The Mandela Mining Precinct is the name chosen for the exciting new research thrust that promises to provide a revitalising and modernising platform for South Africa’s struggling mining industry. The research banner is flying high above Carlow Road, Johannesburg, where a hub-and-spoke approach to research and development (R&D) will be directed by Mandela Mining Precinct Co-Director (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) Navin Singh, Mandela Mining Precinct Co-Director (Chamber of Mines) Alastair Macfarlane, Mining Equipment Manufacturers of South Africa (MEMSA) chairperson Freddy Mugeri and MEMSA CEO and project manager Dr Paul Jourdan. The R&D is taking place wonderfully in this the centenary year of the late, great former South African President, Nelson Mandela. It is functioning as a public–private partnership aimed at putting the mining industry back onto a long-term, people-centred and profitable growth trajectory. (See also pages 16 to 35.)