A project report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering. / This study addresses a principal issue associated with the small-scale mining industry in South Africa, namely mineral rights. Firstly it defines a small-scale mine and its role in the South African economy. It then examines the current mineral rights policy and the conditions under which the current mineral rights policy could be reformed in order to encourage the growth of the small-scale mining sector. Various models and proposals have been examined in an attempt to suggest the most suitable policy in terms of acquisition and distribution of mineral rights, Acquisition of mineral rights remains one of the major obstacles facing small-scale mining companies. The need to change the legal framework surrounding the acquisition of mineral rights is clearly demonstrated in this project report. Simplification of the legal framework would lead to easy access to mineral rights by both large-scale and small-scale, South African and foreign mining companies and remove the traditional complexities associated with the current South African mineral rights policy which tend to sterilise mineral rights. These complexities include subdivision of mineral rights, potential lockup of mineral rights by private companies and individuals and the State. Analysis of methods to rationalise the mineral rights policy have demonstrated that nationalisation and expropriation of mineral rights are counter productive and can not be used as vehicles for access to mineral rights. In order to strengthen the small-scale mining industry changes to the mineral rights have been proposed. A model mineral rights policy framework has been designed to promote small-scale mining. Introduction of a mineral fights tax, taking into consideration the specifics of the South African mining industry, similar to that of Swaziland of 1958 is proposed as one of the ways of discouraging the sterilisation of mineral rights. It introduces a cost element in the locking up of mineral rights by private companies and individuals. It is envisaged that when the cost of holding these mineral rights is greater than the benefits of holding the mineral rights, mineral rights holders would relinquish them thereby allowing access to these mineral rights to other interested parties. The relinquished mineral rights should revert to the State, which in tum should allocate them to qualified mining companies. Due considerations of the unique characteristics of the South African mining industry need to be taken into account when designing any mineral rights policy. Implementation of any such policy should therefore be done with the consensus of the mining industry. Access to State mineral rights is also considered vital. Whilst it is important to provide the small-scale mining sector with access to mineral rights it is recognised that the success of the sector depends many factors, mineral rights among others. A holistic approach that take into all facets of small-scale mining are included in the proposed policy framework for the development of the small-scale mining industry in South Africa. / AC2017

Thesis (M.Sc (Physiology)) --University of Limpopo, 2015 / Objective This study assesses whether noise levels above legal limits of 85 dB(A) that can result in noise-induced hearing loss are present in areas where employees are supposed to work and to verify that such areas are demarcated as noise zones at the Polokwane Platinum Smelter. Background and motivation Excessive noise is a global health hazard with considerable social and physiological impact, including the development of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). Noise is a major hazard in many workplaces. It is estimated that more than 30 million workers (almost 1 in 10) are exposed to unsafe noise in their work places. NIHL is the second most self-reported occupational illness or injury in the United States. Amongst miners, more than 90% of the population reports hearing problems by the age of 55 years. Noise exposure is prevalent in construction, foundries, agriculture, transport, industry and mining-related activities. The prevalence of NIHL has not changed much in the past two decades. Therefore, a hearing conservation programme is an important issue in the smelter as certain areas are denoted as noise areas. Study design A cross-sectional study design with a group of utility workers at the Polokwane Platinum Smelter, as the experimental group, and a group of undergraduate Bachelor of Science students at the University of Limpopo (Turfloop Campus) served as a control group. Method A sound level meter was used to measure the noise levels where the utility group performs their technical work. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) computer program. Results The average noise measured in various locations of the Polokwane Platinum Smelter was between 62.6 dB(A) and 105.1 dB(A). The results indicated that workers at the Polokwane Platinum Smelter are over exposed to noise in certain work areas if they work eight hours in the area. Areas where the average noise level was above noise rating limit of 85 dB(A) were demarcated as noise zones as an additional protective measure. Employees also use hearing protective devices, when they are working in noise zones, to control personal noise exposure. This is in accordance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act No. 85 of 1993 as amended eleventh edition (OHS Act 85/93). Conclusion In the present study, noise levels in certain areas exceeded the noise rating limit of 85 dB(A). However such areas are clearly demarcated as noise areas and employees accessing those area must wear earmuffs or earplugs. Possibilities of employees developing hearing loss overtime exist, if employees work for eight hours or longer in demarcated areas and do not adhere to the existing Hearing Conservation Program (HCP) implemented at the Polokwane Platinum Smelter. Noise levels at the Polokwane Platinum Smelter should be monitored regularly. / University of Limpopo

