Sixty mining engineering students from the University of South Africa earlier this month took part in a surface and ground blasting competence training programme facilitated by explosives manufacturer and supplier AEL Mining Services.
The three-day workshop’s specific aim was to introduce mining engineering students to the practical aspect of the mining sector.
“South Africa is currently experiencing a critical scarcity of technically skilled people in the mining and engineering sector. This obviously has important implications for this sector and the continued growth in the country; therefore, the provision of such training programmes is of critical importance as mining is one of the cornerstones of the South African economy,” says AEL group consulting engineer Simon Tose.
As a result, he adds, this training and development programme, which runs on an annual basis, forms part of AEL’s broader partnership with six universities across the country and sees students exposed to revolutionary innovations in blasting tech-nology through various activities such as guided tours, product shows and lectures.
Informed Decisions AEL notes that the three-day course enables participants to make informed decisions on how to optimise their blasting operations and equips participants with a knowledge of the properties and use of explosives, drilling in surface mines, impacts of drilling on explosives performance and blast design principles.
At the end of the three-day course, the learners are tested on competence through completing a written assignment. AEL is registered for Programme Approval, which allows for learners who pass the assignment with AEL to be recognised within the Mining Qualifications Authority system.