Platinum Mines In South Africa Research Articles

Legalism in the Marikana Commission of Inquiry Report: Veiling “Sociological Causes” of the Massacre

ABSTRACT This article examines the Farlam Commission of Inquiry’s official discourse on violence within the context of the Marikana mine massacre. The commission was established in 2012 to investigate the killing of 34 mine workers during a wage strike at the Lonmin platinum mine in South Africa. The commission was tasked with scrutinising the actions of the police, mine management and labour unions involved in the incident. By employing the concept of legalism, this paper analyses the commission’s report and argues that it adopted a legalist perspective on violence, which served to legitimise the prevailing legal framework for collective bargaining while delegitimising the strike action itself. The study highlights Phase Two of the commission’s investigation, which was aimed at examining the underlying sociological causes of the conflict within the mining sector. This phase provided an opportunity to delve into the structural factors that fuelled the dispute. However, despite the potential for a more nuanced exploration of structural violence, the final report of the Farlam Commission ultimately embraced a narrative form and simulacrum of legality that reflected implicit moral and political biases concerning specific forms of violence and social action. The commission struggled to assimilate critiques of the collective bargaining framework into its report, instead maintaining a fidelity to legalism, with practical implications for the type of “truth” and “justice” the commission could promote. The paper contributes to a broader understanding of the complex dynamics between legal frameworks, violence and social justice in contexts of labour disputes and collective action.

Metagenomic assessment of nitrate-contaminated mine wastewaters and optimization of complete denitrification by indigenous enriched bacteria

Nitrate contamination in water remains to be on the rise globally due to continuous anthropogenic activities, such as mining and farming, which utilize high amounts of ammonium nitrate explosives and chemical-NPK-fertilizers, respectively. This study presents insights into the development of a bioremediation strategy to remove nitrates (NO3−) using consortia enriched from wastewater collected from a diamond mine in Lesotho and a platinum mine in South Africa. A biogeochemical analysis was conducted on the water samples which aided in comparing and elucidating their unique physicochemical parameters. The chemical analysis uncovered that both wastewater samples contained over 120 mg/L of NO3− and over 250 mg/L of sulfates (SO42-), which were both beyond the acceptable limit of the environmental surface water standards of South Africa. The samples were atypical of mine wastewaters as they had low concentrations of dissolved heavy metals and a pH of over 5. A metagenomic analysis applied to study microbial diversities revealed that both samples were dominated by the phyla Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes, which accounted for over 40% and 15%, respectively. Three consortia were enriched to target denitrifying bacteria using selective media and then subjected to complete denitrification experiments. Denitrification dynamics and denitrifying capacities of the consortia were determined by monitoring dissolved and gaseous nitrogen species over time. Denitrification optimization was carried out by changing environmental conditions, including supplementing the cultures with metal enzyme co-factors (iron and copper) that were observed to promote different stages of denitrification. Copper supplemented at 50 mg/L was observed to be promoting complete denitrification of over 500 mg/L of NO3−, evidenced by the emission of nitrogen gas (N2) that was more than nitrous oxide gas (N2O) emitted as the terminal by-product. Modification and manipulation of growth conditions based on the microbial diversity enriched proved that it is possible to optimize a bioremediation system that can reduce high concentrations of NO3−, while emitting an environmentally-friendly N2 instead of N2O, that is, a greenhouse gas. Data collected and discussed in this research study can be used to model an upscale NO3− bioremediation system aimed to remove nitrogenous and other contaminants without secondary contamination.

Predicting standard threshold shifts for occupational hearing loss among miners at a large-scale platinum mine in South Africa

