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“You’re in a first world country, but it doesn’t mean it’s first on everything.”

Article by Cartledge Mining and Geotechnics

Principal engineer Keith Mandisodza says that while Australia is well regarded for its approach to mine safety, it’s not leading the way across all aspects of the mining industry.

The Zimbabwean-born geotechnical professional has worked in various regional locations including southern Africa, South America, and Oceania Asian countries. He said one of the biggest shocks when he started to work in the mining industry in Australia was where it fell behind.

“Technology is still the one thing that surprised me, to be honest,” Keith said.

“In some mines, you’d consider Australia to be first world, but what I found was most of the third world countries I’ve worked in had better technology in place.

“That was probably a learning curve as well for me. To say, okay, you’re in a first-world country, but it doesn’t mean it’s first on everything.”

Keith says the lag in technology can be attributed to finding a safe procedure and sticking with it, despite the rest of the world advancing technology and upholding safety. He argues that the failure to keep up could see Australia’s mining sector suffer, despite the geotechnical community excelling at sharing best practices.

However, applying these geotechnical techniques is unique and site-specific, with climate, topography, and seismic environment having a significant impact on this field of work.

“It’s what I enjoy most, just looking at different things in different places. The fundamentals might be the same in terms of application. Still, how you apply them is different because you are also considering the other aspects that are mostly different, driven by location,” Keith explained.

“In high rainfall locations, the weathering profiles are deep and primarily characterised by saprolitic materials (chemically weathered rock), especially in the Amazonian basin. This differs from dry climates, where there is dominantly rock profiles closer to the surface and shallower weathering profiles in semi-arid regions like Australia.

“Obviously, your geotechnical perspective applications will be different when you are in a semi-arid area like Mt Isa, so the geotechnical aspects become critical.”

In recent years, Keith has focused more on tailings dams and the risks associated with tailings dams leading to failure. He says one of the most challenging parts of the job, which remains consistent across the globe, is informing those downstream communities that a dam has the potential to fail.

“How do you communicate this with someone who has lived there their whole life?” he asks.

“A tailings failure has an enormous impact on the community and environment, and I think it’s high time the people and communities around these facilities come to the table, and open discussions and transparency with the operating mines in terms of trying to solve the problems.

“You might have a dam design, and you tell the people downstream that the dam is going to fail. How do you approach that whole scenario? Someone might say to you, my whole family has lived down there for centuries. Why do you want to move us? Acceptance or acceptability closure still requires refinement, and transparency between stakeholders is the only way to bridge the gap.

Regarding to “It becomes hard for mines to be fully vulnerable in such a way that there’s that transparency. But in my opinion, I think it’s necessary to be vulnerable and transparent and discuss issues at hand while trying to find common ground for both parties.”

Caledonia Mining Corporation Plc has announced that it has commenced the direct sale of gold produced from the Blanket Mine to a refiner outside Zimbabwe. 

Since listing on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange and following the completion of the Bilboes acquisition, Caledonia has been looking into various avenues to achieve the direct export of its gold.

Unrefined gold continues to be processed at Fidelity Gold Refinery (Private) Limited (FGR), a subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), on a toll-treatment basis, in accordance with requirements of the government of Zimbabwe for in-country refining; and to allow the Zimbabwean authorities full visibility over the gold produced and exported by Caledonia.

The exportation of the gold is facilitated by FGR as the holder of a gold dealing licence. The refined gold held by FGR is exported to a refinery outside Zimbabwe, the receiving foreign refinery undertakes the final refining process and the gold is sold on behalf of Caledonia.

Caledonia receives the proceeds of the gold sales directly into its bank account in Zimbabwe within a few days of delivery to the final refinery. This arrangement in respect of production from Blanket Mine complies with the current requirements to pay a 5 per cent royalty and that Blanket continues to receive 75 per cent of its revenues in US dollars and the balance in local currency. 

Commenting on this arrangement, Caledonia Mining Chief Executive Officer,  Mark Learmonth, said:

“This arrangement is a big milestone for Caledonia and further demonstrates the pragmatic approach of the Zimbabwe authorities to resolve commercial issues facing gold producers. In the 10 years or so during which Blanket Mine has sold its gold in-country (initially to the RBZ, and more recently to FGR) we have experienced very few difficulties in receiving payment within the prescribed period; when difficulties have arisen, they have been resolved rapidly. 

“This new arrangement should be seen in the context of Caledonia’s planned expansion in Zimbabwe, initially at Bilboes and thereafter at Motapa and Maligreen: this new marketing arrangement should make it easier for Caledonia to arrange debt facilities with funders outside Zimbabwe which may be used to support the construction of the new mines.”   

DR Congo last year set up a State Audit Office tasked with the responsibility of critically auditing foreign deals and contracts in the country.

The goal of the unit is to ensure that the country and its citizens are adequately catered for under the provisions of the contracts and that the deals are executed as planned.

In February 2023, the state audit office Inspection Generale des Finances (IGF) asked for an additional $17 billion in infrastructure investment from China to make such deals fairer to DRC.

An IGF report released at the time showed that Sicomines had so far invested $822 million on infrastructure projects in the DRC, despite earning $10 billion from contracts in the project over the past ten years.

IGF wants China to increase its investment in Sicomines from the current $3 billion to $20 billion and hire more Congolese staff.

What is DR Congo Requesting from the Chinese Mining Companies?

Now, Kinshasa wants a bigger slice of the proceeds from the mining and export of its resources by Chinese companies. This, critics say, is an intervention that is better late than never.

National assembly speaker Christophe Mboso has sought a proper audit of mining contracts with a strict review of the government’s deals with “certain partners such as the Chinese contract.” Finance Minister Nicholas Kazadi has alleged that these contracts were skewed in favour of Beijing and wants the tax obligations on these companies increased.

“Sicomines, it seems, is not keen on paying the $200 million that the DRC is asking for after making huge profits,” Kazadi said, as quoted by the East African newspaper on April 8. “They have to pay…”

In February 2023, the impoverished but mineral-rich nation called for an overhaul of a $6.2 billion mining deal with China. This followed President Felix Tshisekedi’s demand for a more significant share of the country’s vast mineral resources than that agreed upon by his predecessor.

“It is not normal that those with whom our country has signed exploitation contracts are getting richer while our people remain poor,” President Tshisekedi said in May 2021. “It is time for the country to readjust its contracts with the miners in order to seal win-win partnerships.”

DR Congo and China Have History, But President Tshisekedi is Dissatisfied

Sicomines is a mining company owned by DRC (32%) and China, with around 6.8 million tonnes of mineral reserves. It owns most of the 19 mines in the country. Kinshasa, however, is now dissatisfied.

DRC holds its stake in Sicomines through the state-run mining firm Gecamines. In exchange for China’s 68% share, Beijing-based Sinohydro Corp and China Railway Group agreed to build roads and hospitals for the central African nation of 95 million people.

At 3.5 million metric tons, DRC has 70% of the world’s cobalt reserves, according to the UN. Around 80% of the cobalt it produces goes to China for processing today.

Both minerals are critical in the global switch to clean energy, as they are used in electric vehicle batteries, solar panels, and wind turbines, a field that China wants to continue dominating.

Most of these infrastructure-in-exchange-for-minerals were put in place informally by DRC’s previous government under former president Joseph Kabila between 2007 and 2008.

Some of them were even apparent barter deals with individual Chinese companies for stakes in DRC’s copper, gold, and cobalt mines.

Observers have said President Tshisekedi, who will be seeking re-election in December, will use the issue in his campaign in the guise of righting the Kabila regime’s wrongs.

Source: The African Exponent