Modern Mining September 2023

MINING TECHNOLOGY

Maptek drives mining’s future readiness With technology developments advancing at lightning speed, mining houses can unlock significant opportunities. However, to be future ready and achieve the required gains, they will need to partner with leading technology providers, says Maptek’s Gideon Slabbert, General Manager for Africa. By Nelendhre Moodley .

M aptek, a supplier of innovative software, hardware and services for the mining indus try, continues to play a pivotal role in helping mines to harness these benefits. The com pany develops 3D design and modelling, spatial analysis, and mine optimisation software. “Individuals need future ready technology capa bilities to succeed in the technologically advanced and rapidly changing mining industry. Those in the mining sector need to align with skills to man age technological solutions for mining,” explains Slabbert. “For personnel in the sector to unlock value and efficiently perform their daily duties, they need to keep abreast of the functionality in the latest tools,” Slabbert continues. Maptek aids mining houses and tertiary institutions with online and in-person training, aligning them to the latest evolving technology. He explains that given the strong demand for its expertise, the business, which has been in operation for over 40 years, is seeing a spike in the uptake of its product line. Mining houses in Africa have been quick to adopt latest technologies, with the uptake being “so fast that mining industry skills development hasn’t kept up”. The company is thus working to fill the gap.

“The challenge in South Africa and Africa relates to the historical issue of limited local employment at mines, with much of the expertise residing in the hands of foreign professionals. Even when train ing was available, it was often not offered to local employees,” says Slabbert. Although many more local employees are being trained today, a huge gap remains in the techno logical skillset. Slabbert argues that this historical disadvantage has meant the African mining industry has lagged in acquiring the full value of Maptek’s industry knowledge and resources. Given that Africa is resource rich, with many coun tries highly dependent on the wealth it generates, the industry remains focused on improving produc tion rates to keep abreast of global demand. This has

Maptek collaborates with mining houses and tertiary institutions.

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32  MODERN MINING  September 2023