Occupational noise-induced hearing loss (ONIHL) is associated with various risk factors in South African mines. We investigated the association between standard threshold shifts (STSs) and exposure to noise and platinum mine dust (PMD), using demographic data, five years of annual audiometry screening results, and noise and dust exposure data. Miners' age, sex, percentage hearing loss (PLH), and dust and noise exposure data were gathered, and a linear mixed effects regression model used to predict STS. Average occupational exposure levels to noise and dust were calculated from recorded measurements. A total of 12 692 records were analysed. Most miners were male (89.6%) and more than 50% were younger than 41 years. More than 70% were exposed to > 85 dBA noise and 58% were exposed to 1.5-2.99 mg/m3 PMD. Changes in hearing levels ranged from 8.3 dBHL at baseline (2014/2015) to 10 dBHL in 2016 (STS), with no changes thereafter. The model showed that the estimated effect on STS for males was 27% and 21% higher than for females, for the left and right ear, respectively The estimated effect of age, PLH, noise exposure and years of exposure on STS was < 10% for each variable. There was no statistically significant association between PMD and STS. The combined effects of age, sex, years of exposure to noise, and noise exposure levels, and strength of associations can be used to predict STS for this group of miners. Our findings may be used to measure the efficacy of the mine's hearing conservation programme.

Performance evaluation and monitoring of the tunnel excavation with a Mobile Tunnel Borer

The use of Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) for tunnel excavation is widespread around the world for its capabilities and great advantages against the traditional tunnel excavation method, but sometimes this technology can be difficult to manage, requiring huge spaces for the assembly on the job site and involving complex installations at the tail of the machine.Aiming at creating a versatile and compact tunnel borer, TunnelPro and Master Drilling designed the MTB (Mobile Tunnel Borer) that is built on crawlers, easy and fast to assembly with no need of special equipment. This prototype MTB is currently excavating a Platinum mine in South Africa, being tested in very hard rocks.The study here presented, carried out by GEEG srl, startup of Sapienza University of Rome, compares the actual values of thrust, torque, penetration and cutter wear recorded during the trial excavation monitoring with those estimated with models commonly used in TBM performance prediction. The aims of this study, still ongoing, are a better comprehension of the MTB operation in terms of efficiency, work of the excavation tools, load distribution, and the evaluation of the adequacy of the most known methods when applied to this prototype machine.

Intelligent comprehensive Occupational health monitoring system for mine workers

The objective of this work is to present a comprehensive occupational health monitoring system which provides the current state of the occupational health for mine workers. The hearing threshold shift and dust exposure of each individual mine worker is monitored using this system. The data obtained from the system is transmitted via Internet of Things to storage which may be cloud or a server. The novelty of this model lies in its dual ability to monitor both Noise Induced Hearing Loss and Pneumoconiousis which is caused by inhalation of dust particles. The output of this dual system is further processed using Machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques. Recommendations are then provided to the mine worker with regards to their state of health. This system forms part of an early intervention system in the mines. The model was validated using real data from a Platinum mine in South Africa. Future improvement to this work would entail refinement of the current preliminary implementation plan and carrying out the first phase of the implementation.

Power, politics and the police: lessons from Marikana

AbstractThis article examines the relationship between politicians and the police in the days before the shooting by members of the South African Police Service of 34 striking mineworkers at the Marikana platinum mine in South Africa on 16 August 2012. Drawing on evidence presented to the official inquiry into events at Marikana, it argues that political influence over the police may be exercised most effectively when it is least obvious. Instead of issuing directives, or openly exerting pressure on the police, it is suggested that politicians may secure compliance with their wishes when chief officers share their priorities, and act accordingly. The senior officers in command at Marikana did not need to be told what to do. In ordering an intervention that led to 34 deaths they were behaving as conscious political actors attuned to the needs of a dominant elite aligned to the ruling African National Congress.

Contributors to Fatigue of Mine Workers in the South African Gold and Platinum Sector.

BackgroundMine workers in South Africa face challenges relating to poor health and safety, including fatigue risks, and poor socioeconomic and living conditions. Fatigue results in impaired mental and physical performance. The aim of this study was to assess contributors to fatigue of mine workers in South Africa.MethodsData collection took place at four gold mines and one platinum mine in South Africa. A total of 21 focus groups were held with individuals in management, union representatives, and mine workers, and 564 questionnaires were completed by mine workers to gather information about fatigue and potential contributors to fatigue at these mines.ResultsQualitatively (through focus groups), fatigue was attributed to extended working hours, harsh working conditions, high workloads, production pressure, and resource constraints, along with aspects relating to demographic and socioeconomic factors, living conditions, lifestyle, health, and wellness. Greater fatigue was significantly associated with younger age, indebtedness, a lack of exercise, poor nutrition, less sleep, increased alcohol use, poor self-reported health, more sick leave, higher stress, and lower job satisfaction.ConclusionThe aim of the study was achieved; numerous work-, sociodemographic-, lifestyle-, and wellness-related factors were linked to fatigue in the participating mine workers. Contributors to fatigue should be addressed to improve health, safety, and sustainability in the industry.

