College of Science, Engineering & Technology

What's 4IR doing underground?

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Bokang Kelepa (Managing Director: Baletsema Mining Services) and Lucky Maseko (Mining Engineering Coordinator and lecturer at Unisa & panel member of the 4IR in Mining seminar)

Baletsema Mining Services is proud to welcome Unisa as an official partner and host of the 4IR in Mining seminar to be held on 31 May 2019. In the words of Rob Davies, CEO of Anglo American, "the mining industry will not be the same in the next five to seven years". The 4IR in Mining seminar aims to drive an ongoing conversation that ensures that South Africa readies itself and effectively integrates the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) into the country’s daily mining practices.

Unisa is Africa's leading online distance learning institution offering internationally accredited qualifications. The university boasts a one-of-a-kind School of Engineering under which the Department of  Mining Engineering falls. The research-focused department is led by highly qualified academic and administrative staff who are fully committed to growing access to higher education, as well as supporting and empowering education in science, engineering and technology (SET); this includes education on 4IR.

"We’re excited to have partnered with Baletsema Mining Services on this event. As a leading institution, it is important to take a holistic view of 4IR. 4IR means the evolution of traditional careers in mining and we need to ensure that our current higher education infrastructure is geared up to meet the needs of the future in the form of skilled and qualified mine employees," says Lucky Maseko, panel member of the 4IR in Mining seminar, and Lecturer and Mining Engineering Coordinator at Unisa.

At the helm of the seminar along with the university are operational and technical mining service providers, Baletsema Mining Services. "We look forward to welcoming powerful industry minds to our panel as well as significant stakeholders in the mining value chain, to not only drive a conversation at the seminar, but allow the audience to leave the room with some knowledge of what the future of mining looks like and action points that can be taken to ensure that the 4IR transition in the industry is as smooth as possible," says Bokang Kelepa, Managing Director of Baletsema Mining Services.

As a round up to the annually intended seminar, the organisers will work with industry experts to produce a paper on 4IR in mining that will be beneficial to all parties in the mining value chain and other relevant sectors and stakeholders.

* By Dineo Motaung, Gold Mansion Media

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Publish date: 2019-05-28 00:00:00.0

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