By Sharon Mdaka
The mining industry is critical to the economy, given its contribution to the GDP and employment. However, it is deemed one of the most dangerous industries to work in based on the recurring fatalities.
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A combination of system thinking, technology innovation and emergency response solutions can help the mining industry achieve its zero-harm goal – this was according to the speakers who shared their insights at the Mine Health and Safety Conference held on 19 November 2025 at the Convention Centre by the South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
Non-explosive rock breaking
Alastair Macfarlane, Strategy and Business Development manager for Rock Eater (Pty) Ltd, said operational innovation through non-explosive mining was another way for the industry to achieve its goal. He gave a presentation on Rock Eater’s Controlled Foam Injection (CFI) technology, a non-explosive rock and concrete breaking system.
“Our hard rock mining industry is focused almost exclusively on explosive rock breaking. This is an alternative where we don’t have to use explosives, so that we can mitigate all the risks that come along with the use of explosives. For us to achieve our health and safety milestones and the targets that have been set, we need to do things differently,” said Macfarlane.
With 47 years of experience in the mining sector, Macfarlane believes that using non-explosive technologies can be a solution to occupational health issues and eliminate injuries caused by drilling into misfires, exposure to gas, dust and incidents associated with the handling of explosives, among others.
Their product uses less energy. “It doesn’t break rock and generate high velocity rock fragments, as an explosive does. The rock falls out where the breaking unit is operating. The barrel doesn’t get damaged when the breaking happens because there is very little fly-rock. The rock is liberated with low velocity, and no shock wave means that there is no damage to the surrounding rockmass,” he said.
How the product works is that a conventional drifter drills a hole that’s about 0.5m long. Then, a unit indexes through 180 degrees, a probe is inserted and a seal is put in at the end of the hole, and then the foam is injected at sufficiently high pressure to overcome the tensile strength of the rock. The cycle takes about three to four minutes, according to Macfarlane.
It also helps with the reduction of noise, dust and fumes. “There are no chemicals to cause contamination or pollution, “he said. Macfarlane said tests have been conducted in the US and South Africa.
“The tests were initially done independently, in the US, through the Colorado School of Mines. We now have the original unit here in South Africa and are replicating it for more units for commissioning.
During this process of commissioning, we will do our monitoring but will then have this validated through independent monitoring. We have already engaged with CSIR, Mandela Mining Precinct and University of Pretoria, with these discussions being ongoing,” explained Macfarlane.
Systems thinking in mine safety
Lucky Maseko, senior lecturer at UNISA’s Department of Mining, Minerals and Geomatics Engineering, said the industry needed a paradigm shift. He based his presentation on research from 70 funded projects run by the Mine Health and Safety Council (MHSC) between 2010 and 2025, proposing that a systems-thinking framework offered a holistic solution to addressing safety issues in mines.
Emphasising that research is critical to achieve zero, he explained “The key concept in systems thinking is holism, feedback loops and stocks. A mine is a socio-technical system – from the environment, workers and all other sub-systems, they are interdependent. Knowingly or not, if you change one part of the system, you affect the other parts of the system.”
Maseko said mines are currently using a reductionist approach in many cases when they solve a problem, instead of using a system-thinking approach. “A reductionist approach will always work, but it’s limited,” said Maseko.
“The current approach cannot address the dynamic interaction between leadership, culture, technology and regulations. Systems thinking helps us look at root causes rather than just symptoms,” he added.
He acknowledged that there has been progress with reducing fatalities over the years, but emphasised that mining houses needed to re-examine their approaches to be able to achieve the goal set by the industry for zero harm.
Trapper miner locator system
Nomsa Mathebula, a final-year student from the University of Pretoria, gave a presentation on her research titled “Assessing the applicability of a trapped miner locator system in underground mines,” a study that explores how technology could improve emergency response times and outcomes when miners are trapped underground, with Through-the-Rock (TTR) locator systems.
She explained that the longer miners are trapped underground, the higher the chances of them losing their lives. Her presentation was based on a study she conducted with her co-authors as a response to the proposed MHSA Chapter 16 Section 16.7 amendments of the missing person locator system.
This study aims to establish a framework for the optimal implementation of the system in underground mines by providing guidelines for the optimal TTR locator system, comparing its performance under different environmental and geological conditions and determining how interference from electric equipment and metal obstructions affects signal reception. “We first started by creating a guideline for the optimal system design. This was done by selecting the optimal oscillator for the transmitter, selecting the optimal antenna design, calculating the minimum usable frequency and selecting the optimal antenna size,” she said.
“To validate that this design actually works, its performance was tested in different environments. To further validate that this design can work, its performance was also tested under different underground accident scenarios. Starting with the system design, for the oscillator selection, multiple oscillators were considered, “she added.
According to Mathebula, the system merges a transmitter attached to the miner’s cap and a hand-held receiver used by rescue teams, sending signals through rock to reveal exact locations, regardless of whether a miner can communicate or if the infrastructure is still intact.
“For low-noise amplifiers the transmitter uses an oscillator to generate a carrier wave. This wave is passed into a modulator where location data is embedded onto the wave. The wave is then passed into the amplifier, where its signal is boosted. From the amplifier, it is passed into the transmitter’s antenna. The antenna sends out the wave into different propagation media. The wave is then received by the receiver’s antenna and then passed through a low-res amplifier and a modulator, where the location data is extracted from the wave and displayed on screen for the rescue team to track down the missing miners,” she said.
However, the crystal oscillator was found to be the best choice because of its high accuracy and, most importantly, its very high environmental stability, as underground mines are environmentally unstable. For the antenna selection, the directional and the omnidirectional antennas were considered. The directional antenna can only transmit signals within a 45-degree angle.
Meaning that as the angle between the transmitter and the receiver increases, the signal transmission power decreases. But for the omnidirectional antenna, which transmits signals within a 360-degree angle, the orientation does not affect signal transmission. For the antenna size, the radiation resistance was calculated, which represents the amount of energy that is being radiated instead of being stored in the near field, as well as adaptation to different geological conditions, with considerations for high conductivity rock, water content and nearby metal interference.
She said miners in gold mines could be located within 45–62m in a rockfall situation without the need for more infrared cameras in poor visibility cases.
The two-day event highlighted the importance of safety and health in mining, with other speakers sharing their professional input and expertise. For more information about studies and other innovations, visit SAIMM’s website.