The South African mining industry has been, and continues to be, the main contributor of the country’s GDP. The listed mining companies have a great contribution to the market capitalisation of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE, 2014). Pre-1994, the mining companies had been under scrutiny for a wide range of negative environmental and social impacts in their operational areas. The mining companies were accused of a lack of sustainability plans, carbon emissions, land rehabilitation plans, pollution and lack of community engagement (Buccasa, 2013). Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a platform for the mining industry to correct the errors of the past and to contribute towards socio-economic development and environmental concerns. Through the implementation of CSR initiatives, the mining companies have brought about a significant change in the lives of people affected by mining industry. In return, the mining companies have built a good reputation which had been tarnished in the past. The objective of the study was to explore the role of CSR in the mining industry and determine how CSR initiatives had impacted the lives of the beneficiaries in the mining sector. The research identified three sustainability dimensions, which are: environment, social aspects and economic aspects. The aim of the study was to establish whether CSR initiatives have contributed towards sustainable development. The study established how the JSE/SRI listed mining companies reported CSR and determined the types of initiatives implemented. The study identified the similarities and differences in the CSR initiatives being implemented by 10 selected mining companies listed in the JSE/SRI index. The study also identified sustainable development issues faced by the South African mining industry. The study reviewed how these mining companies reported their CSR and identified regulating bodies and codes that promoted CSR. The study also determined the role that the JSE/SRI index plays towards the development of CSR and sustainable development in the mining sector in South Africa. Integrated reports and sustainability reports of the mining companies were used for data collection to establish how these companies reported CSR and disclosed their CSR strategies on the internet. The mining companies which were analysed were mining companies listed in the JSE/SRI index from 2010 – 2014. The JSE/SRI index is aligned with global sustainability guidelines and locally relevant corporate responsibility standards. The study determined the significance of JSE/SRI listing towards the development of CSR; in relation to environmental, social and economic development in the mining industry.

PhDENV / Department of Ecology and Resource Management / See the attached abstract below

The purpose of this study was to explore the strategising practices of chartered accountants (CAs) in the South African mining industry. Few studies have dealt with the practical skills CAs employ when they engage in strategising practices and, in particular, a gap could be identified on how CAs engage with strategy tools during strategising. Approximately two thirds of all directors in South Africa are CAs and only 11% of directors who are CAs also hold master‟s degrees in business administration. The question then arises of how do CAs engage with strategy tools during strategising? This study applied key concepts of social practice theory to explore the strategising practices of CAs from a strategy-as-practice perspective. The strategy-as-practice perspective entails studying strategy practitioners within their social constructs. The context of this study was the South African mining industry, a landscape seen as an essential part of the South African economy. An exploratory qualitative research design was applied whereby one-on-one interchanges during individual interviews provided rich, detailed descriptions of how CA strategists use strategy tools when they engage in strategising practices. The social nature of the practices and praxis of strategy practitioners from a strategy-as-practice perspective constantly changes. As such, the current study was conducted from a constructivist paradigm to describe the narrative reality of the strategy practitioners as they engage with strategy tools. The findings of the study portrayed participants as bricoleurs of strategy tools, i.e. craftspeople who adapted and interpreted strategy tools from an accounting perspective to serve the requirements of the situation they face. / Financial Accounting / M. Phil. (Accounting Sciences)

