There has been an increased awareness of the inter-dependence between man and the environment since the 1960’s. Environmental awareness has evolved from representing fairly radical views opposing all development, to a current emphasis on sustainable development between development and the environment. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is defined as the identification and quantification of the environmental impacts of a product, process or service during the entire life cycle being studied. The life cycle starts at the extraction of raw materials and the production of energy used to create the product through the use and final disposal of the product. LCA therefore considers the production, use and disposal of a product, which constitutes the life cycle of the product. LCA can be combined with methodologies that study other parameters such as costs in order to optimise the benefits from LCA. It is suggested that cost implications of processes to reduce environmental impacts should be included in a methodology used for a Platinum LCA. A comment that is consistently raised in the case studies is that the minerals industry regards LCA as an effective tool to determine the impacts of the industry, however extraction & beneficiation of minerals are often grouped together, with accurate data not being available, and databases either not available or not updated. The case studies indicated several benefits from the various LCA’s conducted. A Platinum LCA should clearly define and group the environmental impacts being studied into categories such as greenhouse gas emissions, global warming, acidification, and resource consumption. A Platinum LCA will be resource- and time intensive due to the large scale of the processes involved. It is suggested that a Platinum LCA firstly focuses on the production phase, i.e. cradle-to-gate, with potential future work done on the use and end-of-life stages. It is suggested that individual facility-based LCA’s for AMPLATS and other platinum producers are conducted in order to get a true reflection of the environmental burden of each company, and then selectively share technological improvements to reduce the environmental burden without disclosing sensitive information. The benefit of LCA in the case of platinum will be optimised if it can be used to make business decisions, together with consideration of financial and production benefits in addition to anticipated environmental benefits of alterations to processes. It is essential that LCA is seen as a business tool that will assist the company to make informed business decisions about process improvements, as well as new projects and design of new facilities. LCA on its own will not determine which product or process is the most cost effective or works best. The information developed in a LCA study should be used as one component of a more comprehensive decision making process assessing the trade-offs with cost and performance. The results from a LCA could be used to make informed decisions about optimisation between costs and reduced environmental impacts. / Thesis (M. Environmental Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

While the mining industry provides numerous benefits to the society, it also has negative impacts on communities. This thesis will discuss various voluntary policies employed by mining companies and the developmental attempts at legislative changes to enforce mandatory regulations. The primary focus will be on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), in particular Bill C-300, which required “Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas Corporations in Developing Countries”. The Bill had effective key points to ensure that Canadian extractive companies followed human rights and environmental practices while operating overseas. Although the Bill was defeated, it is believed to be critical with respect to CSR. Moreover, Dodd-Frank, the 2010 United States legislation with similar provisions of CSR, will be discussed. The differences in the two will be elaborated to determine why Bill C-300 was rejected and answer whether it would have succeeded had the provisions been drafted similarly to Dodd-Frank.

While the mining industry provides numerous benefits to the society, it also has negative impacts on communities. This thesis will discuss various voluntary policies employed by mining companies and the developmental attempts at legislative changes to enforce mandatory regulations. The primary focus will be on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), in particular Bill C-300, which required “Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas Corporations in Developing Countries”. The Bill had effective key points to ensure that Canadian extractive companies followed human rights and environmental practices while operating overseas. Although the Bill was defeated, it is believed to be critical with respect to CSR. Moreover, Dodd-Frank, the 2010 United States legislation with similar provisions of CSR, will be discussed. The differences in the two will be elaborated to determine why Bill C-300 was rejected and answer whether it would have succeeded had the provisions been drafted similarly to Dodd-Frank.

