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Dear SANIRE Member
It is again that time of year where you are required to nominate that someone in your district doing more than what was asked, going further than was planned, given more than was required. That one member who really stands out.
We are looking for nominations in both the Practitioner and Rockstar of the year categories. Below you would find a description of these awards as was published in our latest newsletter.
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Dear Members
Please follow the links to the latest quarterly newsletter.
Download
- PDF version: pdf SANIRE Newsletter Volume 4 Issue 2 (3.65 MB) (3.8MB)
This is your newsletter and I would like to hear from you. If you have any information or stories that we can use, please submit them via email to alida.hartzenberg@lonmin.com
Your feedback will be highly appreciated.
Alida Hartzenberg
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During the recent EUROCK 2018, held in St Petersburg, Russia, some of the South African delegates visited a basement rock pub for some evening wine and dine. It was while sitting there, looking at the artist and band names painted on the walls and ceiling that I thought of the South African bank slogan: “What’s your next?” Some of those bands will never be known by the current generation, let alone the next. And the question still stands; “What were their next?” This stayed in mind and the long haul back to South Africa made me realise that we are sometimes so caught up in the long-term goal that we forget what the next step is. Do not get me wrong, we need the goal, the finish line, the end, and the des-tination. However, getting there might need some adjustments, from time to time. I am led to believe that, even as a plane has a final destination planned, it is off-course about 95% of the time and needs adjustments to get there.
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Recent developments
William Joughin attended the TuniRock 2018 (Advances in Rock Mechanics) ISRM specialised conference, together with Dr Luis Lamas (Secretary of the ISRM) and Dr Eda Freitas de Qaudros (ISRM President), in Hammamet, Tuni-sia from March 29 to 31, 2018. The conference was organised by the Tunisian Society for Rock Mechanics and chaired by their president, Prof. Essaieb Hamdi. It was a successful conference, attended by delegates from Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, South Africa, Brazil, Portugal, Italy and France. The Tunisian national group has been a member of the ISRM since December 2012 and is largely focussed on numerical modelling in the civil industry. Tunisia is a beautiful country with a long history. Tours to the El Jem amphitheatre and Carthage roman archaeological sites were arranged.
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Full Name: Thovhedzo Gcuda
Position: Chief Rock Engineer
Company / Organisations: Wesizwe Bakubung Mine
Date and Place of Birth: 23 April
Education:
- 2004: Matric, Todani Secondary School
- 2005-2008: BSc Engineering in Mining, University of the Witwatersrand
- 2009: Strata Control Certificate - Chamber of Mines
- 2010: Blasting Certificate - Department of Mineral Resources (DMR)
- 2013: Computer skills and Numerical Modeling Software, Advanced Micro-station, Map3D, IMS Van-tage, Phase 2, Map2D, J-block, Dips, Riskeval, Advanced Microsoft Office Excel and Microsoft Project.
- 2014: Assessor Certificate - Mining Qualifications Authority (MQA)
- 2014: Moderator Certificate - Mining Qualifications Authority (MQA)
- 2015: Social Network Marketing - Success Resource South Africa
- 2017: COM Rock Mechanics Certificate (for Metalliferous Mines) - Chamber of Mines
First Job: Rock Engineer Graduate
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By G.C. More O’Ferrall
Introduction
I find the title of this article rather apt, as mining in Africa has had, and will still have, many challenges – political, logistical, technical (skills and technology), communal, environmental, etc. Each of these could very easily form sep-arate, lengthy articles/publications; however, this article very vaguely hints on a few of these. From a personal per-spective, me being an African, I commenced my career on Vaal Reefs Gold Mine (in Orkney), then moved to Lonmin Platinum (Marikana) before going into the mining consulting industry with SRK (Johannesburg), TetraTech Wardrop, AMEC and AMC in Vancouver (Canada). I have now worked for First Quantum Minerals Limited’s Zam-bian operations in the North-West province of Zambia for the past 15 months (although still residing in Vancou-ver). Hence the title, (Still) Enduring the Challenge of Mining in Africa.
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Full Name: Michael Rory Conal Kevane
Position: Rock Engineering Manager
Company / Organisations: Lonmin
Date and Place of Birth: 20 April 1958, Harare, Zimbabwe
Education: NDT (Mining)(Wits); CoMAREC; GDE (Min. Eng.); B.Comm (Bus. Man.)
First Job: Learner Official (Mining)
Personal Best Achievement/s: Provincial Swimming Colours; Rescue Brigade (Proto) 10 yrs.
Philosophy of Life: Love, Integrity, Friendship, Enthusiasm
Favourite Food/Drink: Seafood, Red Wine
Favourite Sport: Gym
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Dear members,
To ensure that we have an appropriate process in place which addresses the needs of all our members, SANIRE has launched the new on-line electronic practical examination registration portal via our website. This will cater for both the registration of the Rock Engineering and Strata Control practical exams. The intent of the system is to ensure that SANIRE can administer the registration process to make sure that any potential irregularities are ruled out in future. All of the practicals will be co-ordinated at central ven-ues to cater for all of the candidate’s needs.
