Written by RE Robinson Tuesday, 01 June 2010 00:00
The papers in this issue were selected from a conference on sampling and blending held last year. This topic is generally considered by most production industries as a necessary,
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A monthly publication devoted to scientific transactions and specialist technical topics is unlikely to be on the priority reading list of the majority of the mining and metallurgical community. But it is the ambition of the Publication's Committee to make the Journal of much wider interest to our general membership from technician trainees to mine managers to CEO's of our constituent companies. It is to entice general readership that some 1200 words of valuable space are devoted to the Journal Comment each month. This is intended to highlight some of the features and impact of the papers to excite and activate attention. |
Written by RE Robinson Thursday, 01 July 2010 00:00
Appropriately this issue contains papers from the recent International Coal Processing Conference, which was held in Lexington, USA in April. In past decades this aspect of coal mining was not generally considered as a topic of advanced highly scientific opportunity for forefront research.
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The papers in this issue were selected from a conference on sampling and blending held last year. This topic is generally considered by most production industries as a necessary,
Written by RE Robinson Saturday, 01 May 2010 00:00
We are emerging, I hope, from the most traumatic recession for many an era
Written by RE Robinson Thursday, 01 April 2010 00:00
Minister of Mineral Resources, Susan Shabangu, talking in New York, explaining why the Mining Charter has to be revised—March 2010
It has been a firm tradition that one of the annual issues of the SAIMM Journal be devoted to publication of papers derived from undergraduate projects in the mining and metallurgical faculties.
Written by RE Robinson Monday, 01 March 2010 00:00
I must confess to reading the papers in this issue with much interest and a measure of excitement. I have been involved with comminution since 1955, not directly but circumstantially.
Written by RE Robinson Monday, 01 February 2010 00:00
This issue is devoted to the treatment of the black mineral sands such as those that abound along the east and west coasts of Southern Africa. The papers are from the latest of the conferences that have formed part of a continuing series by the SAIMM over several decades.
Written by RE Robinson Friday, 01 January 2010 20:25
‘Publish or Perish’ ‘The Academic Man: A Study in the Sociology of a Profession’ Logan Wilson, 1942
Written by RE Robinson Tuesday, 01 December 2009 00:00
This issue contains six Transaction papers and one Journal paper. This is a pleasing change from the pattern of the previous issues during this year, in which there have been some extremely important events and conferences from which a wealth of Journal papers have emerged and which have contributed greatly to the technology transfer functions of the Institute’s publication. It is thus good to see some detailed experimental work with evaluation and conclusions in traditional format.
Written by RE Robinson Sunday, 01 November 2009 00:00
This seems to be a strange title for a comment on a Journal issue dealing with base metals.
I should explain that the English phrase quoted was frequently used by me more than two decades ago when I was heading a project contracting company and involved in critical path planning, PERT diagrams and risk analysis. It referred to the successful completion of a challenging activity, such as a research and development (R&D) project or a plant construction contract, (CAT).
Written by RE Robinson Thursday, 01 October 2009 00:00
This issue is devoted to a selection of eight papers from Mintek to represent a cross-section of the contribution to Mineral Research and Development to celebrate their 75th anniversary. They are all eminently note-worthy and the one most relevant to my interests is the paper on Resin–in-Pulp which endorses my predictions a few months ago that this technology is likely to take off internationally in the near future.
Written by RE Robinson Saturday, 01 August 2009 00:00
The papers in this issue focus on sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid has become an integral part of the mining industry and today there are more sulfuric acid plants operated in the mining industry than in the chemical industry in South Africa. This revolution took place in the 1950s with the advent of the uranium extraction and recovery process. The first plant in the mining industry was, I believe, at Zincor, the raw material being derived from the roasting of sphalerite, the sulfide of zinc. Most of the large uranium plants had their own sulfuric acid plants using pyrite as the source of sulfur.