Magister Public Health - MPH / Background: The HIV / AIDS pandemic have been characterized as the greatest natural challenge ever to confront humanity and one of the great moral causes of our time (World Bank, 2007). Although, the HIV and AIDS pandemic is a global problem, some regions of the world, notably sub-Saharan Africa are hardly hit by the pandemic. Namibia is one of the sub-Saharan African countries which are badly affected by the HIV and AIDS pandemic. It is estimated that about 360 000 Namibians were infected with HIV by 2010. This translates to a national HIV prevalence of (18.8%). The National HIV and AIDS Response Department has designed various interventions and strategies to curb the spread of the HIV. Promotion of male condoms promotion is one of the key strategies being advocated. If used consistently and correctly, male condoms are regarded as an effective preventive tool of HIV transmission. However, changing individual’s sexual behaviors and lifestyle to make condom use part of their sexual life seems to be the challenge. In Namibia most of the research in the area of HIV and AIDS were done among the youth and population aged between 15 – 49 years. Hence, this study looks at older men as a neglected population. Aim: The aim of the current study was to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices of condom use among male employees age 50 (fifty) years and older at a mining company in Southern Namibia. Methodology: A descriptive, cross-sectional survey utilizing quantitative research approach was applied. Data was collected through face-to-face interviewing male employees, age fifty years and older, while at work at the Mine Area 1 (MA1). Data was captured in excel and imported into SPSS version 16.0. Chi-square test was used to determine the association between KAP variables and the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents. The level of statistical significance was set at 0.05. Results: Among 105 respondents (males, mean age 54.5 years), more than half lived in the singe sex male hostels. Knowledge about condom use was good but there remained a significant number of the respondents whose knowledge was insufficient. A high percentage of the respondents suggested that HIV positive individuals should always use condom every time they have sexual intercourse. Conclusion: This study showed that respondents are not at a high risk of contracting HIV infection due to lack of knowledge on condom use though some of them possessed insufficient knowledge. Thus, to minimize the likelihood of HIV infection targeted interventions including peer education programmes were suggested, and working with the community in the area. Moreover, a more comprehensive knowledge attitude and practice study among mine employees from various sections of the mine would be beneficial to identify the level of risk within the total employee population.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether unmined ore stockpiles fall within the ambit of the definition of trading stock in section 1 of the Income Tax Act (58/1962) and therefore needs to be considered for the purposes of section 22 in the determination of taxable income. Furthermore the judgement in Richards Bay Iron&Titanium (Pty) Ltd and Another v CIR (1996:55) would be analysed to determine whether a distinction could be made between the stockpiled material held in that case as opposed to unmined ore. The research object would be determined by analysing the nature of ore stockpiles, the accounting treatment ore stockpiles and its effect on the tax treatment as well as the taxation of stockpiles in terms of case law. As to the first part, a distinction in the legal sense was examined between movable and immovable property. It was concluded that stockpiles could by its nature in certain circumstances, be considered immovable property even though they became movable by its separation from the soil. Intention was furthermore identified as one of the most important criteria in a three tier test for the determination of the legal nature of stockpiles. As to its tax nature, it was concluded that even though case law suggests that the intention to realise through mining activities could make such stockpiles floating capital, it was submitted that intention remains the conclusive criteria and therefore only once an intention exist, to utilise mining property in a mining process that is a scheme of profit making, does the intention change and does the fixed capital (both immovable property and movable stockpiles) become floating capital. In the second chapter an analysis was done of the financial reporting requirements for stockpiles and whether the accounting treatment thereof would influence the tax treatment. It was concluded that the accounting treatment would influence the tax treatment as the definition of trading stock in section 1 of the ITA (58/1962) is actually an extension of the normal grammatical meaning, the latter for which the accounting treatment is critical. In terms of IAS1 it was found that an essential criterion for a current asset was that it must be expected to be realised in the 12 months after the reporting date. It was found that even though mined ore and crushed ore could be seen as work in progress and thus inventories, such ore still had to comply with the requirements of IAS1 and IAS2 to be classified as inventory. The valuation of the ore would be in terms of IAS2 if at historical cost and in terms of SANREC if at net realisable value. It was concluded that stockpiles that did not meet the trading stock criteria due to various uncertain circumstances could be disclosed as non-current assets at historical cost, but not in terms of IAS16. However, if no reasonable expectation of future benefits existed, then no disclosure would be required. In examining the taxation of stockpiles the definition of trading stock was analysed. It was concluded that to the extent that the normal grammatical meaning did not apply, the extension to the definition still had to be considered. It was held that the extension to the definition had two parts of which the first required that the object must be acquired, produced or manufactured for the purpose of use in a manufacturing process, irrespective of whether the object was saleable in its current condition. The second part required no intention but was an objective enquiry of whether a