We are pleased to report that mine site visits are back. On June 13-19 2022 a delegation of miners, engineers and managers of Kumtor Gold, ERG, Kazchrom, Kazakhmys and other companies visited mines and South African companies in Johannesburg, Cullinam and Cape Town. It was the first business visit organized after a two-year pause due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
More than 30 representatives of mining companies from Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan visited South Africa to study projects in mine automation, use of advanced mining methods, including block caving, implementation of anti-collision systems, optimization of drilling and blasting, remote control of equipment and many other topical issues.
The group held meetings with representatives of South African innovative companies such as Mining Excellence, AVA Solutions, A&R Engineering, Sight-Power inc., Ramjack Technology Solutions and AECI Mining Explosives. The visit programme featured a discussion of the modernization of the Finch and Cullinam mines, Petra Diamonds, visited the workshops and technology centers of Epiroc, MasterDrilling near Johannesburg and Reutech in Cape Town.
Of particular interest was a visit to Ramjack Technology Solutions remote control centre with its real-time monitoring systems for several mines in South Africa and Ghana. In the centre the company analyzes trends and optimizes the use of equipment or other production indicators, which has resulted in real cost and time savings.
In addition to the reports of specialists, viewing samples of drilling equipment and studying the automation of drilling rigs, loaders and dump trucks, the delegation was able to visit the main attractions of South Africa: a safari, Cape of Good Hope and Table Mountain. According to the participating engineers, such trips enable to study international best practices and to establish useful business contacts and discuss informally the problems of modern mining production and ways to solve them.
