Mining In Africa Research Articles

The Interplay between Mining and Green Economy in South Africa: An Energy Lens

Multiple crises of sustainability on economic, social, environmental and governance fronts have crippled the world’s current development path. The transition to a green growth model, stemming from the concept of sustainable development, has been recognised as a ground-breaking way forward, combining economic development, social welfare and environmental protection. Such a transition has massive implications for all economic activities and socio-economic development strategies. This manifold challenge is particularly pronounced in the mining sector, around the opportunity to turn the industry into an agent of change and solution providers, rather than a generator of unsustainable lock-ins and a resisting force. An energy prism of analysis provides a vital insight into the nexus and a practical entry point. A traditional illustration of this historical dichotomy between mining and sustainable development can be found in South Africa.Mining value chains play a significant role in the South African economy. Beyond their direct contribution, mining activities largely drive the country’s development through their integration with energy and transport infrastructure (as part of a Minerals-Energy Complex) and their multiple linkages with the rest of the economy. The is particularly the case of the platinum value chain, as a result of South Africa holding more than 95% of global reserves.Largely unconnected to the internal dynamics shaping the South African mining value chains, a green economy agenda has emerged in the country over the last two decades. Focused on the creation of green jobs, South Africa’s emerging framework for a green economy is developing rapidly. It remains however impacted by a series of policy and institutional challenges, hampering its implementation and a smooth transition.This finds particular expression in the South African mining value chains, essentially due to their reliance on coal-based electricity supply. It constitutes a core factor of vulnerability with regards to climate change response measures. Endogenous factors, such as increased cost pressures and falling prices, moreover weaken the ability of South Africa’s mining value chains to cope with new conditions. This is specifically apparent in the platinum sector. In addition, the ability of the South African mining sector to shift to a development path compatible with a green economy appears to heavily hinge on the transformation of the country’s energy supply industry, leaving mining houses little room to manoeuvre. Acknowledging this situation, the South African government has provided some support for the transition and companies have made efforts to reduce their energy and carbon footprint. These initiatives however appear insufficient, particularly in light of the economic benefits associated with the mitigation opportunities existing at the firm level.In the long run, the global transition to a green economy may moreover represent an opportunity for numerous South African mining value chains, as new, innovative green products require substantial amounts of minerals and metals. Fuel cells, as part of the platinum value chain, are a striking illustration of this potential.

African Mining, Gender, and Local Employment

It is a contentious issue whether large scale mining creates local employment, and the sector has been accused of hurting women’s labor supply and economic opportunities. This paper uses the rapid expansion of mining in Sub-Saharan Africa to analyze local structural shifts. It matches 109 openings and 84 closings of industrial mines to survey data for 800,000 individuals and exploits the spatial-temporal variation. With mine opening, women living within 20 km of a mine switch from self-employment in agriculture to working in services or they leave the work force. Men switch from agriculture to skilled manual labor. Effects are stronger in years of high world prices. Mining creates local boom-bust economies in Africa, with permanent effects on women’s labor market participation.

Special Issue: The State, The Citizen and Power

Two decades ago, a cohort of key historians made an important intervention into understanding the workings of political violence and coercion in southern Africa. The essay col- lection was published on the cusp of the democratic transition in South Africa in 1992.2 They focused on coercion and paternalism in the labour market and cults of violence in Mozambique; violence on the gold mines in South Africa; political and masculinist domestic violence in the armed struggle; protests in informal settlements in South Africa; and, finally, they offered a look at war and the potential for social healing in Zimbabwe. Now, in this Special Issue, a new generation of historians make their mark.

CEO compensation, corporate governance, and performance of listed platinum mines in South Africa

Executive compensation has been studied extensively in the past three decades, yet the relationship between company performance and executive compensation continues to be a debated topic judging from the number of articles in academic literature. The main objective of this study was to determine the relationship between CEO compensation, corporate governance and financial performance of listed platinum mines in South Africa. The results of the study indicated no statistics significant relationship between CEO compensation and the financial performance variables ROE and ROA. The results also indicated a positive relationship between some corporate governance variables such as board size and proportion number of independent non-executive directors, but found no statistic significant relationship between CEO compensation and proportion number of female board members.