saleable object was disposed of and which the proceeds would be revenue in nature It was also found that a distinction between a mining process and a manufacturing process exists in the South African tax law and that objects intended for use in the different processes could be treated differently from a tax perspective. Finally the analysis of the Richards Bay case (1996:55) revealed that even though the court considered that stockpiles are raw materials or work-in-progress, it was the taxpayer’s admission of a manufacturing process and his lack of distinction of the mining process that was critical in the decision against him. The court accepted the taxpayer’s contentions and withheld opinion on these two critical matters. It was concluded that stockpiles of unmined ore did not constitute trading stock in the extended definition and only under very specific circumstances could it be considered trading stock under the normal grammatical meaning when inferred from accounting disclosure and valuation requirements. Copyright / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2009. / Taxation / unrestricted

Since its inception, the Mining Industry was reserved for males. Females were allowed to perform the so-called 'soft jobs', but only started working underground in 1996. As a result the Mining Charter was introduced and one of its objectives was to force employment of women in the core function of the Mining Industry. The target of 10% women in mining is only a starting point for organisations to comply with each and every individual’s constitutional right. It is clear from the legislation that changes in the Mining Industry should take place and therefore the Mining Charter was introduced to have clear targets with set time frames for meeting these targets. There are several challenges or barriers that organisations are faced with once they introduce women into a Mining Industry. These barriers typically include: competent, qualified females, physical differences between males and females, the mining environment, standards of Personal Protective Equipment, high turnover of women, specifically professional and middle management women, cultural differences and lastly the cost implications for organisations. Mining Houses are profit-orientated organisations and reserve the right to review the cost implications of employing women in mining and to consider the advantages and disadvantages of doing so. Ultimately it affects the bottom line of the organisation and whether the cost implication is direct or indirect, it is crucial for organisations to manage the changes of introducing women into a Mining Industry. In general the Mining Environment is known to be a harsh environment not only because of the physical strain that is required to complete the tasks under noisy, cold or warm conditions, but also the necessity of employees working shifts and the risks related to working shifts. Other conditions associated with the Mining Environment are, fatigue, design of mining machines and ergonomics. It is clear that physical strain is present in the Mining Industry, although technology has been incorporated to improve olden days mining techniques compared to the mechanised mining techniques of today. The problems that shift workers experience relate to both the phase-displacement of their work-sleep periods and adverse negative working conditions that may be combined with shift work. Work-related fatigue may arise in situations requiring concentration for extended periods during work hours, performing strenuous physical work, working in temperature extremes, working in noisy environments or being exposed to vibration. The mining workplace is a very dynamic work environment. Although machine design and ergonomics in the Mining Industry affects women as well as men, a smaller built person will be more likely to experience problems in enduring these conditions. Infrastructure forms part of the barriers that exist when women are introduced in the Mining Industry as well as ablution facilities and change rooms, housing facilities, work-life balance and personal safety and security. Mines are reluctant to train and place women in artisan and engineering positions, due to the physical nature of this work as well as the female employees’ unwillingness to establish themselves in these careers. Due to cultural differences and different thinking patterns, little or limited support from the male employees will be given to female employees when needed. This implies that not only should the infrastructure be changed due to the introduction of women into the Mining Industry but also change in team structures, interpersonal relationships and the sense of acceptability by fellow male employees and supervisory level. The purpose of this study was to develop a model which an organisation can use to overcome and manage the barriers that were identified when women are introduced in core positions of the Mining Industry. As the problem statement is threefold, the model considers the three primary parties involved in the process of introducing women into the Mining Industry, namely the Organisation, Men and Women. In the model it is illustrated that these three parties function interdependently of each other. The primary concern of each of the parties is: The Organisation – cost implication; Men – paradigm shift; and Women – several barriers identified. The suggested solutions and focus areas for each of the parties are considered and/or implemented. The communication channels between these parties are a vast contributor to the success of this model. This is only the groundwork phase, phase one, of the process. Phase Two of this model is that this snapshot of the threefold system, at any given time, should be monitored and re-evaluated in order for this change intervention to progress. After monitoring and re-evaluation took place a decision can be made with regards to continuing with the system or adapting the system. The role of the Human Resources department in this process will mainly be limited to that of a facilitating and advisory role. To achieve the targets set by the Mining Charter and legislation it is vital for Mining Houses to overcome and manage these barriers that exist when introducing women in the Mining Industry. Therefore applying and implementing the basic principles set out in the model of managing the barriers of introducing women in the Mining Industry is a practical way to ensure that Mining Houses deal effectively with these changes brought forward by legislation. Copyright 2008, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Heine, A 2008, A model for managing the barriers of introducing women into a mining industry, MCom dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-02132012-110815 / > C12/4/73/gm / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

