JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Despite South African mining ending up tenth in a ten-country global benchmarking exercise, two-thirds of the respondents who participated in a survey appear to be more intent on just doing the same things better rather than modernising meaningfully.

Despite the sustainability of South African mining being under pressure, the majority of the coal, gold, uranium, platinum group metals, diamond, iron-ore, manganese, copper, and industrial minerals profile surveyed are not modernising. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

The required transformative shift toward broader sustainability lacked emphasis and even environmental considerations ended up as "a secondary dimension". 

At South Africa’s Mining Modernisation Showcase – where Minerals Council South Africa, the Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability, the Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators’ specialised research unit within South Africa's Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC-CeSTII), PwC Smart Mining, the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, and the National Advisory Council on Innovation locked arms – modernisation of South Africa’s mining sector was described as “an urgent strategic priority for the South African economy”.

But the study into the patterns and capabilities of research, development and innovation (RDI) points to most of South Africa's miners and mining services providers not necessarily prioritising modernisation. 

Fewer than half had introduced any significantly improved goods, services or business processes in the years 2021 to 2023.

The most common activities of RDI activists are training employees and buying assets to increase efficiency and productivity.

But the study also found that most workforce training is largely bypassing universities and technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges.

What's more, international training is virtually off the chart, access to international sources of infrastructure is low and intellectual property- (IP-) related activities come within a hair's breadth of being zero.

Also, most firms are technology adopters and not creators, with traditional research-and-development- (R&D-) intensive innovation falling largely by the wayside.

Spelt out was the need for a shift from legacy practices towards technology solutions, greater operational resilience, and future-facing strategic approaches.

HSRC-CeSTII research specialist Dr Amy Kahn told the showcase audience that 54% of firms reported engagement in employee training activities, which displayed emphasis on building human capital to support innovation. 

Forty-four per cent engaged in activities related to the acquisition or lease of tangible assets, highlighting a blend of traditional and technology-driven approaches to modernisation efforts.

Forty per cent reported engaging in engineering, design, and other creative work activities, which underlined the uptake of existing technologies, rather than the development of new technologies by the firms themselves.

Only a third reported in-house R&D, with an even lower percentage engaging in IP-related activities.

Digital innovation in the form of software development and database activities saw moderate 37% engagement, with the most prominent RDI-activity outcomes being more personnel, increased output, improved asset use, and fewer health-and-safety incidents.

Overall, the positive outcomes align with the core objectives of RDI investments: boosting operational efficiency, workforce capability, and sustainability, the audience at the event covered by Mining Weekly heard.

The most commonly developed and used technology was computerised design and engineering, with others including telematics, material handling, supply chain and logistics technologies, the Internet of Things, and AI.

Engagement with higher-cost frontier technologies such as blockchain, nanotechnology, advanced manufacturing, and robotics, remained limited, Kahn noted, while also pointing out that to successfully modernise mining operations, firms require a highly skilled workforce equipped with advanced technical expertise.

Specialised skills are necessary for effectively operating and integrating emerging technologies such as automation, AI, and data analytics, and so firms must invest in workforce skills development and training.

Sixty-three per cent of firms indicated that their employees received formal training in support of their RDI activities but a sizeable proportion did not provide formal training and showed room for improvement in commitng to workforce development.

In drawing attention to the near absence of international training, as well as low use of universities and TVET colleges, Kahn reported that most of the training in South Africa happened in-house as well as via external private service providers.

Firms accessed infrastructure to support their RDI activities from a variety of local and international sources. There was physical infrastructure, including information and communication technology (ICT) research equipment, laboratory facilities, as well as enabling infrastructure, which includes staff, data-management infrastructure, and supercomputing.

Local access to ICT infrastructure was high, with 67% of firms sourcing this infrastructure locally.

The most widely accessed resource was skilled personnel at 79%, again pointing to the importance of human capabilities in RDI for modernisation. Access to advanced infrastructure such as supercomputing was limited.

Of the nigh-R2-billion spent on RDI activities, R1.7-billion was from mining and R251-million from mining services firms. More than half of this expenditure went towards employee training activities, once again highlighting the importance of human capability development.

About a quarter went towards engineering, design, and other creative work activities, and a mere 0.2% was expended on IP-related activities.

The disproportionate investment in training and tangible assets suggested a primary emphasis on immediate operational improvement and skills development rather than long-term strategic innovation, which was for the year 2023 and not for the whole three-year period.

Given the scale and complexity of modernising mining operations, collaboration and partnerships were crucial to mobilise necessary resources, expertise, and coordination, so that all stakeholders worked towards shared goals.

Higher education institutions were the most common partners.

Competitors or other mining companies, consultants, and commercial laboratories were also common partners, and there was far less collaboration with other organisations including government, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Mintek, and other research institutes.

The results also showed low levels of international collaboration, highlighting a significant gap in global knowledge exchange and technology transfer.

This may restrict access to cutting-edge innovations, global best practices, and diverse funding opportunities.

Firms were also asked about the barriers to modernisation. Thirty-four per cent of firms reported that human capability barriers were significant in terms of their modernisation efforts.

This includes shortages in managerial, engineering, technical, data analysis, as well as digital skills.

Governance and institutional barriers, including weak IP protections, insufficient tax incentives, burdensome regulations, and limited government support, were reported by 32% of firms.

Thirty-two per cent of firms also reported research infrastructure barriers, including restricted access to ICT systems, underground communication technologies, energy supply, transportation, laboratory facilities, and commercialisation support.

Firm-level technological capability barriers were the least commonly reported issues.

Rather than being correctly viewed as a transformative shift towards broader sustainability or inclusive innovation, modernisation is being primarily viewed as a tool for enhancing operational productivity.

Modernisation enablers were found to be:

• advanced technologies and access to infrastructure;

• skills and training;

• collaboration; and

• genuine RDI investment.

Key barriers to crucial South African mining modernisation, particularly those related to governance and human capabilities, underscore the need for targeted policy interventions, was the conclusion.