Two major companies stepped firmly into the new world of the Fourth Industrial Revolution last week and made it clear that South Africa was already behind the global curve in doing so.

Another new-technology voice proposed using hydrogen to power trucks in large opencast mines, which would be a boost for platinum and its use in fuel cells, which protect the environment like no other source of electrical power.

Domestic entry into the world of artificial intelligence, digitalisation, three-dimensional printing and the Internet of Things (IoT) is taking place.

JSE-listed coal mining company Exxaro Resources, which has been on an internal new-technology drive for some time, is advancing in a way that will take the company beyond coal and also beyond mining.

It is looking at capital-light, fast-growing technology areas of high return that can be rapidly developed with others in the fields of smart renewable energy, water security technology and food security technology. (Also see pages 8 and 9 of this edition of Mining Weekly).

The other company intent on helping South African companies leapfrog into the new world of Fourth Industrial Revolution technology is the Johannesburg-listed ELB Engineering Services, a company which turns 100 next year but which has seen fit to go to the forefront of new technology by signing an exclusive technology partnership with software developer IoT.nxt.

The first assignment of the partnership will be to provide an IoT overlay for the Sedibeng iron-ore mine, in the Northern Cape, in what ELB CE Stephen Meijers describes as a South African first.
Another interesting technology suggestion came from RTS Africa Engineering MD Ian Fraser, involving the introduction of hydrogen transportat technology in large opencast mines, to usher in a cleaner, more environment-friendly future that has platinum- catalysed fuel cells as its centre.

He declares hydrogen transport as having zero environmental fallout in that the only replaceable part in a fuel cell vehicle is the platinum-containing catalytic membrane, which can be recycled and used to build yet another fuel cell.

Widespread adoption of fuel cell power would be a wonderful advantage for the platinum-producing Anglo American group, which last week also outlined an innovative approach to three major areas of sustainability – the environment, community development and driving greater trust and transparency across the mining industry.

Its goals are very ambitious and include the creation of five off-site jobs for every on-site job in host communities; working with governments to ensure every school in host communities performs at a level that puts it into the top 20% of State schools in the country; reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by 30%; improving energy efficiency by 30%; and reducing fresh water abstraction by 50% in water-scarce regions.

“Delivering on these commitments will transform the way we do business,” said Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani in a release to Mining Weekly.