Expectations of Paternalism: Welfare, Corporate Responsibility, and HIV at South Africa's Mines

This article focuses on HIV/AIDS management at Anglo American, the world's third-biggest mining company, the largest private-sector employer in South Africa and across the continent, and the first company to provide antiretroviral therapy (ART) “free of charge” to its workforce in a context of little or no access to state health care. Through the lens of HIV management, the article considers what happens when human care and welfare is refracted through the prism of corporate managerialism, shareholder value, and, more immediately, the relationship between workers and capital. It suggests that, as welfare is conflated with the maintenance of human capital, care becomes a conduit for corporate control and containment giving new force to old paternalistic regimes in the postapartheid workplace. Here the discourse of shareholder value and (human) capital efficiency is fused with moralities of social responsibility in this new dispensation of corporate compassion. The result is the emergence of a vanguard of ART recipients, employees who depend on their corporate employers not only for their livelihood but for their very survival and thus are divided from society outside the workplace and from their own dependents. Their liminality comes to embody the disjuncture between corporate responsibility and state welfare.

Platinum and Gold Mining in South Africa: The Context of the Marikana Massacre.

Mining is a source of extraordinary wealth, but its benefits often do not accrue to the workers and communities most involved. This paper presents two case studies of mining in South Africa to reflect on the history and legacy of mining both through observation and through the voices of affected communities. Interviews and observations on field visits to the platinum and gold mining areas of South Africa in the immediate aftermath of the Marikana massacre highlight this legacy--including vast quantities of tailings dumps and waste rock, lakes of polluted water and a devastated physical and social environment, high unemployment, high rates of occupational injury and disease including silicosis with co-morbidities, absent social security, and disrupted rural and agricultural communities. Exploitative conditions of work and the externalization of the health and environmental costs of mining will require international solidarity, robust independent trade unions, and a commitment to human rights.

Design of primary ground support during roadway development using empirical databases

There have been many design practices utilised within the coal mining industry to arrive at the minimum densities of primary ground support required during roadway development. This paper demonstrates the practical use of empirical databases, and focuses on the main drivers for ground support as demonstrated in conceptual models. Golder Associates’ empirical databases used for ground support include a primary roof support database and a primary rib support database. Both are based on successful ground support designs installed in mines in Australia, the US, the UK, South Africa, New Zealand, and Europe. The term “successful” refers to those designs that were used on a repeated basis for the purpose of roadway development. The primary roof support database indicates that the major factors influencing successful roof support designs are roof competency, expressed as the coal mine roof rating (CMRR), and in situ stress. In regard to the primary rib support database, it is evident from the current database that the primary factors affecting the capacity of rib support required for a successful design are roadway height and depth of cover. These databases have been used to help determine the minimum primary ground support designs required at many mine sites in Australasia, Europe, and the US. This paper will demonstrate the effectiveness and practicality of these databases at two selected mines in Australia and the US. In order to improve the primary rib support database, this paper will also propose a new rib deformation rating based on the addition of site specific coal strength data for the Australian mines. The proposed rating attempts to capture the main variables that define the behaviour of a buckling column.

‘There are worse places than Dalmuir!’ Glaswegian Riveters on the Clyde and the Copperbelt

This article follows the fortunes of a group of riveters who moved, briefly, from the Clyde to the Copperbelt to work on construction at the newly opened copper mines in the region in 1930. Escaping from Depression-era Glasgow, these volatile riveters clashed with hard-bitten American mine managers over wages, self-respect and the colour bar in southern Africa, events best understood within a framework of the transnational world of white labour. The history of labour migration in colonial Africa has been studied almost exclusively in terms of African labour yet large numbers of people arrived from outside the continent to work on the mines in central and southern Africa. Although only a sliver of these wider population flows, the riveters provide a snapshot in the wider British labour movement and movements of white migrants during this period. This article argues that their experiences illustrate the curious, influential politics of ‘white labourism’ where political radicalism and industrial militancy we...

The country mining vision: towards a new deal

The Africa Mining Vision (AMV) adopted by the African Union Heads of State and Government in February 2009 represents a paradigm shift away from a resource development model anchored on extractivism toward one in which mineral resources are harnessed to accelerate broad-based development and build resilient, diversified, and competitive economies. The vision is premised on a broad understanding of value beyond mineral revenues. Those are to be managed in a transparent manner and invested in other forms of capital that can outlast the currency of mining. The AMV calls for strong economic and social linkages between the extractive sector and other sectors of the local economy as evidenced by the share of wealth that is retained locally and higher levels of value addition and local content. The successful implementation of the AMV requires strong and well-coordinated institutions, coherent and well-administered policies, and regulatory frameworks. Of vital importance, especially at country level, is the need to build multi-stakeholder platforms for dialogue and decision making. This paper discusses the Country Mining Vision (CMV) as an instrument to facilitate the implementation of the AMV at country level.

