AMN - Technology key for gold mining survival – comment by Yolanda Torrisi

It is disturbing that the position of South Africa as a gold producing nation has slipped from first to seventh in less than 10 years, especially considering that it has the world’s third largest reserves. While China’s rise up the ranks has been unstoppable, South Africa’s inability to move with the times, particularly in terms of technology, has contributed to the decline and should have been addressed.

It is obvious that producers such as Russia, Australia and Canada have moved with the times as production levels have held firm or even been bumped higher while many emerging nations throughout Asia, Latin America and other parts of Africa are improving.

Unless South African miners move along the path of greater automation and technology in an accelerated manner, the nation’s gold industry could well be dead in less than 20 years.

The situation in South Africa has evolved through a unique set of circumstances. The country’s apartheid system that ended in 1994 provided cheap labour and minimal safety standards for decades, which meant that companies had little incentive to invest in technology.

Most mines are deep and labour intensive while drill and blast methods first implemented in the 1950s are still common. The result is that costs have risen appreciably while output has dropped.

An estimated 80% of the gold industry’s output still comes from workers using hand drills in narrow tunnels rather than the bulk mining techniques employed elsewhere. South Africa unearthed just 140 tonnes of gold in 2016, down 58% from 2004.

New technology is needed to make extracting the ore more profitable and in this regard Gold Fields is setting an example at its South Deep operation, the country’s only fully mechanised underground gold mine.

Heavy machinery can be used because the ore seams are more than 100 metres wide, which is not the case in the thin deposits that are more common and where different solutions are required. Technology needs to be developed to suit individual mines rather than using machines developed for elsewhere in the world but this should not be a hindrance as it will make these operations more profitable.

An added bonus is that technology can make South Africa’s gold mines safer. Interesting developments in this regard include small robots that can drill in tunnels less than 1.2 metres high and breaking rock without using explosives.

The potential to lift gold production is there because, according to the US Geological Survey the country has about 6000 tonnes of reserves, trailing only Australia and Russia. The SA Chamber of Mines says about 1000 tonnes could be easily mined if the industry used technology to cut by 50% the ratio of gold it can produce profitably from every tonne of waste rock.

Yolanda Torrisi is Chairperson of The African Mining Network and comments on African mining issues and the growing global interest in the African continent. Contact:yolanda@yolandatorrisi.com