Funding for junior miners

By Benjamin van der Veen

Junior mining companies face many challenges, but new technological developments and a strong recovery in commodity prices in early 2021 have countered the low commodity prices and weak equity markets from 2019 to late 2020.

The lack of funding from traditional capital sources, such as debt financing and equity investments, has made it necessary for junior mining companies to discover and access alternative funding sources.

Production-based financing has become an increasingly common option for the junior mining sector. Production financing is conducted when companies secure funding by selling a right to future production at a mine.

In a webinar hosted by Mining Review Africa during the COVID-19 lockdown, notable experts in the junior mining field – Errol Smart (CEO of Orion Minerals), Olebogeng Sentsho (Simba Mgodi Mining Incubation Fund), and Grant Mitchell (head of the Junior and Emerging Miners’ Desk: Minerals Council South Africa) – spoke about the challenges that come from unlocking traditional funding options for the junior mining sector, and how to overcome those di iculties.

Mitchell pointed out that, “It is important for a country to create a regulatory environment that is conducive to investing in junior mining companies.”

Using South Africa as an example, he said the regulatory environment was “primarily targeted at large mining companies. The junior sector is growing. However, the regulatory environment doesn’t support them”.

Mitchell suggested that governments should o er some sort of relief for junior mining companies. This could be in the form of a separate code of practice for junior and smaller mining companies, and additional tax incentives to junior companies to create a more considerable appeal for investors to invest in the local junior mining sector.

However, Smart noted that strong junior mining projects would always get good finance, and that the lack of funding wasn’t about government tax incentives or regulatory policy.

“Recent statistics show that Australian companies have substantial mining interest in Africa,” he said, adding that juniors should stop hiding behind excuses about why investment is non-existent.

“At the end of the day, there is a shrinking pool of international financial capital and only the best projects will receive the required funding. Junior mining investment in Africa traditionally comes from Australia and Canada, where both countries are experiencing limited access to financial capital, so for a company to sit back and say there is no money is simply not true. It’s a competitive world out there so juniors have to work hard to secure funding.”

He said junior miners should not “fall in love” with their projects; they should be realistic and be prepared to back only the best ones.

Adding her thoughts to how junior mining companies could make themselves look more worthy of investment, Sentsho mentioned that there were several key factors that junior miners should account for: “Firstly, they should look at the commodity they are mining – is there a demand for it, or is it a mineral that is in decline?”

Secondly, she said: “Put together a detailed financial model that will make sense to investors. Thirdly, put together a proper prospectus that goes all the way through the value chain. An investor needs to be confident that you have a well-thought-out business model, from exploration through to final productivity.”

She advised that juniors do research into whom they would like to seek international investment from, as investors from di erent countries have specific requirements that they look for to protect their current and future assets.

It is vital to know an investment company’s objectives, if you wish to attract their interest in those regions or countries where they prefer to invest their money, and what the company looks for in a junior

mining company’s leadership team.

Sentsho said to look attractive in order to gain investments, juniors should aim big. “A lot of juniors prefer not to be listed companies. This tells the investors that you are a subsistence miner with no ambition to grow your operation. You just want to mine marginally so that you can make your money and get out.

“The projects that stay in the minds of investors are those with the biggest dreams; it’s those companies who have a wellthought-out business model and financial plan to take their company all the way up to the listing.”

While traditional funding sources are drying up for juniors, new cash resources can be found in alternative funding methods.

Sentsho said technology was set to play a significant role in mining with the rise of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the industrial internet of things. “As such, juniors should use technology platforms such as crowdfunding and blockchain to fund their projects.”

With the increasing push towards moving away from fossil fuels and the increased popularity and presence of electric vehicles (EV) on roads to reduce pollution, one should expect that the lithium-ion battery metals market would be the most attractive to junior mining explorers in Africa.

However, according to Luke Peters, MSA’s senior exploration geologist, exploration in the renewable energy sector is still at an early stage. It is currently reactive to relatively short-term periods of increased demand or, more commonly, to perceptions and forecasts of future demand or supply.

While battery metals exploration is expected to continue to increase in the future, it is still gold and base metals that currently attract the most exploration funding.

