Modern Quarrying July-August 2016

AROUND THE INDUSTRY

Call for Fulton Awards nominations The Concrete Society of Southern Africa NPC is calling for nom- inations for its prestigious biennial Fulton Awards, which recog- nise and honour excellence and innovation in the design and use of concrete. The awards continue to celebrate the legacy of scientific and technological advances in concrete within the built environment, and the late Dr Sandy Fulton’s life and achieve- ments in the industry. The 2017 awards take on a new look with brand new cate- gories and a new approach to judging, with PPC once again the anchor sponsor for the awards. “We had drifted away from identifying all that was excep- tional in the concrete,”explains CEO and director of the Concrete Society, John Sheath, “and in the opinion of the Fulton Awards Committee, we were focusing too much on the total project on hand, considering aspects that had little to do with the material.” The deadline for nominations is August 31, 2016, while the completed entry packs have to be submitted by the end of November 2016. The award winners will be announced at a spe- cial gala weekend in the Drakensburg from June 2-4, 2017. Visit www.concretesociety.co.za for full details of the 2017 awards.

A 2015 Fulton Award winner: Fairscape Precinct office tower, Botswana.

Roadmap for water use licence compliance As many mines grapple with the complexities of implementing and renewing their water use licences (WULs), global consultant engineers and scientists SRK Consulting, has prepared a manageable system to sim- plify this process – completewith a training programme to put all those responsible on the same page.

to make their operations more cost efficient. “While the WUL focuses on protecting all water resources – by limiting the quantity of what is abstracted from surface and groundwater sources and ensuring the quality of what is returned to the resource – there is also increasing attention paid to preventing pollution from diffuse sources and conserving water through reuse,” she says. This gives mines the opportunity to further enhance their water saving efforts and their water use efficiency plans. “SRK is frequently involved in auditing the imple- mentation of WULs for mining clients, so we see the recurring difficulties and have addressed these in our training and our tools,” Burke says. www.srk.co.za

SRK Africa principal scientist Jacky Burke says obtaining and implementing aWUL are onerous tasks which many mining operations find overwhelming. “Our approach is to get back to basics and to help clients implement a sustainable process with clear designation of roles, backed up by the necessary data collection and supporting technology.” She emphasises that the WUL is not just a com- pliance issue but needs to be embraced by mines as a valuable tool to help manage water resources and

SRK Consulting Africa’s principal scientist Jacky Burke.

Land rehab conference The Land Rehabilitation Society Southern Africa (LaRSSA) is holding its fourth annual conference in Kimberley, from 13-16 September this year. Under the banner of The Rehabilitation Business Case, it has invited submission of applied case studies and research initiatives on the following themes: • improving ecosystem function for long-term gain; • harnessing the intrinsic value of rehabilitation for communities; • improving the economic gains from rehabilitation;

• understanding the business indicators for successful rehabil- itation; and • identifying funding for rehabilitation. The conference will offer something for anyone with an interest in land rehabilitation – miners, farmers, land owners, conserva- tionists, practitioners, regulators and researchers. The conference again offers CPD opportunities in the form of a pre-conference workshop and post-conference site visits. www.larssa.co.za

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MODERN QUARRYING

July - August 2016