Digital Precision Design For a Platinum Gold Mine With Deep Ming in South Africa

A platinum mine in South Africa is a deep mining mine that the mining design involves a series of difficult problems, such as high stress, high temperature and high lifting and so on. Choosing the right mining method and developing system is the key technology to solve these problems, and is also an important plan for mining design. First of all, based on multi index factors, 6 mining methods were quantitatively analyzed and scored, and the subleve open stoping method was chosen as the best mining method. In order to ensure the safety of this mining method, the hydraulic radius theory is introduced to analyze stope structural parameters stability. Secondly, with the view of global mining technology, we compared the development system of South Africa, China, Australia and other countries, and compared 6 development options in terms of technical, economic and security factors. The final selection of the development system combines the Chinese and Western design concepts, absorbs the advantages of each other and gets the recognition of the owners. Finally, we optimized the mining block, and carry out the 3D dynamic programming for the development system based on the 5Dplaner software, which realizes the digital precise design for the mine.

A systemic study of mining accident causality: an analysis of 91 mining accidents from a platinum mine in South Africa

A systemic study of mining accident causality: an analysis of 91 mining accidents from a platinum mine in South Africa

Representing Marikana

This essay discusses four representations of the massacre of striking mineworkers that took place on 16 August 2012 at the Marikana platinum mine in South Africa: Aryan Kaganof’s unconventional documentary Night is Coming: A Threnody for the Victims of Marikana (2014); Rehad Desai’s Emmy award-winning documentary Miners Shot Down (2014); a performance of the massacre by the women of Marikana as recorded in Aliki Saragas’s documentary Mama Marikana (2015); and Ayanda Mabulu’s painting ‘Yakhal’inkomo: Black Man’s Cry’ (2013). Drawing on Walter Benjamin’s comments on strikes, police violence and democracy in ‘Critique of Violence’, the essay investigates what cultural texts about the Marikana massacre can tell us about post-‘rainbow nation’ South Africa after two decades of democracy. Bearing in mind the intertextual allusions that operate across semiotic media in texts such as Night is Coming and ‘Yakhal’inkomo’, and historical links between features of landscape and events, it asks what is suggested and/or occluded in different representations of Marikana. The essay concludes by focusing on the link between structural violence and the massacre, and on the importance of excavating a history of rural resistance in understanding key aspects of the Marikana strikes.

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.

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 ...

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.

Assessing the blue-water footprint of an opencast platinum mine in South Africa

South Africa's extensive mineral resources have resulted in mining activities dispersed across the country, playing a critical role in its socio-economic development. In contrast to this abundance of mineral wealth, water resources are generally limited, and vulnerable to environmental impacts from the mining industry. These circumstances make tailored management of water resources in the mining sector essential. To achieve this, detailed information on water use throughout a mine operation as well as an accurate water balance account is required. Blue-water footprints have the potential to contribute to this task as they allow for quantification of direct and indirect water use across the supply chain of a process, while incorporating both spatial extension and temporal duration. As defined by the Water Footprint Network's (WFN) globally acknowledged water footprint assessment methodology, a blue-water footprint is determined by calculating the net consumptive use of water by an operation. According to the WFN, this includes water which is evaporated, incorporated into a product, or lost to outflows which do not return to the same catchment area in the same period.The applicability of this tool in the mining sector has not been fully explored. Therefore, it was decided to investigate the bluewater footprint of a South African platinum mining operation. The results showed that the largest consumption of water in the production of platinum was due to evaporation from the mineral processing plants (36.8%) and the tailings storage facilities (19.4%). To improve its water-use efficiency, measures should be taken by the operation to mitigate evaporative losses. Floating covers can assist in this effort as they reflect a proportion of the incoming solar radiation and act as a physical barrier to the passage of water vapour, both vertically and horizontally.

