PROF. FRED CAWOOD The major determinant of the success of the University of the Witwatersrand’s Mining Research Institute is funding
Photo by: Duane Daws
Senate members of the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) have determined that the current format of the Wits Mining Research Institute (WMRI) is not sustainable, owing to a lack of funding, mine surveying professor and school head at the Wits School of Mining Engineering Professor Fred Cawood tells Mining Weekly.
He adds that the WMRI business model has been handed to the School of Mining Engineering to develop a new, more sustainable business plan, which will determine whether the institute will be relaunched, with increased capacity, or formally closed by the end of the year.
“The major driver for the WMRI’s success is funding. The university took a decision that it was not going to fund this institute, as it determined that the institute needs external funding if it is to be sustainable,” Cawood explains.
The WMRI was launched by Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu in September 2012. The implementation of the original concept plan of the institute turned out to be more complex than the university had expected, but its lack of resources and funding have resulted in it stalling.
Cawood would like to see more focused research and development of new technologies, such as mine mechanisation and automation on a digital platform, which will improve safety and health, efficiency and sustainability of the mining industry.
He told Mining Weekly in March that mechanisation should be followed by optimisation and be accompanied by the introduction of a new mining layout. However, he sees the phase of optimisation, mechanisation and new layout as an interim measure that needs to be replaced over time by an entirely new mine design, on which research should start immediately.
Meanwhile, for the South African mining industry to achieve an adequate level of sustainability, Cawood says digital technologies that will increase the distance between workers and risk, mechanisation and automation need to be considered. He notes, however, that implementation will take time, as technologies and the relevant skills are being developed.
“Still, all the answers for the mining industry are not in technology. There are also answers in the policies that impact on the industry, such as introducing a tax structure for platinum mines, similar to the one that exists for gold mines, which I believe to be a sustainable solution for most of the issues currently facing the sector.
“We need to take a hard look at what sustainability really means for this industry. In the past, it was a narrow view, focusing primarily on environmental, community, and health and safety issues, which are all very important. However, we have not looked into what sustainability means for the economics of a mine, or the country, and perhaps it is time we did so,” argues Cawood.
Cawood notes that the Wits School of Mining Engineering currently has 762 students, 175 of whom are enrolled in the postgraduate programme consisting of the Master of Science in Engineering and the Doctorate in Engineering.
There are 76 students currently enrolled either in the part-time Mine Planning or the Mine Resource Management (MRM) certificate programmes, both of which are two-year programmes. Student numbers have increased steadily, after a low of 46 in 2011.
“Traditionally, we did not offer certificate programmes, as we were more focused on undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. “However, the certificate programmes were started to assist industry with the critical shortage of skills in mine planning and MRM at a technician level,” he enthuses.