Peters said “electric vehicles are here to stay and are riding the growing wave of global public opinion focused on environmental and climatic concerns”.

“It is predicted that around 100 million of these vehicles will be on the road by 2030. We are currently a far cry from that, but when the demand for EVs does increase and the supply is constrained, then we will see a renewed focus on exploration within the battery metals sector.”

And as the demand for battery metals increases, he said, “so there will also be more interest in exploring substitutes and alternatives, and this may be where the future opportunity lies for junior miners”. ■

■ Blockchain ■ Crowdfunding

Regulatory, investment, environmental and energy challenges dominated the discussions at this year’s incredibly successful event. The 2022 Mining Indaba, the first inperson Indaba since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, brought together a fascinating group of speakers from the legal and engineering industries, as well as academics and members of parliament. Delivering the keynote address, President

Cyril Ramaphosa highlighted several important issues that the country needs to address to grow the mining industry. After acknowledging the importance of mining to the South African economy, he noted the significant challenges faced by the industry and the country’s relegation to one of the 10 least attractive mining investment destinations in the Fraser Institute Survey.

This, he says, underlines the importance of moving with greater speed to remove impediments to growth. The president also highlighted the need to fix regulatory and administrative problems, clear the backlog in applications for rights and transfers thereof, and put a modern and effective cadastral system – for the efficient identification of ownership over prospecting rights – in place. He also mentioned the need to improve rail and port performance, and ensure a secure and reliable supply of affordable electricity. He demonstrated enthusiasm about South Africa’s potential for a hydrogen economy and the launch of the hydrogenfuelled truck by Anglo American.

However, Ramaphosa’s endorsement of oil and gas exploration in Africa – which would result in increased burning of fossil fuels – does not correspond with South Africa’s commitments to help address global warming.

It was also felt he missed an opportunity to address environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, and specifically the social element of ESG. Others were unhappy about the lack of detail on the measures proposed to increase investment and grow South Africa’s mining industry. neutral stance.

He touched on high energy prices, but didn’t speak of the reliability of energy supply. This led Andrew Lane, Energy, Resources and Industrials leader at Deloitte Africa, to later suggest that fixing issues such as Transnet’s ability to get exports out through the rail and ports system and Eskom’s persistent load shedding was now more of an imperative than attending to regulations.

Mantashe further maintained his cautious scepticism on energy transition, implying that it should not come at the cost of development. He said Africa must build energy resilience while mitigating against climate change through exploration and attracting new investment, at the same time as increasing beneficiation. Furthermore, like Ramaphosa, he also alluded to the need for South Africa to improve the country’s ranking on the Fraser Index.

The Webber Wentzel mining team felt there were several issues lacking in the minister’s speech. These included: ■ A clear pathway, in light of Eskom’s capacity shortfalls, to new energy generation capacity to service the South

African industry, including mining, and households, through a liberalised energy market, as envisaged in the Electricity

Regulation Amendment Bill, by enabling private power generation and sale, or otherwise. ■ An acknowledgement of the current progress and blockages in the South

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe told the conference that the industry was meeting against the backdrop of high energy prices, caused partly by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, on which the minister maintained government’s detached,

African mining industry. ■ Any positive regulatory adjustments in the pipeline that might facilitate investment. ■ Any mention of the mining cadastral system (which has been under development for many years). ■ How coordination among different government departments, which is hindering implementation of positive regulations, is being addressed. ■ How infrastructure blockages are being tackled.

In his speech titled A New Dawn for Zambia’s Mining Sector, President Hakainde Hichilema set out his government’s vision for a resilient and sustainable mining industry, anchored on ESG standards, that delivers benefits for all Zambians.

He emphasised the need to move beyond talk of Africa’s potential towards action, to realising that potential, saying Africa does not deserve to live in poverty, as it is endowed with a lot of resources for wealth creation. Hichilema also stressed that under the New Dawn government, the mining regime in Zambia would be transparent, consistent, predictable, fair, and based on an intolerance to corruption.

Following this keynote, Peter Leon, partner and Africa chair of international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, suggested that “this was the speech that Minister Mantashe should have delivered”.