Worker Struggles as Community Struggles: The Politics of Protest in Nkaneng, Marikana

This article deals with the changing spatial landscape of the mines in the post-apartheid era. It is here that the link between worker and community struggles becomes apparent, given the changing nature of space and community on the mines. It becomes more difficult to deny women’s roles and contributions to political life on the mines in South Africa when we are confronted with the Marikana massacre. For the first time, women on the mines made a public statement about living and working and being on the mines, a realm of experience previously ignored or silenced in most labour historiography. After the 1980s, mine compounds were ethnically desegregated and post-1994, mine companies began to offer a living out allowance (LOA) to mineworkers who preferred not to stay in the hostels. As a result, there was an immediate growth of shack settlements around the platinum belt. With the development of shack settlements has been the introduction of family life on the mines, which has brought with it a new form of community politics that have not been adequately addressed in the public sphere or in new labour literature. This shows how independently organised worker struggles are linked to, and reinforced by, the struggles of women and the community. More specifically the paper presents research undertaken in Marikana in November 2012 and it is an attempt to write a living history of people who currently occupy the shack settlement where most of the mineworkers involved in the 2012 strike live; it is called Nkaneng.

Accelerated mechanisation and the demise of a mass-based labour force? Platinum mines in South Africa

There is renewed talk of mechanisation on South African platinum mines. By tracking attempts to mechanise the labour process in platinum mines, this briefing explains why mechanisation has not yet ...

Metals in Past Societies: A Global Perspective on Indigenous African Metallurgy Shadreck Chirikure

This slim book (166 pages) shines a spotlight on pre-industrial African metallurgy, its global connections, and anthropological implications. It integrates seemingly disparate disciplines, such as history, geology, ethnography, archeology, and metallurgy, to illustrate the diversity and innovation in metallurgy across Africa and the role of metals in the rise of socio-economic inequalities and political power. The book has 7 chapters and the focus on metals as enablers of human needs and wants is evident in each chapter. The first chapter presents the context of the work and data sources. The second chapter focuses on the origin and development of mining and metallurgy in pre-industrial Africa. Chapter 3 is dedicated to the interaction of nature and culture in the process of mining. Chapter 4 deals with the transformation of the ore into metal by smelting and the sociocultural aspects of this process. Chapter 5 explores the social and cultural roles acquired by metals as a result of fabrication into objects. Chapter 6 examines the social role of metals, trade in metals, cultural contact, proto-globalization, and technology transfer. Finally, Chapter 7 draws lessons for global anthropology from the African experience. The sources of information are adequately cited and the long list ofmore » references at the end of each chapter will be a boon to researchers in this field. The author highlights the cultural aspects and social context of the adoption of metallurgy in Africa while drawing parallels between practices in pre-industrial Africa and those in other parts of the world. The book is peppered with delightful vignettes that offer insights into the process of transforming nature into culturally significant objects. For instance, African miners, like their counterparts in Nepal and Latin America, called upon deities, spirits and ancestors to mediate between nature and humans. Women had distinct roles in this process, but there were variations in these roles and in the caste status of metal workers across Africa. Taboos, rituals and magic were very much a part of the development of metallurgical technology. The smelting of metal was considered analogous to conception, gestation, and child birth. Power, fertility and metallurgy were intertwined as shown by the decoration of furnaces with female anatomical features. The book concludes with a warning against broad generalizations and stereotypes about African practices. This volume is well written and illustrated with photos, micrographs, colorful maps and illustrations that make it eminently readable.« less

