Professor Nielen van der Merwe has be
en in the mining industry for 50 years, with 27 years directly in practice
and 23 years in a combination of research and practice as a consultant. He
is the author of two books and 90 other publications. He has been awarded t
he SAIMM Gold Medal for 4 papers and Silver Medal once and the Salamon Awar
d twice. He was Head of the Mining Engineering Department of the University
of Pretoria and incumbent of the Centennial Chair for Rock Engineering at
the University of the Witwatersrand.
His leadership qualities are de
monstrated by the fact that he was the last President of the South African
National Group on Rock Mechanics (SANGORM) and following reconstruction, th
e first of the South African National Institute of Rock Engineering (SANIRE
). In this capacity, he served as the Vice President for Africa of the Inte
rnational Society of Rock Mechanics (ISRM).
He continued promoting So
uth Africa on the international rock stability landscape by becoming Presid
ent of the ISRM (the first from Africa), and then President of the Federati
on of International Geo-Engineering Societies FeDIGS). He has been awarded
Fellowship of the ISRM and is Fellow of the South African Academy of Engine
ering.
He was Head of Mining Engineering at the University of Pretori
a and until recently he was a Visiting Professor at the School of Mining En
gineering at the University of the Witwatersrand. To him, the most interest
ing part of rock engineering is to move beyond the simple concept of a safe
ty factor, and rather base designs around the concept of time related failu
re probability. He currently operates in consultancy on a limited scale.
On a personal note, it is almost as if Prof Nielen was destined for a c
areer in rock Engineering, with minimum input from himself. He was born in
the mining village of the Durnacol mine (Dannhauser). Then his paternal gra
ndfather was killed in a FOR (Fall Of Rock) accident followed by serious in
jury in another FOR to his new grandfather. One of his friends was killed i
n a FOR on a gold mine and another suffered life-changing injury. He enroll
ed as a mining student because they offered the best bursaries and decided
to concentrate on rock engineering because it fascinated him. It was only a
fter his decision to study rock engineering that he became aware of this mi
ning background driven by fate.
BACKGROUND
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Following the t
ragic collapse of the Coalbrook Colliery in 1960, Salamon and Munro publish
ed their well-known equation for pillar strength in 1967. This equation bec
ame the statutory basis for coal pillar design and was later adapted for us
e in hard-rock mines.
In the years that followed,
further collapses occurred, fortunately without loss of life and the statis
tical database of collapsed pillars used by Salamon and Munro continued to
grow. There are now 85 documented collapse cases, compared to the 27 availa
ble in the 1960s. It also became apparent that not all coal has the same st
rength. The Vaal Basin, for instance, is notorious for its weak coal.
;Additional methods of statistical analysis were subsequently developed. Th
e probability of failure was introduced as an indicator of stability, and i
t became possible to track the decay of pillar strength over time.
These concepts, both new developments and refinements of e
arlier ones, were documented in several publications. However, until now, t
here has been no course or workshop that systematically traces the evolutio
n of these equations and culminates in the 2019 concept that pillar stabili
ty can only be realistically evaluated by tracking the decay of survival pr
obability over time.
The SANIRE Co
al Mine Pillar Design Workshop aims to fill this gap. Much of the latest wo
rk was conducted by Prof Nielen van der Merwe, who has since retired but ha
s agreed to present this Workshop, an opportunity that is unlikely to be re
peated.
WH
O SHOULD ATTEND
→ Rock Engineers
→ Academics
→ Consultants
→ DMPR Inspectors
Sponsorship opportunities are available for this event, offering you
r organisation the chance to gain visibility, connect with industry leaders
, and demonstrate support for advancements in coal mine safety.
Companies interested in sponsoring this event are kindly requested to c
ontact us for more information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Professor Nie
len van der Merwe