“A consistent theme at this year’s Mining Indaba was the imperative toward action,” says Mark Dickson, head of Energy Transition and Decarbonisation at dss+. “Many companies have pledged their willingness to change, but the practicality of these changes – which need to be systemic – are much more complicated to address.”

He says considering risks is paramount, and implementing real decarbonisation plans requires internal planning and risk mapping, the right capabilities and operating models at the asset level, external collaboration with relevant partners, and industry-level solutions and lobbying.

“A big challenge is ensuring that the transmission and distribution of renewable energy, for example, can service the demands of the mines moving from diesel or other fossil-based sources – and this is not a problem that can be solved purely by one company.”

Another key issue, he notes, is funding. In order to mobilise decarbonisation projects, companies need to access finance that won’t hinder company returns while enabling the projects that achieve demonstrable ESG results.

“Resources like sustainability and ESG-linked loans can be tied to specific outcomes, such as GHG emissions reduction, for which the borrower receives a discount on the interest rate. These types of financing vehicles will become more important as mines start to turn decarbonisation roadmaps into action.”

Looking to the future on the final day, national head of mining and audit partner at Mazars, Thinus De Vries, said: “The South African mining sector of the future will be driven by ‘specialist generalists’. While technical skills are and will continue to be sought after, the sector’s future leaders will need to be skilled communicators, diligent planners and courageous networkers who are willing to tackle difficult issues head on.

“Youth will therefore need to go above and beyond academia to become wellrounded individuals who have an acute appreciation of the role that the industry can play in South Africa’s economic development.”

A prominent part of the discussion around youth in mining involved a session that centred on the Youth Leaders Programme, an initiative that aims to recruit and engage emerging talent from Africa who are exploring the possibility of a career in the mining sector. The session brought together university students, young professionals and senior leaders in mining, government, and civil society.

“We identify willing youth from designated groups and provide them with an extensive job readiness training programme to expose them to proper job support. Knowledge sharing is one of the most powerful tools that mining companies and the public sector can use to build the youth-driven workforce of the future.

“As industry role players, we cannot relegate the responsibility of educating the youth to institutions of learning. We have a collective responsibility to bolster traditional education initiatives with mentorship programmes, networking opportunities and widely accessible training programmes,” he says. n

By Nomsa Mbere, partner and Jaqui Pinto, senior associate at Webber Wentzel

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) recently published two key policy documents dealing with artisanal and small-scale mining and resettlement as a result of mining. These are the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Policy, 2022 (the ASM Policy) and the Mine Community Resettlement Guidelines, 2022 (Resettlement Guidelines).

Although they don’t directly mention environmental, social and governance (ESG), both policy documents illustrate the desired integration of ESG standards in the mining sector. The regulator is attempting to provide mining companies, junior miners, and other smaller entrants into the mining sector with guidelines and tools on ASM, and the resettlement of mine communities, to help them fulfil their ESG obligations.

Currently, mining laws in South Africa do not regulate ASM as a discrete form of mining. Instead, a mining permit which is less onerous than a mining right can be obtained, but ASM miners still struggle to meet its requirements.

The ASM Policy aims to create a formal ASM industry that can operate in a sustainable manner and contribute to the economy, and it also aims to deter illegal mining. This policy is very similar to that published for public comment on 5 May 2021. It goes further than Section 27 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (MPRDA), which deals with mining permits and does not specifically address ASM.

In the ASM Policy, the DMRE has opted to create a new system by introducing new permits. Consequently, legislative changes will be needed to enable the implementation of the ASM Policy. field, but there are several points that require further consideration.

First, the extent to which ASM permits are capped: mining permits are limited to a five-hectare area, but the ASM Policy does not cap ASM permits. This could lead to an abuse of the system where holders of these ASM permits use them as a “back door” to obtain less onerous rights over large tracts of land.

This concern is bolstered by the “graduation” principle in the ASM Policy – a dual licensing method, where the existing “first come, first served” system will coexist with an invitation system. This is not in itself problematic. However, the criteria for this invitation system remains unclear.

