The manner in which African mining companies can strengthen resilience, safety and performance as climate risk and digitalisation increasingly shape operating conditions will be the main focus for global operations consulting firm dss+ during its participation at this year’s Investing in African Mining Indaba, to be held in Cape Town from February 9 to 12.

The firm intends to use the platform provided by Mining Indaba to share practical, industry-tested lessons on operational risk management, leadership and safety culture in African mining, says dss+ principal Dr Gerhard Bolt.

dss+’s participation at the Mining Indaba aligns with the conference’s theme of Stronger together: Progress through partnerships.

African mining operations, he notes, are increasingly exposed to physical climate hazards, including water scarcity, extreme weather events and tailings risks, which are already affecting production stability and investor confidence.

Climate risk should no longer be viewed as a future concern, but as a current operational reality requiring structured, data-driven responses, adds Bolt.

dss+ intends to demonstrate at Mining Indaba how mining companies can assess physical climate exposure in operational terms, quantify potential value at risk and prioritise adaptation measures that deliver clear operational and financial benefits, he highlights.

Alongside climate adaptation, Bolt identifies digital transformation as a parallel and equally urgent priority, particularly for operations constrained by ageing infrastructure or legacy systems.

“dss+ will highlight how mature, field-tested technologies – such as remote operations, advanced analytics and autonomous systems – can be deployed to increase throughput, reduce downtime and lower exposure to high-risk tasks,” he says.

These technologies enable mining companies to improve productivity while strengthening safety performance, states Bolt.

Leadership and safety culture also underpin both climate adaptation and digital change, particularly in technologically complex operating environments, he posits.

“Effective leadership is required to guide cultural acceptance, manage operational transitions and sustain safe performance, as mining remains one of the world’s most hazardous industries,” says Bolt.

With mining organisations across Africa having to navigate unprecedented complexity, he says resilience comes from partnership, combining rigorous data with deep operational insight and the leadership needed to make change sustainable.