SOMERSET WEST (miningweekly.com) – The mining industry will need to adapt to ongoing changes in technology and involve all players in each step of the process, suggests change management analyst Petro du Pisani.

Du Pisani from IntegriChange, who has a long-standing record in the mining industry, told delegates attending the South African Geophysical Association (Saga) conference that advances in computing power, resolution and better sensors would spark big changes. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is going to improve, while the signal-to-noise ratio and big data would also become more advanced.

She said the recipe for conventional mining was to develop, ledge, support, equip, mine and clean. But the way companies and people go about their work is in for big shifts in future.

Du Pisani said the mining industry was generally resistant to change and slow to adapt, but it was essential. She said management needed to take people along every step of the way when introducing new mining technology and methods.

She pointed out that research had shown that the biggest obstacle to success for major change projects was resistance by employees.

“But change can be managed. Each stakeholder needs to understand ‘what is in it for me’.

Drillers will need to drill in a different way. Geologists will have a new kind of workload. Mine schedulers will have to consider how to incorporate specific ventilation, power and water needs into schedules for the mine.

“The section manager may need to disrupt his age old recipe. Production managers will need to know how to adapt to new costs and manage risk better, while the general manager will also need to have a new management routine,” she stated.

With ‘Expanding Frontiers’ as its theme, delegates to the biennial Saga conference, in Somerset West, are discussing some of the latest developments in the geoscientific space and sharing novel methods and applications related to the field of geophysics.

Du Pisani said there had already been major changes in geophysics, from gravity methods, advances in resistivity and electrical methods to down hole surveying, ground penetrating radar and seismic methods.

“For instance, in ground penetrating radar, there’s been a lot of improvement in terms of sensors and processing speeds. You can attach a GPS to a car to monitor road conditions.”

Developments in seismic methods, which had shown great advances in moving from two-dimensional to three-dimensional and four-dimensional, had also been extensive. 

Du Pisani urged the mining industry and its partners to come on board a new wave of change. She said sponsor buy-in was essential. “The number one reason change projects fail is if they don’t have active and visible participation by the sponsor.”

Training and coaching are also essential.

“As scientists, we are good at the project side of things, but we don't always think about its impact on the people . . . the process, tools and techniques to manage the people side of change to achieve the required business results.”