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Dear SANIRE Members,
It is with great sadness that we wish to inform our members of the passing of Oskar Steffen who passed away last week. Most of us will remember him for the huge contribution he brought and his commitment towards a better industry. Our condolences goes out to his family and friends during this time of grieve.
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Dear ISRM Members and Rock Mechanics Colleagues,
For the 22nd ISRM Online Lecture the ISRM invited Professor Håkan Stille, from Sweden. The title of the lecture is “Rock grouting-theories in practical application”. It will be broadcast on Thursday, 28th June, at 10 AM GMT and will remain availab le in a dedicated webpage.
Professor Håkan Stille has a distingusihed carrier both in the academia and in consulting. He is Professor Emeritus of Soil and Rock Mechanics in the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, where he taught from 1986 to 2010. Previous from joining the academia he worked as a consulting geotechnical engineer at Hagconsult AB, from 1969 to 1984 and then as head of the soil and rock mechanical group and later Vice-president of Skanska Technique. From 2010 to the present he has been member of dispute boards or witness expert in major claims and an independent consultant in geotechnical engineering, responsible for the geotechnical design or member of the board of experts for infrastructure projects in nineteen countries in all continents.
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It is with sadness that we announce the passing of Norman Harte, an industry and Shaft Sinkers icon. Norman passed away on Friday 4 May after a long illness.
A Geologist by profession, Norman joined Shaft Sinkers in 1974 as the 'Company Geologist'.
He played an instrumental role in the planning and execution of most of the Shaft Sinkers projects over the years that he was with Shaft Sinkers.
Retirement was a concept Norman did not understand at all and this resulted in him having a working career spanning 44 years with t he Company, eventually slowing down at the age of 85 to working only a few days a week.
Norman was a fountain of knowledge and was regarded as a global expert on mining matters and geology, often writing and presenting academic papers on mining. Norman was always incredibly willing to share his knowledge with others. He made an immense contribution to our Shaft Sinkers body of knowledge and sinking methodologies.
His love for rocks extended beyond Geology and, in his younger years, he did rock climbing as a hobby together with photography. In his later years, his hobby moved to walking and woodwork.
Norman is survived by his three daughters, Caroline, Alison and Penelope, his sister Shirley and his brother Geoff. Our condolences go to his family and friends.
Norman will be sorely missed. Funeral arrangements will be communicated once received.
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12 January 1988- 5 May 2018
On behalf of SANIRE, let me pass our deepest condolences on the recent passing of a dear friend and colleague Tiaan Eloff.
To say Tiaan was a larger than life character would be an understatement. He will always be remembered for his vibrant personality and zest for life, living life to the fullest. Tiaan was an exceptional Rock Engineering practitioner and was working at Glencore Western Chrome Mine until 2017 before realising his dream of starting his Rock Engineering consultancy. Tiaan enjoyed the outdoors and socializing with friends. He touched the lives of many people and he will be sorely missed. At this time, our thoughts are with his mother Elmarie Eloff, his sister Janke Eloff and close friend and mentor Wouter van Aarde.
Jannie Maritz
President
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The Western Bushveld branch will be hosting Strata control practical examinations for SANIRE members working in the area.. All candidates interested in participating in the practical exams must register on the SANIRE website.
Note that the exams will be split into 2 areas due to the geographic locations.
- Practical (North) will be hosted by Amandelbult. The exam will take place on 19 April 2018
- Practical (South) will be hosted by Lonmin on 3 May 2018.
The registration process will only allow for registration for the area. Please select Western Bushveld branch. Candidates will only be able to participate in one of the 2 events. Candidates who have participated in any other recent practical exams (past 6 months) will not be able to register. The facilitators of the practicals will contact registered candidates to communicate further details.
For candidates to successfully register for the exam, there are compulsory requirements. These also include having passed the SCO theory exam, paying a R500 registration fee, and being a member of SANIRE.
Registration for these events will close on Friday 13 April 2018.
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Dear Members
Please follow the links to the latest quarterly newsletter.
Download
- PDF version: pdf SANIRE Newsletter Volume 4 Issue 1 (2.92 MB) (3MB)
This is your newsletter and I would like to hear from you. If you have any information or stories that we can use, please submit them via email to alida.hartzenberg@lonmin.com
Your feedback will be highly appreciated.
Alida Hartzenberg
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When looking at your newly acquired smartphone, that red dot with a numerical value, for some, might be meaningless. For me, suffering with a mild case of FOMO*, I cannot stand it if my phone displays all the notifications on updates, new text messages or unread mails. I need to know what has changed. On an app upgrade, I therefore read the upgrade notes made on the application. I fear missing out on a special feature that will make my life better or easier.
