Modern Mining October 2016

SAFETY IN MINING

Award winners unveiled at MineSAFE

The John T. Ryan Trophy for a surface-mining operation was awarded to AngloGold Ashanti’s Savuka gold mine in Gauteng while platinum producer Lonmin’s 4B/1B shaft in the North West clinched the award for an underground operation at the recent MineSAFE 2016 conference in Johannesburg.

T he John T. Ryan Trophy was pre- sented by MSA Africa Executive Director Colin Oliver at Mine- SAFE 2016, widely regarded as the premier safety conference of the South African mining industry. MSA Af- rica has been involved with MineSAFE since 2011, testament to its ongoing commitment to continually improving safety records in all sectors of the South African mining industry. An impartial panel of judges represent- ing the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM), the Association of Mine Managers of South Africa (AMMSA), the South African Colliery Managers Association (SACMA) and the Metallurgical Mine Managers’ Association (MMMA) determined the winners. The John T. Ryan Trophy is sculpted to rep- resent a father safely home from work, with his arms around the shoulders of his son and daughter. “This symbolises that the mine- worker is the most important commodity, and the embodiment of safety best practice in the mining industry,” Oliver commented. Established in 2009, MineSAFE advances the goal of achieving Zero Harm in the South African mining industry by bringing together mine management, the Department of Mineral Resources, the Chamber of Mines, trade unions and health and safety practitioners at all levels of industry to share best practice and strategies in this regard. The MineSAFE conference comprised high- level presentations from industry leaders, focusing on all issues related to safety, health and environmental protection. It culminated in the Industry Awards Day on 2 September 2016. Here the 2016 winners of the internation- ally-recognised John T. Ryan Safety Trophy were unveiled. The award is named after the original founder of MSA and was introduced to the Canadian mining industry in 1941, before expanding globally. The winner in the ‘Health and Wellness’ category was Black Mountain Mining (BMM) in the Northern Cape while the award for the

‘Top Environmental Programme’ went to ARM’s Nkomati mine in Mpumalanga. The Health and Wellness award is

presented to the company that “has made a sig- nificant impact on the advancement of health and wellness amongst its members”. BMM, which is part of Vedanta Zinc International, was given the award for its Cataract Surgery Project which provides community members with cat- aracts living in the Khai-ma Municipality and Namakwa District in the Northern Cape with access to sight-restoring surgery. ‘Best-in-class’ safety awards were made to the companies that achieved the lowest progres- sive total injury frequency rate (TIFR) reported in the period 1 July 2015 to 1 June 1 2016. The winners were: Harmony Gold’s Kalgold mine in North West Province (gold sector); Anglo American Platinum’s Mogalakwena platinum mine in Limpopo (platinum sector); Sasol Mining’s Bosjesspruit mine in Mpumalanga (coal sector); Petra Diamonds’ Finsch mine in the Northern Cape (diamond sector); and diver- sified mining major Glencore’s Magareng mine in Mpumalanga (base metals sector). The award for the most improved safety performance went to Glencore’s ferroalloys division. The award winners were congratulated by Chamber of Mines President Mike Teke. “Whilst recognising that there is still much work to be done to achieve our quest for Zero Harm, we are encouraged by the mining sector’s 2015 landmark performance of reducing fatali- ties for the eighth consecutive year – of which the last three years have seen fatalities reduced to below 100, when mine mortalities have his- torically been over 100,” he said. “We congratulate the companies that have been recognised for their sterling performance today at this year’s MineSAFE Industry Awards Day. The performance of these companies indi- cates that the industry’s goal of Zero Harm is achievable.” 

Lonmin’s 4B/1B shaft in the North West won the award for an underground operation at MineSAFE 2016.

“Whilst recognising that there is still much work to be done to achieve our quest for zero harm, we are encouraged by the mining sector’s 2015 landmark performance of reducing fatalities for the eighth consecutive year.”

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October 2016  MODERN MINING  41