Senior Lecturer Jannie Maritz from the University of Pretoria, South Africa shares the technological advances that are exciting him the most and his career advice for people looking to work as a geotechnical professional in mining.

In the second edition of Friction, we dive into droids and robots on mine sites, legality around engineering contracts, and a Q&A with an industry professional.

It might be easier to just skim through a contract before signing it, but you’re potentially putting your business and long-term future at risk. In this article Craig Hong looks at some common legal considerations for writing and signing contracts.

In the launch edition of Friction, we dive into the challenges geotechnical and rock engineers face as underground cave mines get bigger and deeper.

With renewable energy and technology driving increased demand for ore and minerals at a time when extensive orebodies have become harder to access – block caving is more frequently hyped as the future of mining. But is this technique as efficient, safe, or as well understood as it should be?

Every month Friction puts 10 questions to a member of the industry to learn more about their career path and views. This month we put Canadian independent rock engineering consultant Gregory More O’Ferrall in the spotlight.

Cave mining techniques, including block caving and sublevel caving, are being employed in various mines around the world. Below is a summary of projects and the status the mine was at when the list was first compiled.