The economic development of South Africa has relied heavily on coal mining and water quality is adversely affected by mining - thus coal mining poses a significant risk to South Africa’s water resources. Ensuring judicious use and management of natural capital is always a complex undertaking but the benefits to the mining industry and society as a whole, derived from thoroughly laid-out plans, a supportive but strict regulatory environment and decision-making processes based on sound, scientific information are immense. Value addition to mining products is important to promote conservation of assets and resources. Using the Olifants Water Management Area as a case study, the chemistry of groundwater associated with coal mining was characterised. General concepts regarding the relationship of geology to water chemistry are surmised. Copyright / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Geology / unrestricted

The basic structures of collective bargaining in South Africa have evolved since industrialisation, through the Wiehahn-Commission era until the Farlam one and beyond, resulting in a number of legislative changes from 1924 to 2014. While dealing with collective bargaining, it is not possible to divorce the powerful history of mining from the South African story, from the diamond fields in Kimberley to the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886, where the mine employees’ focused on cheap, unskilled labour and migrant system in the 1900s to the tragic events at Marikana in 2012. In the advent of the industry revolution, employment relationships changed as competitive demands placed a great need for advancing economic developments which are often expressed through collective-bargaining. The objective of collective bargaining is to arrive at an agreement between the employer and employees to determine mutually beneficial terms and conditions of employment such agreement may prohibit unions to embark on an industrial action for as long as it is in place. Strikes became important during the Industrial Revolution, when many worked in factories and mines. Often when employees’ demands are not met, they resort to strike action. Strike action is when a number of employees stop rendering their service in protest to express their grievances. These strikes are usually led by labour unions to get better pay, working hours or working conditions during collective bargaining as a last resort. While trade union leadership fails to advance employees’ cause, employees resort to informal alternative structures to negotiate on their behalf. South Africans have a tradition of taking to the streets in protest when unhappy about issues and this tradition did not spring up during the apartheid era but has been around from as early as 1922 to date. Protests in South Africa today draw from past repertoires and at the same time push for new political practices and directions. Strikes are often used to: Pressure governments to change its policies like in the Rand Revolt; Strikes can destabilise the rule of a particular political party like a series of strikes by blacks in the 1970s and 1980s including the 1973 Durban dockworkers and the 1987 miners’ strikes; Strikes are often part of a broader social movement taking the form of a campaign of civil resistance like Treatment Action Campaign and community struggles such Abahlali Base Mjondolo. On the strike issues in South Africa, the researcher draws from the terrible incident that transpired in August 2012 at Lonmin Mine-Marikana and how it has affected the collective bargaining landscape in South Africa. The first real and significant labour unrest, the Witwatersrand miner strike rocked South Africa to the core in 1922 and in 2012, ninety years later the violent strike by the Rock Operational Drillers at Lonmin following the Marikana massacre and as such did not enjoy statutory protection under the LRA because was classified as wildcat strike. Normally, a wildcat strike constitutes a violation of a collective bargaining agreement in place and as such is not protected unless a union joins it and ratifies the protest. The union may, however, discipline its members for participating in a wildcat strike and impose fines. Among other things miners mainly demanded a wage increment of R12500 per month. The fight between AMCU and NUM for organisational rights also found its way into the equation. A strike wave, not only linked to the mining sector, made 2012 the most protest filled year since the end of apartheid, rolled out across South Africa, closing some industrial operations and crippling others. Commentators argue that the strike wave emerged from a landscape of extreme inequality and poverty, made intolerable by the additional financial burdens arising from the migrant labour system. These factors influenced the industrial action and institutions of collective bargaining comprising of both company and union structures and processes, were found wanting in their ability to address the root causes of the crisis. The post-Marikana strike wave made a mark in the workers struggle movement as it drew in thousands of workers to join AMCU and at the same time weakening NUM, the then majority union. The strike led to the rise and growth of AMCU which was seen by miners as the driver for change. The 2012 strike wave and the Marikana massacre not only changed the balance of forces on the ground against the NUM, but also generated divisions within COSATU. The divisions were between those who decided to remain deaf to the workers’ call for transformation and those who had already realised that a decisive turn in economic policy was needed to avoid a social, economic and political crisis. In the aftermath of the strike, a number community struggles increased as 2012 began and on the other side, a number of splinter groups from COSATU mushroomed which was hobbled by in fights. NUM’s collapse is indeed part of a series of recent failures for COSATU.

