of jobs and empowerment opportunities within the Just Transition Framework – particularly in cleaner energy industries.”

De Villiers intimates that one of the most exciting developments for him lies in working with clients who recognise the opportunities around repurposing old coal mines and their surrounds into farming operations. This is because o en, coal mines have large water deposits that can be treated and used for farming.

“The opportunity with these old mines is to make use of investment available for green energy and just transition initiatives, to create a sustainable business that employs the local community – and the local community must have a share in the business.

“An additional layer here would be to then introduce some form of green energy, as this will help to ensure security of electricity supply for both the farming operation and the local community, and may in future allow for the selling-on of carbon credits,” he says.