ASM operators and large-scale operators are encouraged to coexist, through the use of instruments such as tributing agreements. These tributing agreements appear to be similar to a lease, and may need further review to ensure they provide equitable terms for the ASM operators and large-scale operations.

Given that ASM currently falls outside the legislation governing mining in South Africa, all the statutory obligations that lead to the suspension and cancellation of a right are in the governing legislation (the MPRDA); and there’s a danger that large-scale operators with tributing agreements over their mining areas could be held accountable for damage and losses they didn’t cause. It isn’t clear

Notably, the ASM Policy introduces formal definitions for artisanal and small-scale mining, setting out monetary thresholds to di erentiate between artisanal (maximum of R1-million) and small-scale (maximum R10m) miners. It also distinguishes between illegal mining – which is a criminal activity – and ASM, for which an ASM permit is required.

Policies promoting the growth, sustainability and development of the ASM industry are welcomed to unlock the development potential in this unregulated

Nomsa Mbere.

whether these tributing agreements are provided for under South African law and whether they would require the consent of the minister in terms of Section 11 of the MPRDA.

Second, the policy empowers the minister to designate certain areas for ASM. It is unclear whether this means that those areas would still be available for larger-scale mining, and whether existing mining rights on those areas will be considered.

Third, the ASM Policy contemplates that ASMs will have access to historic residues and stockpiles, but the MPRDA and common law limits the minister’s jurisdiction over stockpiles created before the MPRDA came into e ect. In practice, those dumps have common law owners, and this could present an awkward situation for ASM permit holders, where a permit is being allocated over a dump that’s not regulated by the MPRDA.

The ASM Policy does, however, introduce positive changes. It provides structure to the ASM industry and, as it becomes formalised and pays taxes, the ASM industry will be able to contribute to poverty alleviation and economic growth. Another positive aspect of this document, which di ers from the circulated dra , is that ASM may mostly be limited to surface and opencast mining. Since underground operations are by nature more dangerous and capital-intensive, this is a welcome approach.

Unlike many other industries, mining is site-specific and the physical and economic displacement of people, or a community, is sometimes an unavoidable part of the exploration and mining of mineral resources.

Resettlement for mining is not a new phenomenon. It is a global issue that’s attracted the attention of international bodies such as the International Labour Organization and the International Council on Mining and Metals, both of which have published guidance documents.

The Resettlement Guidelines outline the process for applicants and holders of prospecting and mining rights, or mining permits, to follow when their operations require the physical resettlement of landowners, lawful occupiers, holders of informal land rights and mine and host communities. It also applies to both new operations and existing mines that are expanding, and is intended to apply throughout the life cycle of the operation, whenever resettlement is necessary.

The Resettlement Guidelines propose meaningful consultation (as defined) with all interested and a ected parties (including traditional authorities, land claimants, nongovernmental organisations, communitybased organisations, and the local municipality), followed by a Resettlement Plan, Resettlement Action Plan and Resettlement Agreement.

Once it has been signed, the Resettlement Agreement must be submitted to the DMRE. Crucially, the Resettlement Guidelines envisage that mining cannot commence until the Resettlement Agreement is concluded, which contradicts the MPRDA and fails to consider the rights and obligations that holders of rights have to commence mining operations.

Another important issue that may be encountered in implementing the Resettlement Guidelines is that there are practical challenges in determining what constitutes a community and how to obtain the requisite consent for such an agreement, especially when there are factions within community groups. Clearer direction on how to obtain valid consents and what constitutes a “community” are needed. The Resettlement Guidelines explicitly state that any compensation must be clearly distinguished from other obligations that miners may have (set out in its social and labour plans).

So while both documents represent progress in the social sphere of mining, they need more refinement to address some of the issues we have raised. Importantly, their adoption requires statutory amendments and alignment to streamline them and provide for the processes they contemplate. ■

Jaqui Pinto.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) can play a crucial role in bridging the gap between advanced technologies and legacy systems in optimising mining operations.