Monitoring of atmospheric gaseous and particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in South African platinum mines utilising portable denuder sampling with analysis by thermal desorption–comprehensive gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

Concentrations of diesel particulate matter and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in platinum mine environments are likely to be higher than in ambient air due to the use of diesel machinery in confined environments. Airborne PAHs may be present in gaseous or particle phases each of which has different human health impacts due to their ultimate fate in the body. Here we report on the simultaneous sampling of both phases of airborne PAHs for the first time in underground platinum mines in South Africa, which was made possible by employing small, portable denuder sampling devices consisting of two polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) multi-channel traps connected in series separated by a quartz fibre filter, which only require small, battery operated portable personal sampling pumps for air sampling. Thermal desorption coupled with comprehensive gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (TD–GC×GC–TofMS) was used to analyse denuder samples taken in three different platinum mines. The samples from a range of underground environments revealed that PAHs were predominantly found in the gas phase with naphthalene and mono-methylated naphthalene derivatives being detected at the highest concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 18μgm−3. The particle bound PAHs were found in the highest concentrations at the idling load haul dump vehicle exhausts with a dominance of fluoranthene and pyrene. Particle associated PAH concentrations ranged from 0.47 to 260ngm−3 and included benzo[k]fluoranthene, benzo[a]pyrene, indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene and benzo[ghi]perylene. This work highlights the need to characterise both phases in order to assess occupational exposure to PAHs in this challenging sampling environment.

Soil mesofauna as bioindicators to assess environmental disturbance at a platinum mine in South Africa

South Africa is rich in mineral resources and is one of the leading raw material exporters in the world. Mining is essential for economic development, but also has detrimental environmental consequences in the form of chemical waste products which are being dumped as tailings material. The aim of this study was to establish whether mesofauna could be utilized to assess the influence of the tailings disposal facility on the surrounding soil environment. The sampled soil was chemically analyzed and the extracted mesofauna identified. High metal concentrations on the tailings dam (Cu, Cr and Ni), apparently had the greatest influence on the soil mesofauna. Only a few mite species were abundant at the two sites on the tailings dam, representing the prostigmatic-, cryptostigmatic- and the mesostigmatic-taxa. Metal pollution is evident in the sites on the tailings dam facility and the number of species generally increased towards the more natural environment.

Mining, housing and welfare in South Africa and Zambia: an historical perspective

This contribution seeks to place the relationship between mining, housing and welfare in historical perspective in two Southern African countries with long histories of mining activity that continue to have large mining sectors, namely South Africa and Zambia. Mining capitalists and colonial, as well as apartheid, governments tended to resist urban permanence, but they were usually unable to stop it. Economists and social anthropologists, being less conscious than historians of the cyclical nature of mining, have been prone to discount the remarkable tenacity of the Zambian Copperbelt's urban residents in the face of mining downturns. By contrast, very little attention in the literature has been paid to the decline of gold mining in South Africa. In view of the Zambian precedent for urban resilience, it would be unwise to overlook the continuing influence of South African mining on urban settlement in spite of the industry's gradual decline over the last four decades. The patterns of development of new platinum mines in South Africa and new copper mines in Zambia show certain similarities and historical continuities, including a reluctance on the part of mining companies to accept responsibility for the housing and welfare of all their workers and their families.

Investigation of the potential for mineral carbonation of PGM tailings in South Africa

Increasing atmospheric CO 2 concentration is currently of considerable concern in terms of global warming. A possible technology that can contribute to the reduction of CO 2 emissions is its sequestration by mineral carbonation. In this study, tailings from several different platinum mines in South Africa will be mineralogically characterised and their potential for mineral carbonation reviewed. Mg and Ca-rich minerals (plagioclase, olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene) present in the tailings are good candidates for mineral carbonation, which mimics natural weathering processes in which these minerals react with gaseous CO 2 to form Ca or Mg carbonates. Since the reaction is influenced by particle surface area, the ultra fine grained nature of the PGM tailings provides another reason for the promise of PGM tailings for mineral carbonation. A preliminary ranking of the tailings samples and their efficacy for mineral carbonation has been developed according to whether the samples showed harzburgtic (e.g. Northam Platinum mine), pyroxenetic (e.g. BRPM) or noritic mineral assemblages. This information and understanding will assist in identifying opportunities and guiding the development of engineered facilities for the sequestration of CO 2 by means of mineral carbonation.

