JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The revitalisation of the South African mining industry through the resuscitation of research and development (R&D) is under way as an outcome of the Mining Phakisa, a strategy forged by 120 government, company, union and nongovernmental participants, who last year spent five weeks working together to position South African mining as a collaborative engine for holistic economic growth.

The old Chamber of Mines Research Organisation (Comro) facility in Carlow road is being reopened under CSIR manager mining and mineral resources Navin Singh, who is intent on putting South Africa’s once globally recognised mining R&D back on the world map. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video).

The Department of Science and Technology has contributed an initial R17-million in seed funding to put focal projects in motion for quick wins and allow a consultant to gather data to develop business cases for localisation.

“This hub is beginning to buzz,” says Mining Phakisa strategist Edwin Ritchken, who spoke to Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly Online on the sidelines of the Southern African Mining and Metallurgy Institute’s (SAIMM’s) minerals industry colloquium.

Engagement will take place to exhaust all rapid implementation possibilities, while at the same time the public and private sectors work together to boost the mining value chain for the benefit of the entire South African economy.

With the spotlight on mining South Africa’s hard-rock narrow reefs in a modern way, an equipment manufacturing cluster has been established with the support of funding from the Department of Trade and Industry.

Full use is being made of the availability of vast volumes of underground data in researching and developing real-time systems on which rapid decision-making can be based.

Every effort will be made to close the gap between what users require and what is not available off the shelf, allowing for a focused research approach and avoiding doing research for research’s sake.

“It is hoped that we will fully occupy the Carlow road space within the next month and a half,” Singh told Mining Weekly Online in a video interview on the sidelines of the SAIMM colloquium.

Responsiveness rather than prescription is the order of the day, exemplified by stakeholders being invited to bring initiatives to the hub.

“We believe we’ve laid the foundation for a future mining cluster and dialogue between stakeholders,” says Ritchken, who describes the cooperation of mining companies so far as being “absolutely amazing”.