Growing at more than 9%, the global enterprise resource planning so ware market size is expected to top $93-billion by 2028. Now consider projections that the market value of the smart mining industry will break the $20bn mark at the end of 2025. ERP has the potential to play a vital role in bridging the gap between advanced and legacy systems, helping to optimise mining operations. However, if this is to be successful, especially at a local level, one of the most significant barriers to mining transformation and innovation must be addressed – system fragmentation. Even today, very few mines have a single source of truth that provides timely and reliable data about the business. This is even worse when it comes to using a single platform to standardise processes consistently across the organisation. So ware applications and the data being generated are fragmented across the mining environment. Further exacerbating this is the fact that mines use multiple ERP, enterprise asset management (EAM), project management, and workforce planning and scheduling optimisation solutions. Simply put, there is no cohesion when it comes to the technology and data real estate of a mine. Because mining is asset-intensive, companies must o en choose between replacing an expensive and heavily customised ERP system or buying an additional solution capable of enhancing projects from a technology perspective. It is hardly surprising that the latter is o en chosen, adding complexity to the IT environment. Furthermore, many mining houses have multiple, overlapping ERP and other enterprise so ware systems inherited from companies and operating divisions they acquired along the way.

Generally, all mines operate similarly and employ strategies that are not that di erent.

To really stand out and drive operational excellence, a mine must consider a technology-centric approach. Here ERP solutions can be used optimally by integrating e.g. EAM and geographic information systems (GIS) to streamline exploration and feasibility studies, enhance operations and maintenance, and take care of regulatory compliance and financial analysis to improve the lifecycle of a mine consistently. Being agile and acting fast to optimise production capacity and maximise profitability can only be done if a mining company operates from an integrated environment. Systems, processes, and data must be integrated to provide decision makers with the insights needed to

shape strategy as quickly as possible. The sooner mining companies can derive value from their investments, the better.

This creates the impetus for a new age of growth in ERP solutions at local mines, where datadriven insights are used to provide mines with complete visibility over their operations. Mines must understand the need for a centralised data infrastructure that allows them to have complete, aligned oversight across their processes, allowing them to truly embrace the power of intelligent data. By Heman Kassan Global supply chains are going to take a while to return to normal, due to the pandemic and the Chief commercial offi cer recent developments in Ukraine. The latter has at Technodyn put even more pressure on the oil price, and the impact will be hard felt across diesel fuel and food production prices for the foreseeable future. Mines need foresight to pre-emptively manage these disruptions. To this end, mining companies must adopt greater oversight on product lifecycle management at every point of the supply chain. Insights drawn from intelligent data can allow mining houses to reap the benefits in the long run. Many mines believe they have the right foundation but are still reliant on complex and disparate systems that are ine icient in gaining real-time oversight of processes. So creating a digital infrastructure that optimises e iciencies through the likes of ERP, EAM, and even artificial intelligence, will create greater transparency while driving new e iciencies that extend product and asset life cycles, reduce waste, and provide feedback mechanisms to support the circular economy.

Technology and a digital business model will help mining companies identify new revenue streams and give them the flexibility to develop and respond to changing market conditions. Already, traditional industries such as manufacturing and construction have introduced © ISTOCK – MikeDrone service revenue streams to their business models and use technology to aid success on this journey. For their part, mines rely on technology to play a vital part in continuing a sustainable and profitable operation without lowering safety and e iciency requirements. Mines are used to operating across geographical borders and understand the importance of mobility and flexibility. The glue tying all this together is ERP solutions. Mining e iciency will be harnessed via capturing, interpreting, and operationalising large amounts of data. Owning the data will be as important as sharing the data. Streamlining has come a long way for mining houses, but there is still a long journey ahead. For now, the key remains to use modern ERP to integrate what has been put in place and draw the insights needed to shape the future direction of mining. ■

We’ve all heard the mantra, “The most likely source of funding for any venture is from family, friends and fools.” Nothing could be closer to the truth!

According to an article written by Jason Gordon in April this year, friends and family provide the funding – better known as “seed capital” – for 35% to 40% of all start-ups. Does this mean that fools provide the remaining 60% to 65%?

Well, not all of it, but a large part. A er that it’s the professionals, a category that is very large and broad – from pawn shops and loan sharks to banks, private equity and venture capital funds, wealthy individuals, angel investors and groups, government agencies and many others.