This brings me to message that I would like to leave you with. You will not know what you miss if you do not know what you have. The upgrade from Ver1.0 to Ver2.0 will not bother you if you only downloaded Ver3.0. Once downloaded, you get the full capacity of the new app. In training and life, on the contrary, it does not work that way. Once you “downloaded” your certificate, it does not necessarily provide you with the experience, which unfortunately comes with time. Forty years’ experience, takes forty years – even in the new technology age where the technology gets replaced every 6 months. The question raised here is how do we stay abreast. In life, we need to learn from the past, and how that and our current status will influence the next UPDATE.
Each of us has the responsibility, believe it or not, to UPDATE our companies to a better environment for the sake of each other and the next generation. If we check our desks and To-Do-Lists, we will find some areas that could do with an UPDATE, and even in some cases, a DELETE. We need to know where to aim our energy and where to cut back. In order to reach your destination, you first need to know where you are.
In order to achieve your goals for 2018, consider the words of a famous South African Bank – “What is your next ...?” If you know what you want, determine what you need to do next to get yourself closer to that goal on a daily basis. Keeping STATUS QUO is LOSING GROUND.
To all members of SANIRE, may 2018 be a blessed year. To those attempting exams this year, good luck. To those looking for appointments, good luck. To those currently appointed, GOOD LUCK. May 2018 bring to each member the prosperity that we strive for and the health to pursue this with all our energy.
Keep those red dot numbers down ….
Jannie
*FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out
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Recent developments
A reminder of decisions approved at the ISRM Council meeting, held at AfriRock 2017:
- The full name of the society has changed to the “International Society of Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering”, but the acronym will remain “ISRM”.
- Prof. Reşat Ulusay was elected as the next ISRM President. He will start his term of office after the 14th Inter-national Congress of the ISRM, which will take place in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, in 2019.
Online lectures
Two ISRM Online Lectures are available for viewing on or downloading from the ISRM website (www.isrm.net):
- 19th Online lecture: Professor Xia-Ting Feng – Rockbursts at deep tunnels
- 20th Online lecture: Professor Milton Kanji: – Dam Foundations affected by Geological Aspects
The 21st Online lecture will be presented on the 15th March by Professor Laura Pyrak-Nolte and will be on geo-physical characterisation of fractures.
ISRM Conferences
The following ISRM Conferences are scheduled:
| Event title | Start date | End date | Country | City |
| 1st International Conference on Advances in Rock Mechanics | 2018-03-29 | 2018-03-31 | Tunisia | Hammamet |
| EUROCK 2018 - the ISRM European Rock Mechanics Symposium | 2018-05-22 | 2018-05-26 | Russia | Saint Pe- |
| RockDyn-3 - 3rd International Conference on Rock Dynamics and Applications - an ISRM Specialised Conference | 2018-06-26 | 2018-06-27 | Norway | Trondheim |
| VIII Brazilian Rock Mechanics Symposium | 2018-08-28 | 2018-09-01 | Brazil | Salvador |
| ARMS10 - the ISRM 10th Asian Rock Mechanics Symposium | 2018-10-29 | 2018-11-03 | Singapore | Singapore |
| 2019 Rock Dynamics Summit in Okinawa | 2019-05-07 | 2019-05-11 | Japan | Okinawa |
| ISRM 14th International Congress on Rock Mechanics | 2019-09-13 | 2019-09-18 | Brazil | Foz do Iguaçu |
| YSRM2019 - the 5th ISRM Young Scholars’ Symposium on Rock Mechanics and REIF2019 - International Symposium on Rock Engineering for Innovative Future | 2019-12-01 | 2019-12-04 | Japan | Okinawa |
| EUROCK 2020 - Hard Rock Excavation and Support - an ISRM regional Symposium | 2020-06-00 | 2020-06-00 | Norway | Trondheim |
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Full Name: Dewald Adriaan Wynand Lamprecht
Position: Unit Manager Rock Engineer
Company/ Organisations: Sibanye-Stillwater – Driefontein BU1 (1# & 6#)
Date and Place of Birth: 17 October 1986, Randfontein
Education: FMDP, COMSOC 1, COM SCC, COM REC
First Job: Top Vending – Driver
Personal Best Achievement/s: Obtaining my Rock Engineering Certificate
Philosophy of Life: Never judge anyone; you never know what they went through in life.
Favourite Food/Drink: Medium rib eye steak with mash and vegetables, together with and a glass of wine.
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Photo Catgeory
First Prize: Dewald Lamprecht
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Second Prize: Jeanne Walls
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Third Prize: Denisha Sewnun
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Video Catgeory
First Prize: Adriaan van Zyl
See the video here...
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By G.C. More O’Ferrall
Honduras is a Central American country, bordered by Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua. It has the Caribbean Sea to the Northeast and the Pacific Ocean to the South (Figure 1).
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