South Africa’s mining industry lacks a compilation of the remaining PGM and gold resources, with an identification of green- and brownfields areas for future exploration and mining. It is also important for such a compilation to categorise the resources in terms of geological and geotechnical characteristics, with the long-term objective of reversing the decline of the mining industry.
Research and development
A three-phased approach was adopted: The research team collected data related to gold and PGM resources.
The data sources include listed and unlisted explorers; listed and unlisted miners; defunct mines; and online sources. These have been captured into a database. The research team is digitally capturing, or obtaining shareholder plans, reef wireframes and underground infrastructure; and they are establishing polygons of mined and unmined reefs. The team categorised resources using criteria such as depth; resource types; structural disturbances; and geotechnical settings.
Solution
The research team has developed a custom-designed database; and a visualisation map of captured data, with information pertaining to the aforementioned criteria. A total of 23 areas, from the South Rand and Natal, to Kraaipan and Pilgrim’s Rest is covered in the visualisation maps.
Status
The digital capture of shareholder plans is ongoing. The research team will also analyse and synthesise data received from mining and exploration companies. The online database will be launched soon.