Written by RE Robinson Wednesday, 01 July 2009 00:00
This issue contains a thought provoking collection of excellent contributions from foreign countries. I could indulge in reminiscing on the last century origins of the flotation froth measurements and in the first computer controlled haulage system open pit mine in South Africa. I refrain from this old man’s privilege, to rather follow the excellent suggestion of the Publication Committee to explore whether the cosmopolitan character of this issue is a signal of increasingly foreign interest and influence in future years. It so happened that this issue coincided with a number of news items indicating an increasing activity having widespread impact, both nationally and internationally. I have selected these as a grab sample corresponding to topics attracting such foreign contributors.
Written by RE Robinson Monday, 01 June 2009 00:00
The dress rehearsals for the 2010 Soccer World Cup have been successful and, short of an apocalyptic event, well over 10 million visitors annually are predicted to visit South Africa in future years.
Written by RE Robinson Friday, 01 May 2009 00:00
I had the privilege of attending the International Conference on Hydrometallurgy at the Misty Hills Conference Centre. It did justice to the close proximity to the ‘Cradle of Humankind’ and a good choice for the association with the SA mining and metallurgical industry who had provided the ‘Cradle’ for hydrometallurgy.
Written by RE Robinson Wednesday, 01 April 2009 00:00
The theme for this comment was promoted by the suite of papers presented in the last issue of the Journal. I have previously commented on one of these papers, but there is such a wealth of value in this group of presentations of an international series of symposia on the topic of long range strategic planning in the mining and metallurgical industry that I felt that further comment was justified. In particular the paper by G.L. Smith and co-authors from Anglo Platinum was quite remarkable in the comprehensive and detailed account of the long range strategic planning procedures used at this company. I am sure that it must rank among the most thorough in the world of mining.
Written by R.E. Robinson Sunday, 01 March 2009 00:00
Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital Aaron Levenstein
The March issue of the Journal presents an exceptional set of prestigious papers that had been presented at conferences in Chile, Australia and South Africa on long-range strategic planning. It was difficult to pick out any one paper for comment and of course the topic is so well covered in the presentations and in a vast amount of literature that to attempt to condense it into a short Journal Comment would be difficult. However, one particular paper caught my eye as a topic of personal interest and could also be related to the next issue of the Journal, which contains a selection of papers from student research projects. Long-range strategic planning in relation to research and technology is not often a topic in conferences and journal contributions, and it was for this reason that one of the papers in the March issue fascinated me.
Written by R.E. Robinson Sunday, 01 February 2009 00:00
There is a paper in this issue that rates among the most interesting contributions that have come my way in the Journal: ‘CFB technology provides solutions for reducing CO2 emissions’, from: Foster Wheeler Energia Oy, Finland. There are also a number of news items that are particularly topical and contributed to the theme of this Comment. Somewhat irritating but highly significant is an item from Engineering News that the Canadians have beaten us to the draw in successfully growing biofuel crops on several mining slimes dams. This initiative was promoted by Mining Innovation, Rehabilitation and Applied Research Corporation (MIRARCOR), apparently advanced thinking mining research consultants, specializing in techniques using virtual reality computer protocols from Laurentian University in assessing multidimensional feasibility studies.
Written by R.E. Robinson Thursday, 01 January 2009 00:00
The new year issue is starting off well with a revolution. This word is to the old guard aristocracy a frightening term and inspires fearsome thoughts of the many heads that rolled from the guillotine in the notorious French revolution. The revolution in our case also has to do with rolls, as in the paper: HPGR—revolution in platinum? By C.M. Rule, D.M. Minnaar and G.M. Sauermann In this case, the rolls refer to the high pressure grinding rolls, which were the basis of some very successful testing at two of the Anglo Platinum mines.