THE PRINCIPAL GEOLOGICAL FEATURES OF THE ONVERWACHT PLATINIFEROUS DUNITE PIPE, EASTERN LIMB OF THE BUSHVELD COMPLEX

The Onverwacht pipe, situated on the leasehold of Eastern Chrome mines in the eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex, warrants preservation as a national monument, as it is the site of the oldest platinum mine in South Africa. The central part of the pipe consists of a relatively small, yet richly mineralized core-zone that has been mined out from a spectacular glory-hole. Onverwacht and the other three mineralized pipes that have been recognized in the Bushveld Complex do not only have their ultramafic composition in common but also reveal an unusual mineralogical-chemical zonation in which sharply defined magnesian and iron-rich ultramafic assemblages are juxtaposed. In the first in our series of contributions on the mineralized pipes, we ascribed formation of the Driekop pipe to orthomagmatic and partial melting processes (Scoon and Mitchell, 2009). Although we regard this as a universal principle, each locality is sufficiently distinct as to warrant separate explanations of their individual complexities. All of the mineralized pipes are aligned approximately perpendicular to the primary layering, but surface mapping has revealed Onverwacht to be more complex, far larger and far more irregular than previously reported. The three-dimensional shape of the unmineralized, magnesium-rich assemblage at Onverwacht is difficult to constrain. It is dominated by a stock-like body of magnesian dunite (approximately 100 m in diameter), surrounded by gently-dipping sheets, fingers, and lenses of magnesian dunite and harzburgite that splay outward for several hundreds of meters, ultimately merging imperceptibly into the wall rocks. The wall rocks, which belong to the uppermost part of the Lower Critical Zone, are dominated by a thick sequence of feldspathic orthopyroxenite, punctuated by prominent chromitite layers (LG5 through MG1). Palimpsest stratigraphy is defined by chromitite layers in the peripheral parts of the pipe. Structural disruptions have sterilized the LG6 chromitite layer, the principal orebody at Eastern Chrome mines, over a strike length >500 m, in part due to minor downwarping associated with the pipe. Irregular slabs of chromitite within the central parts of the pipe, interpreted as xenoliths of the LG6 layer by Wagner (1929) have been displaced downward over a few tens of metres. The mineralized core-zone originally formed a downward tapering (“carrot-shaped”) body enclosed within the unmineralized magnesian dunite. It was composed of anomalous iron-rich dunite (“hortonolite dunite”) and iron-rich wehrlite pegmatites (Wagner, 1929). Coarse crystals of hornblende and phlogopite, small grains of apatite, and meter-sized lumps of Ti-magnetite-ilmenite were reported as prominent accessories in the core-zone. The existence of two principal assemblages in the pipe, i.e., magnesian ultramafics in the main stock and irregular outer envelope and iron-rich ultramafics in the core-zone, is confirmed by whole-rock and mineral compositions. The composition of the former is tightly constrained (olivine Fo83–80), whereas the latter exhibit a much broader range (olivine Fo64–44). The origin of the magnesian dunite comprising the main stock is ascribed to flowage differentiation of U-type magma injected upward through a vertical conduit, as discussed by Scoon and Mitchell (2009). The pipe-like form and occurrence of chromitite xenoliths confirm an intrusive origin. Heat associated with intrusion of the U-type magma triggered pervasive replacement of the orthopyroxenite wall rocks by magnesian olivine. The harzburgite is an arrested stage of this process. Chromitite layers are preserved in the periphery of the pipe due to their refractory nature, but those in the main stock and core-zone were dismembered. The iron-rich ultramafics in the core-zone reflect a complex genesis that will be addressed in conjunction with the origin of the mineralization in a subsequent contribution on the Mooihoek pipe.