Dassault Systèmes GEOVIA will be participating in this year’s Mining Indaba, to be held in Cape Town from February 5 to 8, 2018.
Read our roundup of last year’s Mining Indaba
Mining Indaba is solely dedicated to the successful capitalization and development of mining interests in Africa, and this year over 220 mining companies and 350 investors are expected to attend.
Spotlight on Innovation
Innovating for the future is a critical theme that will be addressed at Mining Indaba, which will feature a Mining 2050 Innovation Track. Barrick’s Chief Innovation Officer Michelle Ash will deliver a keynote on what mining will look like by 2050, while Regolex’s Principal Geoscientist will talk about how exploration will change over the next 10 years with the development of innovative techniques.
It’s clear that technology and process innovations will decide the future productivity gains for many mining companies. This topic will be addressed by talks on how miners can use technology and big data to manage risk across a project lifecycle, how companies can formulate strategies around remote control continuous mining technology, and how processing will be affected by nanotechnology and other advanced techniques.
Our very own Jeff Hamilton, Director of Brand Strategy and Alliances at Dassault Systèmes, will talk about Mining by 2050 and how the Internet of Things will shape the mine of the future.
Jeff’s presentation will be on February 7, from 2:20 to 2:40 pm on Stage C.
Deloitte’s Associate Director of Strategy & Operations, Jan-Adriaan du Plessis, echoes this sentiment with his talk on why intelligent mining requires a broader transformation within companies.
Sustainability a Key Theme
The other hot topic for this year appears to be sustainability, with this year’s agenda revolving around the themes of building a sustainable and responsible mining industry to support long-term value creation in the mining sector.
The former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obansanjo, will set the scene with his keynote on establishing a new narrative for Africa’s mining industry, followed by a Sustainability Panel featuring Anglo American, Aberdeen Standard Investments and the International Council on Mining & Metals.
This theme continues with a fireside chat between the Metal Bulletin, Vedanta Resources and BlackRock discussing the next phase of growth in the mining sector following restructuring to generate long-term shareholder value. BlackRock, along with Rio Tinto, have recently joined the advisory board of a London-based sustainability consultancy, which helps companies assess social, political and environmental risks.
Given the backlash the mining sector has been facing from environmentalists and governments around the world, the global focus on sustainability comes as no surprise but is a positive, proactive step towards grappling with these issues.
B2Gold’s CEO and BCA Research’s VP will talk about how to build a sustainable gold mining company, while Alcoa’s CEO will deliver another keynote on how companies can become a driving force behind sustainability, leaving behind the common perception that they are part of the problem. Eight sustainability roundtables will also run concurrently, each addressing different topics such as the supply chain, economic diversification and technology.
Collaboration At All Levels
The last theme of the conference is collaboration, whether it’s between governments, communities or mining companies.
There will be a Labor and Community Rights panel exploring strategic stakeholder collaboration, as well as a panel on how sharing experiences and strategies can improve community relations. For the first time, Mining Indaba will also feature an Intergovernmental Forum to promote greater sharing of expertise between African governments.
International collaboration is also addressed, particularly through the Canada-Africa and Australia-Africa partnership sessions.
We hope to see you at Mining Indaba 2018! Please come by and visit us at our booth, where you can also explore our virtual reality underground mine experience.
Date: February 5-8, 2018
Venue: Cape Town International Convention Centre (Convention Square, 1 Lower Long Street, Cape Town, 8001)
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