Written by R.E. Robinson Monday, 01 December 2008 00:00
In this issue is one of the rare papers that I rate as compulsory reading for those interested in technical training and its strategic role in economic development. Although written with reference to mining, there is much of general importance in a much wider context. I refer to the paper, ‘Technical Skills: a major strategic issue’, by Stacey, Hadjigeorgiou, and Potvin. It deals with the training of technically qualified personnel at graduate and postgraduate level for mining industries in South Africa, Canada and Australia respectively. It is a classic example of a ‘bitter sweet’ article with an intriguing mixture of good and bad news.
Written by R.E. Robinson Saturday, 01 November 2008 00:00
The quotation heading this Journal Comment refers to the Order of the British Empire, an honour bestowed on services rendered to the nation usually in times of national crisis such as war. But I took the liberty of a parody on Outcomes Based Education since I thought it was most appropriate to the comments I wish to make on the education situation in this country, a very topical subject at the time that the ‘matriculation’ results are about to be published. Jimmy James’ modest comments on his award are not inappropriate to education. It is a time of crisis in the war against unemployment and poverty. It is used, not in a critical sense, but to reflect somewhat crudely some positive suggestions about our education structure particularly in this climate of global instability.
Written by R.E. Robinson Wednesday, 01 October 2008 00:00
The papers in the Journal section selected from the Tomography Symposium focus on slurries and mineral processing and some aspects of extraction metallurgy. They are somewhat specialized but the review papers included provide a window onto a much wider field of applications. The sophistication in the medical field, for example, has been spectacular and I am sure way beyond the fantasies of the early pioneers. I thought it would be interesting to reminisce to illustrate many concepts being explored, but it is only in the last few decades that the potential in mining and metallurgy are beginning to mature into sophisticated systems available for routine work implants and mines. I have the feeling that there are steep learning curves ahead.
Written by R.E. Robinson Friday, 01 August 2008 00:00
An excellent piece of work in this issue (‘A Review of the Physical Properties of Base Metal Mattes’) which being highly specialized, will be glossed over by most of our readers. This led me in a convoluted way to the topic of this Journal Comment. There have been a number of references recently to the difficulty of attracting venture capital (VC). In a discussion paper from the South African Venture Capital Association in May, the situation in South Africa has been comprehensively and well analysed. The primary authors were J.P. Fourie (Executive Officer SAVCA), Greg Voigt (Blue Catalyst) and Ela Romanowska (Seed Fund Manager, Innovation Fund), and is well worth reading. The noteworthy motivation for the paper is: R&D spend and patent rates indicators, as compared to other developing countries such as Korea and China, show that for South Africa’s economy to remain competitive, R&D spend and the translation of R&D activity into economically traded goods and services, through inter alia the creation of high tech, high growth potential, high risk ventures, needs to be accelerated dramatically.
Written by R.E. Robinson Tuesday, 01 July 2008 00:00
For once I am not taking my theme from the papers in this issue. This is not because they are unimportant. Safety, rock bursts and rock mechanics are as important as one can get in the mining business. The reason is that I attended the monthly meeting of the Johannesburg Branch, which was a panel discussion on the topic of coal, energy supplies and electric power generation. Clearly, I was not the only one who rated these topics as worthwhile discussing and probably the hottest topics so far this year since load shedding started in January. The speakers from Eskom and from power consumers were excellent on the economic situation in SA. After short highlight presentations, they were joined by a panel of prominent authorities to field the discussion points raised by a sea of hands in the audience.
Written by R.E. Robinson Sunday, 01 June 2008 00:00
I am compiling this Journal Comment during some of the most unhappy and turbulent times I have experienced in South Africa. It is not appropriate to use this Journal to comment on the social, economic and political impact of savage mob violence in the xenophobic atrocities we have experienced, other than to observe that a major contributing factor is the horde of jobless impoverished populations living in squalid shanty towns. In sharp contradiction, it is in these turbulent but exciting times that we have more opportunities than ever before to create jobs at a comprehensive range of skill levels in numbers large enough to break the back of the unemployment scourge. There are millions of houses to be built with water reticulation and effluent systems.