Analysis of Guinean new mining fiscal regime: Considerations for improvement

From 1990s the mining regulatory and legal framework that supported great harmonization and stability in Africa mining sector has not fully contributed in creating more opportunities of foreign investments.22Many authors have conducted the study on African resources-rich countries mining regulatory and legal framework with objective of creating more opportunities of foreign investments, but the external origin of the reform process responsible for the new regulatory frameworks over the last 20 years has had other far-reaching implications of governance to rich the goal. This has been demonstrated in numerous articles such as Campbell (2002) (Regulating Mining in Africa: for Whose Benefit? corporate strategies and government policies in the international diamond industries), Otto (2002) (Investing for sustainability: the management of mineral wealth) and Sakala (2012) (Africa: Experts to Review Africa's Tax Incentives) and so on. In line with this aforementioned Guinea adopted a new mining code in September 2011 which replaced the mining code of 1995. This study sheds light on some of the central issues in the continuing process of mining legislation revision, the short term optimization of mining taxes and incentives attractiveness so as to illustrate their effects on both government revenues and returns on investment. Through a quantitative comparison of the tax rates in the context of developed and developing resources-rich countries, it can be concluded that the past regulatory frameworks are uncompetitive in terms of foreign investments' attraction. The new regulation code itself has some negative impacts on the previous investments, as well as bringing down living standards in areas of critical importance for socio-economic development.33The adoption of new mining code coincided with the economic crisis of some operating companies in Guinea such as BHP Billiton, Rusal Alumina and Rio Tinto who were ready to slow some of their worldwide investments with mineral exploration projects. One of the immediate consequences was, some of those companies stopped operations by fearing that falling mineral commodity and government intervention could precipitate massive investment losses. This generated the decrease of numerous relative economic activities including direct and indirect jobs (see Revenue Watch Institute (2013).

‘Wages are but an expression of time’: The misapprehension of labour time in the historiography of the South African gold mines since 1886

ABSTRACTThis article alludes to historical evidence that traces working time arrangements in South African mining since 1886. It does so by very briefly summarising detailed narratives of both working hours (which remain remarkably stable) since 1911 and the length of the migrant labour contract (which progressively lengthens) until the collapse of the controls of the migrant labour supply system in the 1980s. At this point the labour contract aligns with the annual cycle of industrial working time. It is argued here that because labour time has been ignored in scholarly historical analyses, there is no explanation why long working hours are required in mining. The reason is that the retention of labour in production underground is foundational to and of greater explanatory import in understanding the role of the mining industry than its acquisition. This view challenges the received wisdom that the exploitation of mine labour is chiefly accounted for in terms of cheap wages for black mineworkers. Labour time, a concept defined at the outset of this article, is asserted as the missing explanatory variable necessary for understanding the developmental trajectory of mining in South Africa, both historically and in the contemporary period.

Seasonal PrEP for partners of migrant miners in southern Mozambique: a highly focused PrEP intervention.

IntroductionTo be used most effectively, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) should be prioritized to those at high risk of acquisition and would ideally be aligned with time periods of increased exposure. Identifying such time periods is not always straightforward, however. Gaza Province in southern Mozambique is characterized by high levels of HIV transmission and circular labour migration to mines in South Africa. A strong seasonal pattern in births is observable, reflecting an increase in conception in December. Given the potential for increased HIV transmission between miners returning in December and their partners in Gaza Province, PrEP use by the latter would be a useful means of HIV prevention, especially for couples who wish to conceive.MethodsA mathematical model was used to represent population-level adult heterosexual HIV transmission in Gaza Province. Increased HIV acquisition among partners of miners in December, coinciding with the miners’ return from South Africa, is represented. In addition to a PrEP intervention, the scale-up of treatment and recent scale-up of male circumcision that have occurred in Gaza are represented.ResultsProviding time-limited PrEP to the partners of migrant miners, as opposed to providing PrEP all year, would improve the cost per infection averted by 7.5-fold. For the cost per infection averted to be below US$3000, at least 85% of PrEP users would need to be good adherers and PrEP would need to be cheaper than US$115 per person per year. Uncertainty regarding incidence of HIV transmission among partners of miners each year in December has a strong influence on estimates of cost per infection averted.ConclusionsProviding time-limited PrEP to partners of migrant miners in Gaza Province during periods of increased exposure would be a novel strategy for providing PrEP. This strategy would allow for a better prioritized intervention, with the potential to improve the efficiency of a PrEP intervention considerably, as well as providing important reproductive health benefits.

