Padenga Holdings’ Dallaglio-owned Pickstone Peerless Mine is positioning itself at the forefront of digital transformation in Zimbabwe’s narrow-reef underground mining sector, with a strategic push to replace paper-based systems with fully integrated digital processes across all operations, Mine Technical Services Manager Mathew Mamina told a technical visit by the Association of Mine Surveyors of Zimbabwe (AMSZ).
By Rudairo Mapuranga
Speaking at the first-quarter AMSZ gathering hosted at the mine on Friday, Mamina outlined the operation’s ambition to become “fully digital in all the processes that we do,” identifying the surveying function as the critical foundation upon which that digital future will be built.
“If we don’t know where we are mining, if we don’t know what’s happening underground when we are mining, then we can never plan for the future in the digital sense that we want to achieve,” Mamina said. “The key pillar for our digital journey is the surveying pillar.”
The Pickstone Peerless operation combines a deep history with a modern revival. Mining in the area dates back to the 1800s, with underground operations last active in 1971 before the current owners reopened the mine. Production from underground resumed in September 2023, following an extensive dewatering campaign, resurfacing of workings, and the re-establishment of digital mine maps.
Since restarting operations, the mine has completed resource modelling and mine planning, laying the groundwork for a technology-led approach that sets it apart from many narrow-reef operations in Zimbabwe.
“If you go to narrow-reef underground mines, you realise that most of them in Zimbabwe do things on a paper-based system,” Mamina said. “There are some that are moving forward into the digital space, but our goal as Pickstone Mine is to be fully digital.”
The mine is currently operating at the “point-scanning stage” in terms of surveying technology, but Mamina expressed interest in advancing to more sophisticated tools, including drone-mounted scanners and other instruments that can improve surveying capabilities.
Mamina urged the visiting surveyors to challenge his team and share ideas freely, encouraging them to ask what he called “the stupid questions” during their underground visit.
“When you go underground, please ask the stupid questions. What are you doing here in terms of surveying? Why are you doing it? So that we open up our minds,” he said.
He emphasised that his team remains open to feedback and new ideas beyond the visit itself.
“Even when you leave this place, please contact me, contact my surveyors to say, ‘There is something that I saw, and I think you are doing it wrong. Please do it this way.’ I’m still open to all that.”
The AMSZ technical visit to Pickstone Peerless provided a platform for surveyors from across Zimbabwe to examine the mine’s operations and share best practices. Mamina welcomed the gathering, noting that the exchange of ideas would help the mine refine its approach as it pursues its digital transformation.
“You can only grow if you are open-minded. You can only learn new things if you say, ‘I didn’t know this. Please tell me how to do it better,’” he said.