Written by R.E. Robinson Thursday, 01 May 2008 00:00
I had just returned from my visit to family in Australia when I was faced with the latest issue of papers for the May Journal. To find a common theme from this mixed bag of topics was not as difficult as first anticipated thanks to some experiences on my visit. Our family in Melbourne is like almost all households in Australia, highly digitalized with five computers in a family of five. I and my laptop were very soon hooked up to high-speed facilities. Perhaps the most enjoyable were the 24-hour broadcasts from the Australian Broadcast Corporation, completely free of advertisements and excellently presented, authoritative and thoroughly informative and entertaining with news, topical, political, science, international and general discussion features.
Written by R.E. Robinson Tuesday, 01 April 2008 00:00
‘tithe—tax of one tenth, esp. one payable in kind taken for support of clergy and church’ The Concise Oxford Dictionary
The annual student papers are as interesting as ever. Nickel and platinum are always fascinating to me and most other members. Perhaps the most ambitious paper is that on computational fluid dynamic modelling of a hydro cyclone. To achieve such a model, which can be used in practical design and for optimizations has been a ‘Holy Grail’ target for mineral engineers for half a century. Some innovative thinking could have a most valuable outcome. I should like to hope that a logical conclusion to these projects might be papers in the transaction section of our Journal. This leads me to ponder whether this has a reasonable possibility of happening. A brief attempt to get a figure for the number of research workers in the field of mining and metallurgy reveals that at Wits in the department of Materials and Process Engineering there are 80 postgraduates. There are now many other centres of tertiary activity in mining and metallurgical research: Stellenbosch, Pretoria, KwaZulu, Potchefstroom (University of the North West), RAU (Johannesburg University of Technology) and Cape Town. So I guess that there are maybe several hundred worthwhile publications emanating from the MSc and PhD theses at our universities.
Written by R.E. Robinson Saturday, 01 March 2008 00:00
In the previous issue, our guest commentator, Dr Sam Spearing, made some powerful observations on the importance of mining engineers. This importance is emphasized at this time of a power crisis and even more so if extended to all other engineers and specifically those involved in power stations. We are in for a rough ride and the allocation of electrical power to the various consumers, involves decision making of the highest strategic importance. We have suddenly been transformed from a euphoric climate of abundant low-cost coal and low-cost electrical power into a crisis of shortage, rationing and unquestionably high double digit inflation in energy costs. This is a frighteningly different world!
Written by Administrator Friday, 01 February 2008 00:00
Written by R.E. Robinson Tuesday, 01 January 2008 00:00
It is difficult to resist the temptation to do what most of the commentators do at the beginning of a New Year. This is to review the past year with the satisfaction of saying ‘I told you so’, and then to pontificate on New Year’s resolutions aimed at avoiding the sins of the past causing disasters in the future. There was a temptation to discuss aluminium plants in relation to Escom’s capacity to produce power. Fortunately this was overcome by the publication of this suite of papers from the Heavy Minerals Conference (now a regular feature on our programme), which made it irresistible to reminisce on the unpredictable path of scientific and technological advancement.
Written by R.E. Robinson Saturday, 01 December 2007 00:00
Written by R.G.B. Pickering Saturday, 01 December 2007 00:00
This, in turn, has resulted in many job opportunities in mining and a realization that the lean years have left us with a substantial skills shortage, plus an age gap where we have a few grey heads and many youngsters, but are short of the in-betweens. The SAIMM now has established, or is in the process of consolidating, new branches in Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe where, with the help of our members, we plan to carry out the key objectives of our Institute. These can be summarized as: to disseminate scientific and technological knowledge and to identify, represent and promote the interests and needs of our members and other professionals in the mining and metallurgical industries. I am sure 2008 is going to be just as hectic as 2007 has been. So please take this opportunity at the year end to relax and recharge your batteries. Follow the mining emphasis on safety, and take care while travelling. Have a blessed Christmas and a joyful New Year. R.G.B. Pickering President December 2007
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