This latter category is usually accessed last, because of the large amount of work (and o en collateral) that professionals require – and collateral is something the entrepreneur is usually quite short on by the time he has run out of family, friends and fools.

We all know the money chain: the intrepid entrepreneur first uses up his own individual savings, then debt (overdra ). Then borrowings against his assets. Then a partial or full sale of his assets, followed by family, friends, fools, then on up and through the professionals if needed.

The start-up/entrepreneur usually only gets down to a formal, well-thought-out business plan by the time they’ve exhausted all their individual and easy-to-tap resources, and are then required to put more thought and e ort into a formal SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis and business plan.

It is unfortunate if the SWOT and business plan are only tackled when desperation and the exhaustion of easy money have set in. Thorough thought, investigation and preparation of any idea and all aspects surrounding it are invaluable. This early research will save huge time, energy, stress, drama, broken relationships, and most of all – money.

There are pitfalls and perils galore for any start-up, no matter how small and simplistic it may seem, and this particularly applies to the mining sector.

Few people with any mining experience or background would consider the industry to be a quick, inexpensive, easy, or straightforward way to make money. In reality, mining is anything but any of those. It is rather something that is laborious, stressful, long-term and most of all, hugely expensive and bureaucratic.

Mining today involves numerous regulations, licences, permits and negotiations. There are so many gatekeepers and role players who now have to be involved – o icial and uno icial. And these are for mere startups. It gets worse progressing up the production ladder. Therefore, most investors and entrepreneurs in mining concentrate on the very earlystage prospects.

This means obtaining a property and or early-stage licence – a prospecting/exploration licence. Obtaining a prospecting/exploration licence almost universally allows one to have exclusivity – usually for five to eight years – over an area to later apply for an actual mining licence.

The well-used term “small-scale miner” inherently refers to mining and prospecting start-ups. Those firms that generally dedicate their energies and resources into obtaining the required licences that will allow su icient exploration and research to © Robert Tshabalala @ Financial Mail progress enough in order to make a determination of whether to put more time, e ort and money into the project/property – or to walk away. Now here is where geography – or countries/ locales – come into focus. The country one is prospecting (and hoping to mine) in is vitally important. What is the security of tenure? What is the process to obtain tenure? What is the route one

Peter Major needs to take with the various stakeholders and gatekeepers to obtain a licence?

Mergence Corporate South Africa seems to be in the media much more Solutions Director: Mining than any other country in the world in this regard; at least since 2002, when all of South Africa’s mineral rights were nationalised, following the release of the revolutionary Minerals Act. South Africa’s government also required everyone applying for minerals (prospecting and mining licences) to have a black economic empowerment (BEE) partner. And each year since, that definition has become more specific and demanding, and the terms and conditions of who can be considered BEE, for how long and under what terms and conditions, more onerous. This short article isn’t meant to elaborate or explain any of this. This article’s intention is merely to point out how arduous it is to be a mining entrepreneur, especially in a place like South Africa. And how, if one does everything professionally and correctly, the disorganised, complicated (and o en corrupt) state of a airs at South Africa’s Department of Mineral © ISTOCK – Photon-Photos Resources and Energy (DMRE) means waiting to obtain one’s licence(s) can take years. Years of not knowing where in the DMRE (and government’s) labyrinth of divisions and chambers and personnel the licence is, who is looking at it, and what more is required for it to be granted and issued. This is by far the hardest part in mining in South Africa today –receiving one’s licence. Next hardest is selling or ceding or even co-funding the licence. Because as soon as it involves any “change in control”, government must be notified and nothing further can be done without their specific permission (the infamous Section 11). This can take anywhere from six months to two years, with 12 to 18 months seemingly the norm. At this year’s Mining Indaba in Cape Town, no fewer than four heads of state convincingly explained and sold to excited investors and miners how serious they were about doing business in their countries. The fi h head of state – our own Cyril Ramaphosa – and his sidekick, DMRE Minister Gwede Mantashe feebly and unsuccessfully tried to do the same. But with still no cadastre system and no plan and timeline of how to fix it in place, and with 4 500 licences now piled up in the DMRE o ices, we will almost certainly have to wait for next year’s Indaba to see anything in South Africa that makes us more appealing than all our neighbours, save Zimbabwe. They and SA unfortunately look likely to remain o limits to investors and miners alike until at least 2023. ■