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The retention of the right skills in any organisation or industry is always a challenge. There are many causes of the skills shortage and it is also difficult to retain skilled people once they have been found. The literature suggests that retention of skills should ideally be considered from the design and expectation of the requirements of the job through to the recruitment process; and not only once the employee has started working. The literature also explores the different retention strategies that can be applied, such as succession planning, employee engagement, work – life balance, remuneration structuring and career advancement path. This research is limited to Tshikondeni coal mine and attempts to establish which of the following are the biggest contributing factors that cause people to leave and resign from the mine: • Known life of the mine left is till 2014; • Remote location away from essential services; • Leadership; and • Remuneration. From the research that was done, it became clear that the limited life of the mine was the biggest contributing factor that would make employees want to leave Tshikondeni coal mine. Further study is recommended for organisations that operate with finite resources, and mostly in remote areas, to develop further specific retention strategies – over and above those challenges that face all other industries and organisations. This should be done so that the reality of finite resources can be addressed in order to keep employees motivated and energised until the last ton is extracted. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Dit is altyd ‘n uitdaging in enige organisasie of industrie om die regte vaardighede te behou. Daar is baie redes vir die tekort aan vaardighede en dit is moeilik om bekwame mense te behou wanneer hulle wel gevind word. Die literatuur raai aan dat die retensie van vaardighede reeds in die ontwerp van en vereistes vir ‘n betrekking in ag geneem moet word, sowel as tydens die werwingsproses en nie eers na indiensneming van die werknemer nie. Die literatuur ondersoek ook retensie strategië wat toegepas kan word, soos bv. opvolgbeplanning, werknemerbetrokkenheid, balans tussen werk en vrye tyd, vergoedingstrukture en moontlikhede vir bevordering. Hierdie navorsing is beperk tot Tshikondeni steenkoolmyn en poog om vas te stel watter van die volgende die grootste bydraende faktore is waarom mense bedank en weggaan by die myn: • Lewensduur van die myn slegs tot 2014; • Afgesonderde ligging weg van essensële dienste; • Leierskap; en • Vergoeding. Uit die navorsing wat gedoen is, het dit duidelik geword dat die beperkte lewensduur van die myn die grootste bydraende faktor was waarom werknemers wou weggaan van Tshikondeni steenkoolmyn. Verdere navorsing word aanbeveel vir organisasies wat met beperkte hulpbronne, en hoofsaaklik in afgeleë gebiede, werk om verdere spesifieke retensie strategieë te ontwikkel – bo en behalwe dié wat vir ander industrieë en organisasies geld. Hierdeur kan die realiteit van beperkte hulpbronne aangespreek word om sodoende die motivering en aansporing van werknemers te verseker totdat die laaste ton verwerk is.

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND, JOHANNESBURG, IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY. / In its chronic form silicosis had always been been taken for granted as one of the occupational hazards of mining. But both during and shortly after the Anglo-Boer War it manifested itself in a new accelerated form amongst former Witwatersrand rock drillers. Despite the appointment in the Transvaal of a commission of enquiry in 1902 and the promulgation of dust precaution measures, by 1912 the prevalence of and mortality from the disease amongst the Witwatersrand miners had not diminished. This finding suggests two of the purposes of the study: first, the reasons for the continued prevalence of the disease; and second, the extent of the mortality from silicosis amongst the miners. Because of the apparently low prevalence of and mortality from the disease amongst African mineworkers, the disease was ironically nick-named the "white death". Therefore another aim of the study is to examine the validity of the medical claim that the short contracts of African migrant workers safeguarded them from contracting accelerated si licosis. As the subject is complex, the study uses a thematic approach. Chapters two to nine deal with significant themes: first, the growing medical knowledge concerning silicosis, the mining and medical precautions against the disease and the age-old disregard for the occupational illness in its chronic form; second, the industrialists* need to reduce working costs, the development of mass-production technologies and the resort by management to "speeding up"; and third, the miners' needs for job and wage security, the encroachment of African competitors in semi-skilled and skilled spheres of mining and the introduction and the extension of the colour bar. Chapter nine deals with underground health conditions. Chapter ten explores the awareness of the new form of the disease, accelerated silicosis, and the establishment in 1902 of the first Transvaal commission on silicosis. Chapter eleven discusses the failure to implement remedies. Finally, chapter twelve explores the prevalence of and mortality from silicosis and the impact of the disease on the workforce of the mines. In chapters ten, eleven and twelve a synthesis is offered of the themes and findings of the previous chapters. The project is based almost entirely on contemporary primary and published sources. Apart from silicosis, a unifying theme throughout the discrete sections is the perceptions of miners of their vocation in general, and of this occupational disease in particular. The study requires periodization. As silicosis is a slow-developing disease the starting point of the investigation is 1886, when gold was discovered on the Rand. The study ends in 1910 because the establishment of Union in 1910 and the legal award of compensation in 1911 heralded a new era in the history of silicosis on the South African gold mines. The following are the conclusions. First, almost an entire generation of overseas miners, most of whom remained migrants and whose skills pioneered the South African gold mining industry, died from silicosis. Second, for reasons of self-interest, some of which they shared with one another, both the Transvaal state and the Randlords did virtually nothing to remedy the occurrence of the disease. Both parties were culpable for the neglect of the health of the industry's workforce: using only perfunctory dust safeguards, management intensified production through the deployment of both modern technology and labour intensive practices, peculiar to the Witwatersrand; and most of the state's interventionist initiatives were the result of pressure from the British House of Commons. Third, the fear and anger of miners at being the victims of a preventable occupational disease, provided the catalyst for their militancy during the period. Fourth, the industry's power was partly responsible for causing both the press and medical profession to be silent about the problem until 1910. Finally, the mineowners both seized and promoted the unsubstantiated medical orthodoxy, namely that the short contracts of African mineworkers protected them from accelerated silicosis, as an important rationale for perpetuating the migrant labour system / Andrew Chakane 2018

