Modern Mining March 2021

to a mine of the future

reflect what the company wanted to do and achieve at the VUP. This speaks to the quality, design and the technical requirements to support the company’s goals and targets at this project,” he adds. The people factor People are central to where De Beers wants to be, says Maseko. The people transformation aspect has been approached through several perspectives, including assessments, training and skills transfer. “We have some employees who have worked at Venetia for many years and they have been success- ful operators in our surface operations, for example. With the implementation of the VUP, we are now exposing them to an underground asset, which is

Are the people ready? Are their skills at the level they need to be to operate this new entity? Will the facilities support the demands of the new operating environment? What about the cultural aspects? “One of the crucial aspects from a people trans- formation perspective was looking at the future of work at the VUP, which had to be captured in how we planned and implemented the project. Bringing that approach to this mine of the future project was very important, because it reiterates our commitment to people. We don’t just see the mine of the future in terms of technology, but also from a people perspec- tive,” explains Maseko. Operational readiness De Beers adopted an Operational Readiness Frame­ work to manage the transformation at VUP. This ensures the operating environment is prepared to effectively support and accept the changes resulting from the project. De Beers’ Operational Readiness Framework entailed the assessment of people readiness as far as transformation was concerned. It also looked at systems and processes, as well as at assets and facili- ties. “In light of these three aspects, we had to look at our organisational design principles at Venetia. We also had to look at our processes; how do we trans- form the processes and systems that we have always used as a surface operation to those that will support a mechanised underground operation, especially given that new technologies are coming on board and the ways of working will be changing. “We also considered our assets, which needed to

The underground portal at Venetia Mine.

The VUP introduced the transition change mascot, Lutendo, to help communicate the transition journey to employees.

March 2021  MODERN MINING  13