Enhancement of the tensile strengths of rock and shotcrete by thin spray-on liners

Thin spray-on liners (TSLs) have been available for application in mining and civil engineering situations for about 20years. They were initially used as sealants, but have subsequently been developed as surface support liners. Although they are used in substantial quantities in mines in South Africa and Canada, widespread application for support purposes has been met with some scepticism. Observations from users, however, have indicated that, contrary to this scepticism, TSL support performance was almost always better than expected. A reason for the scepticism is probably a lack of quantification of the benefits. This paper aims to address this lack of data to some extent. It provides quantification of the enhancement of tensile strengths of rock and shotcrete due to the application of TSLs. The quantification was achieved using Brazilian indirect tensile testing, and several commercially available TSL products. Some tests were also carried out on small rock beams using three-point bending. The results show that, depending on the TSL product used, the tensile strength of a strong, brittle rock can be increased by approximately 30%, and that of shotcrete by more than 40%. TSL application on a weak porous sandstone resulted in an early tensile strength reduction, probably due to absorption of moisture. This was not the case with TSL application on shotcrete.Many of the rock support mechanisms provided by sprayed liners depend substantially or completely on the tensile strength contribution of the liner. Hence the data provided in this paper makes a contribution to knowledge, of value in the design of support for excavations in rock.

Mining and ‘community’ struggles on the platinum belt: A case of Sefikile village in the North West Province, South Africa

The rapid expansion of platinum mining into rural communal land in the former ‘homeland’ areas of South Africa has caused intensive intra-community struggles. To date, however, there has been limited empirical focus on the character of these struggles at the village level. In this article, I attempt to narrow this gap by drawing on a detailed ethnographic case study of Sefikile village in the Bakgatla-ba-Kgafela traditional authority area, North West Province. The analysis illustrates how the post-apartheid mineral policy's reform has failed to grasp the complex character of rural communities found on lands where platinum mining has expanded. The findings drawn from Sefikile – a village that hosts one of the oldest platinum mines in South Africa – reveal intense struggles over land, mining revenues and public services. Such struggles are fought mainly through distinct group identities as social markers to exclusive group rights. The current mineral policy is incapable of adequately addressing the escalating disputes and marginalisation at the village level.

Ebola and alluvial diamond mining in West Africa: Initial reflections and priority areas for research

There is now a burgeoning body of literature which examines the impacts of Ebola in Guinea Conakry, Liberia and Sierra Leone. This analysis, however, has focused predominantly on health issues, emergency preparedness and the international response in all three countries. At the same time, it has grossly overlooked the social and economic impacts of the epidemic. Central to this discussion is the state of alluvial diamond mining, a centrepiece of the rural economies of all three countries. This paper draws attention to this much-neglected area in the policy dialogue on Ebola in West Africa, and identifies priority areas for research moving forward.

Can the circle be squared? An enquiry into shale gas mining in South Africa's Karoo

The prospect of ‘fracking’ for shale gas in South Africa's Karoo has generated heated exchanges in public forums and in the media. This article seeks to understand why common ground in the debate has proved to be so elusive. The article divides the parties to the impasse into three camps and examines the ethical positions which seem to inform each faction's standpoint. The article finds that the tensions between the main protagonists’ positions are due to two related ethical ‘faultlines’. The first revolves around the inherent incompatibility of consequentialism with moral absolutism. The second relates to tensions between nature as an instrumental good, and an ethic that treats nature as an intrinsic good. The discussion considers the merits of cost–benefit analysis and whether, at the very least, exploration for shale gas should be permitted. The article concludes by weighing up the preconditions for a rapprochement being reached between the contending factions.

A review of problems and solutions of abandoned mines in South Africa

Mining has been the backbone of the South African economy for many years. For over a century it has contributed considerably in the welfare of the people of South Africa. As a result of South Africa’s long history of mining, the country has many abandoned mines that are currently the major source of various environmental and social problems. This review looks at the general problems of abandoned mines in South Africa and the efforts made towards rehabilitation of abandoned mine sites. The issues discussed include the controversy around the definition of abandoned mines, their associated problems, regulatory issues, prioritisation of rehabilitation and the rehabilitation cost estimation concerns. It was concluded that in order to fast track the work of cleaning up the negative legacy of abandoned mines in South Africa, appropriate definition for these mines should be identified and used in guiding the work of developing the country’s abandoned mines inventory while assisting in the prioritisation of rehabilitation efforts. The abandoned mines rating system and the cost estimation model that can account for the site-specific issues in the rehabilitation of abandoned mines were recommended.