M.Tech. Business Administration. Business School. / The implementation of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) of 2002, effective as from 1 April 2004, presented a huge challenge as its implementation gave rise to concerns expressed by various key stakeholders. It also fuelled perceptions that South Africa may have sacrificed its competitiveness. In an attempt to manage these challenges the Mining Industry Growth Development and Employment Task Team (MIGDETT) was instituted in December 2008 by the mining industry in South Africa. During the MIGDETT process stakeholders concluded unanimously that transformation and growth are mutually inclusive concepts. Against this background, the objective of this study was to assess the implementation of the MPRDA Act using well researched mineral investment and competitiveness guidelines including Michael Porter's framework.

Thesis (Mcomm)--University of Stellenbosch, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: A need was identified for a proactive strategy for reducing voluntary turnover levels within the mining industry. From the onset it was established that a multi-dimensional approach would be the most appropriate. Organisational commitment and organizational climate were identified as variables that were likely to influence intentions to stay. Moreover, it was hypothesised that organisational climate would directly influence organisational commitment levels. Both organisational climate and organisational commitment have been subjected to considerable controversy with respect to conceptual and methodological issues. This has resulted in the diverse array of approaches currently found in the literature and has threatened the usefulness of both constructs. An overview of existing literature indicated that little is known regarding the relationship between organisational climate, organisational commitment and intention to stay within the specific industry. The current study therefore investigated the existing relationship between collective climate, organisational climate and intent to stay within the mining industry. Research objectives were achieved by means of hierarchical cluster analysis, canonical correlational analysis and standard multiple regressions. All measures were subjected to confirmatory factor analysis. The results indicated that multiple collective climates existed in the various departments. A positive relationship was found between collective climate and organisational commitment, as well as between collective climate and intent to stay. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: 'n Behoefte aan proaktiewe intervensies, gemik op die vermindering van vrywillige arbeidsomset, is in 'n organisasie in die mynindustrie geïdentifiseer. Dit was vanuit die staanspoor ooglopend dat 'n multidimensionele benadering toepaslik sou wees. Organisasieklimaat en organisasie-verbondenheid is as moontlike veranderlikes geïdentifiseer wat 'n invloed op omsetbedoelings mag uitoefen. 'n Verdere hipotese had betrekking op die verband tussen organisasieverbondenheid en omset-bedoelings. Beide konstrukte het reeds aansienlike kontroversie met betrekking tot konseptueIe en metodologiese aspekte ontlok. Laasgenoemde het onder meer gelei tot die opkoms van 'n aantal uiteenlopende konseptueIe benaderings tot hierdie konstrukte, met die gevolg dat die empiriese bydraes wat hul tot die veld van Organisasiesielkunde maak, toenemend bevraagteken is. 'n Literatuuroorsig het aangedui dat 'n leemte met betrekking tot die onderwerp binne die bepaalde industrie bestaan. Weinig empiriese steun is egter gevind ten opsigte van 'n verband tussen organisasieklimaat, organisasie-verbondenheid en omset-bedoelings. Die betrokke studie het dus ten doel gehad die ondersoek van 'n verband tussen groepklimaat, organisasieverbondenheid en omsetbedoelings. Ten einde bogenoemde verbande te ondersoek, is gebruik gemaak van hiërargiese tros-analise, kanoniese korrelasionele analise, asook standaardmeervoudige regressie-ontledings. Die navorsingsbevindinge het bevestig dat 'n beduidende en positiewe verband tussen groepklimaat en organisasieverbondenheid bestaan. Daar is verder aangetoon dat omset-bedoelinge beduidend met groepklimaat, sowel as organisasieverbondenheid korreleer. 'n Sterker verband is tussen organisasieverbondenheid en omset-bedoelinge gevind.

The study examined the impact of earnings announcements on the share price of selected mining companies using the most recent data from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. This study covered a period from 1 January 2011; to 31 December 2015. Using the classical event study methodology, the speed of reaction of the market to annual earnings information releases for a sample of 27 companies listed on the exchange is tested. Over the sample period, the Abnormal Returns (AR), Average Abnormal Returns (AAR) and Cumulative Average Abnormal Returns (CAAR) were calculated. The AR, AAR and CAAR show positive results obtained during the earnings announcement period. The returns yielded from these results are significantly different from zero. / Financial Accounting / M. Phil. (Accounting Sciences)