Duncan: +27 (0) 83 626 5588 Anton: +27 (0) 82 923 5397 Jaap: +27 (0) 82 892 1327 Loraine: +27 (0) 76 021 4344 Offi ce: +27 (0) 11 801 4911

In an era where machine uptime has a direct impact on an operation’s bottom line, construction and mining equipment supplier ELB Equipment has launched its own custom-developed telematics system to radically enhance the e ectiveness of its machines on sites. The telematics solution comes standard with equipment across the entire medium and heavy range, providing a host of valuable information to the user via easy-to-use web-based reporting so ware.

While the machinery supplied by the company is at the pinnacle of reliability, the telematics systems assist the fleet manager to locate and manage fleets from remote locations on any device in real time. According to Keon Kardolus, ELB Equipment earthmoving and construction sales manager, the addition of telematics as a standard feature on its equipment is the next logical evolution of fleet optimisation. Premium-quality equipment nowadays is made to be productive, is ultra-durable and reliable. The addition of a telematics management system further ensures operator conformance, assisted service and maintenance scheduling, alarm parameters, geolocation and a host of other parameters to ensure the equipment remains optimised. “Our hardware solution provides users with operating details such as driving, idle and standing times, [and] an engine hour meter reading, operating event recording, real-time reporting of critical events and accurate GPS positioning with playback.” Kardolus adds that the web-based so ware package provides the user with extensive tools to manage and report on the fleet. It enables the user to manage both operator and machine information, define and report on custom events, analyse fleet data and extract summary and detailed reporting. The so ware can be accessed by multiple users in real time on any device from any location. “The operator and machine-specific reporting allows the manager to assess the operator’s operating style, position, productivity etc. on Google-style mapping. Certification management and ad hoc reminders and machine service reminders can be done online,” says

Kardolus.

Telematics solutions significantly boost e iciencies.

Northam has achieved another major project milestone with the completion of drilling of its No 3 Shaft, at a world record depth of 1 382m, at the group’s Zondereinde mine in the western bushveld. Work on the No 3 Shaft at Zondereinde’s significant brownfields capital expansion project, the Western extension, started in early 2020.

Zondereinde’s Western extension is a quality resource block containing 21 million ounces of platinum group metals (PGMs) within the highgrade Merensky and UG2 orebodies. The resource was purchased in 2017 for R1-billion. The addition of the Western extension improves operational flexibility at Zondereinde and will permit annual PGM output to increase to 350 000 ounces 4E by 2026. It also extends the remaining life of the operation to over 30 years.

Mining activity from the existing workings of the Zondereinde mine will gradually transition into the Western extension block. The new shaft complex is situated some 4km from the original Zondereinde mine complex, a distance that constrains service delivery and logistics.

The new shaft will transport people and materials, as well as allow the supply of services, including backfill, chilled service water and ventilation, to the underground workings. This will alleviate the challenges associated with distance from the existing Zondereinde shafts.

TO ADVERTISE IN www.samining.co.za SAMIN NG MIN NG

READ WHAT REALLY GOES DOWN IN SADC

ADVERTISING Ilonka Moolman 011 280 3120 moolmani@samining.co.za

Air Liquide Industries ......................................................................... 43 Auto X ................................................................................................. 11 BLC Plant Company ........................................................................ IBC Brelko Conveyor Products ................................................................. 44 Invincible Valves............................................................................. OBC Keller .................................................................................................... 3 Joy Global (part of the Komatsu Mining Corp. Group) ..................8-10 MENAR ................................................................................................. 7 NSDV .................................................................................................. 39 Rand Mutual Assurance .................................................................... 31 UMS .................................................................................................. IFC Shell Lubricant Solutions ..................................................................... 5 Vendel Equipment Sales .................................................................... 41

SUPPLIERS GUIDE 2022 ..............................................................19-22

PATENTED