Friction: Edition 4 | February 2023
FROM THE EDITOR
Attracting new geotechnical professionals to the mining industry continues to be a challenge in 2023. While the spotlight is on AI and what impact it will have on every industry, the fact is, as long as the world needs minerals and metals, the demand for geotechnical engineers will remain high.
In this edition of Friction, we look at the role we can all play in promoting our industry and attracting new talent to the profession. As Dr Haydon Mort points out in the On The Rocks podcast, little kids love rocks, so why do they want to grow up to be a firefighter and not a rock engineer?
Growing awareness of our profession, supporting peers and sharing knowledge is what drives most geotechnical associations. This month, we've added a new directory of professional associations and groups to the Friction website. If you'd like to see your group listed, please send us the details via editor@friction.news.
Regards,
Tim Cartledge
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Mining for talent: Attracting more geotech professionals to the industry
The mining industry is used to digging deep for the right minerals and metals, but there’s another precious resource in high demand – geotechnical professionals.
After three decades in the industry, geotechnical engineer Dan Payne is passionate about improvements and innovation in the industry. He shared with Friction his thoughts on the challenge of recruiting more young people into mining geotechnical jobs and what can be done to resolve the skills shortage.
Changing minds on mining
Mining and mineral exploration has forever been a hot topic in the media with people sharing their strong opinions on the industry. When social media came to the table these opinions grew louder and more assertive with many people using social media platforms as a place to view their thoughts on the work we do.
In this episode of the On The Rocks podcast, CEO & Founder of Geologise Ltd Dr Haydon Mort talks about the importance of changing the negative public perception of our industry, and how this is especially important on social media.
Spotlight on SANIRE
For the South African National Institute of Rock Engineering's (SANIRE) 700 members, the body is more than a professional institute. It's also a vital connection in an industry that can be quite isolated.
Friction caught up with current SANIRE president, Lizelle Prinsloo to hear how the association is connecting with its members online and face to face.
The importance of geology
Why is geology so often an afterthought in the mining industry? It’s a question engineering geologist Adam Kerr explored in this Australian Mining Review article. Adam argues more needs to be done to improve the understanding and value of geology, not only to improve safety, but also efficiency, on mine sites.
New guidelines for use of engineering geological models
The IAEGE's Commission 25 has published its Guidelines for the development and application of engineering geological models on projects.
The central premise is that an EGM is not simply a 2D or 3D visualisation of a data set. Instead the guidelines define an EGM as “a comprehensive knowledge framework that supports the interpretation and assessment of the engineering geological conditions and allows the interaction of these conditions with the proposed project to be evaluated, so that appropriate engineering decisions can be made throughout the life cycle of the project from inception to decommissioning”.
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