Research problem: Various factors which influence industrial relations climate can be classified as input variables (Dastmalchian, Adamason and Blyton, 1991). The industrial relations climate (IRC) in turn has the potential to positive or negatively influence and be influenced by the industrial relations outcomes of the organisation such as labour turnover, industrial action and productivity. Management therefore need to be aware of the prevailing IRC as well as the factors influencing the prevailing industrial relations climate so as to take the necessary and relevant measures and steps to improve the labour-management relations. Research objectives: The research objectives for addressing the research problem were mainly to ascertain the prevailing labour relations climate within the selected mine. The second objective was to identify the factors that shape labour relations climate and thirdly to establish the impact of the prevailing industrial relations climate within the mine Research questions: Research questions for the study were developed and were; What is the overall labour relations climate? What is the contribution of each of the five dimensions to the overall labour relations climate? What is the relationship between the subgroups, distinguished by union affiliation and occupational level? What is the relationship between the sub-groups, distinguished by gender, age, race years in organization, full-time or part-time, union affiliation, years in union, union status, occupational level, educational level and the five dimensions of the labour relations climate? What are the factors that shape the industrial relations climate with particular reference to the following factors such as the organisational context and background, the structure of the organisation, the Human Resources context, the Industrial Relations context and Industrial relations outcomes? Research design: The study was descriptive research and both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in order to address the objectives of the study. A self-administered survey questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data and in-depth semi-structured face-to-face interviews were also used to collect data relating to the IRC and the factors influencing the industrial relations climate. Human Resources records and reports were also used to provide secondary data for industrial relations outcomes. Major findings: The results from the study revealed that overall a negative IRC prevailed within the mine. This also applied to the five dimensions of climate that were measured. It was found that there was agreement between the unionised and the non-unionised employees’ perceptions of the industrial relations climate and similarly, when the miners’ perception of climate was compared with the more managerial group. The only really significant difference in perception was that management felt that the climate was fairer than did the miners. The results also revealed that the organisational environment and structure and the human resources and industrial relations contexts were consistent with the literature descriptions of an organisational environment that would inhibit a positive industrial relations climate. The results for the organisational outcomes, in particular absenteeism and turnover were also found to be consistent with those of organisations were the prevailing industrial relations climate was negative. The results also revealed that organisational age, size, ownership, structure, formalisation, decision-making, labour market, union-management consultation, communication were influenced and shaped the prevailing IRC. It also revealed that the prevailing IRC had impact on the levels of absenteeism and labour turnover.

This study shows the economic need for SMEs playing a supportive role in the South African mining industry. The main issues arethe business decision of mining companies to outsource function rather than to have it in-house,the differentiation methods mining companies used to distinguish between large companies and SMEs and BBBEE regulation. The Delphi study method was used. A questionnaire was sent out to the group of experts. The group of experts consists of senior managers at procurement departments of mining companies. All of these companies are members of the South African Chamber of Mines. The study showed that the need for SMEs to support the mining industry is increasing due to the increase in outsourcing, differentiating between large and small companies as well as the partnering of SMEs with HDSA's to comply with BBBEE regulations. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted