Engagement Activities

  • AngloGold Ashanti (2015 - 2016)

    A new partnership to co-develop resilience and innovation for sustainability that will involve trans- disciplinary research, education and training, and stake holder and community engagement is being developed with sustainability manager for AGA, Dr Brian Chicksen.

  • Bench Marks Foundation (2016)

    Bench Marks Foundation is a non-profit, faith-based organisation owned by the churches in South Africa. It is a unique organisation in the area of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and monitors corporate performance against an international measuring instrument, the Principles for Global Corporate Responsibility; Bench Marks for Measuring Business Performance. Considerable effort has been made to engage with civil society and NGOs. Herman Meyer, Adjunct Professors Mike Solomon and Associate Professor Jenny Broadhurst attended the Bench Marks Foundation AGM in October 2016, and John Capel, the Director of Bench Marks will be participating in the MtM research symposium to be held in November 2016, Two MPhil students, Bonisile Shongwe and Phumzile Nwaila, have recently completed their internship programme with Bench Marks Foundation.

  • HeadRoom (2016)

    HeadRoom are mining practitioners that care about the sustainability of all facets of the mineral beneficiation value chain, the environment that it operates in and the social context which grants it licence to operate. They are focused on innovation and collaboration to achieve engineered solutions to complex problems. They have successfully implemented sustainable turnaround solutions for mining operations that were previously marginal. After an initial meeting in Rustenburg, HeadRoom members Craig Sweet, Rassie Erasmus, Clem Sweet, Jacobus Malan and Wayne Sweet attended the MtM Research Day on 28th September and added valuable context and application to the discussion of post graduate student projects. Discussions are underway to map suitable collaborative projects that harness the potential and multi- dispilinarity of HeadRoom and MtM.

  • Kropz Elandsfontein Phosphate Mine (2016)

    Initial engagement and discussions were with Adj/Prof Wynand van Dyk who has been involved with MtM through the GMIRM training programme and is the project manager of Kropz's Elandsfontein Phosphate mine. This deposit is located 12 km from Langebaan and borders the West Coast National Park and sustainability principles have been incorporated into the design and operation of this mine and processing facility. This is regarded as a premier example of 'Green Mining' in practice. The processing facility is in the construction phase and the partnership with MtM has facilitated three visits with different groups of students, the most recent including five law students. This has provided valuable insight to MtM staff and students and ongoing discussions to develop an ongoing partnership are underway.

  • Kudos Africa (2016)

    KudosAfrica is a sustainable investment rating provider, established in 2014 to address the market gap for meaningful and user-friendly systems that encourage African companies to manage their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. As part of this mission, KudosAfrica has developed a unique approach to assessing and verifying the ESG performance of companies based on international best practice for finance providers operating in emerging markets. The 140-point rating tool assesses ongoing management commitment and effectiveness in addressing material risks and performance issues. This provides a simple decision making tool that businesses and investors can use to collaborative on innovative sustainability solutions to create business value over time. KudosAfrica are engaged with MtM through the development of the 'Green Mining' project and Operationalising the SDGs in Mining for Emerging Economies.

  • LEAP Schools partnership (2016)

    LEAP schools provide student-centred mathematical and science-focused education to economically disadvantaged students from grades 8 to 12. They focus on enabling the self-awareness necessary for each student's growth to healthy adulthood, and to ensuring optimal academic results which will allow for choices for lifelong learning and a fulfilling future. Through discussions with Herman Meyer, MtM identified that LEAP would be a worthwhile social engagement partner for MtM. In the first instance, MtM staff and post-graduate students gave support for UCT Open day in May 2016 by visiting the LEAP School in Langa prior to the event. In addition, MtM is engaged with the LEAP School in Langa on an electronic-waste recycling project. In this project, grade 9 learners at LEAP learn about the three R's (reduce, reuse and recycle) with a focus on electronic waste generated in their homes and school. The grade 9 class is required to complete a recycling project in their CAPS curriculum: the electronic-waste recycling project teaches value creation from waste and introduces the idea of sustainable metal resource management by pointing out the need to exploit secondary resources. The project is run using design-thinking methodologies to encourage learners to take ownership of the electronic-waste problems in their communities and then come up with ways to solve the problems. To this end, MtM hosted a design - workshop with the assistance of the UCT d-school programme managers, and organised a 3D printing workshop where the learners and their mentors were taught 3D printing and learnt of possible entrepreneurial and product design opportunities. Learners will be guided by their mentors into adopting the design-thinking approach to problem solving as they tackle their electronic-waste recycling project. The engagement with LEAP School goes far beyond the recycling project: it exposes the learners to the different career opportunities that they see their mentors building towards, and breaks the barriers between some perceptions they have of their communities and possibilities of access to UCT as a tertiary institution of choice.

  • Mining and Waste: The Law's Response to Theory and Practice (2016)

    MtM and MLiA hosted a research and engagement day at the launch of the MLiA SARChI Chair held by Professor Hanri Mostert, which also served to introduce Professor Dee Bradshaw as the new Director of the Minerals to Metals Initiative. A day of traditional academic presentations, which included a session aimed at extracting from researchers, industry and activists some key themes for further investigation by the respective research teams, culminated in a photographic competition, which aimed to provide various perspectives on the theme of the day: Mining Waste. This component of the work was aimed at challenging researchers to literally and metaphorically look at mining and waste with new/fresh eyes as a way of challenging traditional conceptions of mining.

  • MPhil specialising in Sustainable Mineral Resource Development (2014-2016)

    This degree based on Sustainability Science principles, accommodates mainly external students working in the field (minerals industry, industry service organisations and government bodies), with participants from different disciplines. All students are required to complete a field-based internship with a host organisation: whilst contributing to the student's learning experience, the student also makes a useful contribution to the host. As part of the development and delivery of teaching material, and supervision of the research projects for this programme, new trans-disciplinary knowledge is being co-created and co-developed.

  • KZN EDTEA (2013-2015)

    A major project for the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development and Tourism was undertaken to develop a minerals beneficiation strategy for that province. This included the successful completion of three Master's degrees (and one still in progress). This project was conducted in collaboration with The Green House and resulted in seven technical reports.

  • Senmin (2012-2015)

    Senmin International Pty Ltd sponsored Chucky Kunene's (MSc Eng) project on the life cycle assessment of the production and downstream application of xanthate salts for ARD mitigation. Other contributions by Senmin included the supply of model input data, and project co-supervisor by Dr Patrick Dicks, technical director at Senmin. In return, the project generated information on environmental implications of process modifications for xanthate production for branding and marketing purposes, and also on opportunities to optimize environmental performance.

  • Fossil Fuel Foundation 20th anniversary Indaba (2014)

    In November 2014, MtM hosted the FFF's 20th anniversary Indaba, on the topic, "Sustainable Development of southern Africa's non-renewable energy resources", at UCT. The aim of the two-day Indaba was to explore what can be done to ensure that the exploitation of these resources delivers sustainable development in southern Africa, by examining issues such as product stewardship and the need to make technological advances that reduce environmental impact while increasing resource efficiency. Keynote speakers included Mark Jones of Whittle Consulting, Australia, who is also registered for the MPhil specializing in Sustainable Mineral Resource Development, on how value can be created across all five capitals of sustainability by proper planning in the pre-feasibility stage of mineral resource projects; Dr Tara Polzer-Ngwato of the Royal Bafokeng administration, on using resource wealth to build sustainable communities; and Prof Phil Kirsch of the Sustainable Minerals Institute at the University of Queensland, who presented three papers, on a new online knowledge bank for managing risk in the coal industry, on mapping health issues in mining workforces and communities, and on creating new visions for post-mined landscapes. UCT academics and students were also among the presenters. The Indaba was a good opportunity to present a more sustainable vision of managing mineral resources to representatives of the local coal industry.

  • Mining Company - Community Engagement Round Table (2014)

    Anglo American's Bertus Bierman (Senior Manager - Infrastructure, Anglo Platinum) made the observation to Professor JP Franzidis, then MtM Director, that it would be useful to understand the issues that the mining industry should consider if it were to engage with the community five years before a mine started. This observation was the impetus behind the Mining Company-Community Engagement: University of Cape Town-Industry Round Table which was held on 2 September 2014. The round table was attended by 23 people, predominantly UCT academics from different faculties and (a few invited) students, but also including representatives from mining companies, the health sector and the Royal Bafokeng. The discussions were mediated by Professor Phil Kirsch of the Sustainable Minerals Institute of the University of Queensland, Australia. Eleven themes emerged from an analysis of the roundtable discussions:

    • The importance of stakeholder engagement/negotiation
    • The impacts of mining
    • The negative image of the mining industry
    • The need to encourage diversified economies around mining operations to reduce over- reliance on mining
    • The economic liability of mine rehabilitation
    • The implications of the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act
    • The need for a regional planning approach to more effectively manage mining impacts
    • Capacity building/employment - the need to upskill community members so they can gain employment in mining operations
    • Mining company business imperatives - the impact on company promises and communication
    • The need for a long-term approach to stakeholder engagement Issues stemming from power relations

    A number of research questions/topics were developed from the discussions, including:

    • What strategies and techniques are appropriate for determining the representative voice(s) for mining communities and corporations?
    • Does raw capitalism preclude mining from true sustainable relationships?
    • What factors enable near-mining communities to be successful beyond the life of a mine, based on historical evidence of community trajectories?

    The round table received high ratings in an evaluation questionnaire distributed to the attendees. A second meeting was planned for Johannesburg in 2015, but due to movements in personnel, follow-up has happened largely through personal contacts. The round table was particularly useful for developing/cementing relationships and establishing new linkages.