Women are continuing to make strides in the traditionally male-dominated mining sector – the latest being an all-female drilling crew from mining services provider Rosond, commencing work on two prospecting sites in the Northern Cape.
Rosond says the drilling at Kumba Iron Ore’s Kolomela and Sishen mines is equally inspiring as a story of female empowerment, as well as modernisation with state-of-the-art drill rigs. Thanks to new next-generation exploration rigs, a job historically reserved for men due to the physical strength required for lifting heavy drill rods, women can now also take their place on drilling crews as the rigs are now equipped with automated rod handling. The all female crew is believed to be a first for South African mining.
Ricardo Cravo Ribeiro, Rosond Managing Director, explains: “The new drill rigs are fully remote controlled, with operators working while housed within an air-conditioned control room.”
Not only is it safer due to less manual intervention into the operation of the drill rig which reduces the chance of operators being injured on the job, but allowing women crews on the rigs was one of the objectives Rosond set itself for the contract with Anglo American-controlled Kumba Iron Ore.
“Usually this job takes substantial physical strength, due to the handling of rods and heavy equipment that must be loaded onto the machine. It’s intensive physical work. Up until now, this has made it difficult to employ women in this capacity,” Ribeiro said.
All that has now changed. Rosond, describing itself as a leader in its industry when it comes to championing the plight of women, prides itself in equipping women in the mining industry with the skills and platform to make a difference.
According to Ribeiro Rosond will roll out 30 advanced drilling rigs during 2020, as it introduces a level of technology that will make South Africa world-class industry leaders in the drilling space.
Rosond entered into a ZAR2 billion multi-year agreement with Kumba last year to develop and implement the next generation drilling contract. It fits in with Kumba’s initiative to modernise its geoscience operations, and extend the life-of-mine of Kolomela and Sishen mines, to elevate safety standards, and improve productivity, Ribeiro said.
Themba Mkhwanazi, Chief Executive Officer for Kumba Iron Ore, says: “We believe by working with Rosond, we will achieve our ambition of improving efficiencies and safety through the use of technology enablement, as they share the same value as Kumba on safety and ensuring Zero Harm in the operations”.
He adds: “We have now been able to change a job that used to be male-dominated, because of the brute physical strength that was required over quite a number of hours within a shift, to now include women.”
The plan for an all-female drilling crew was born in 2018 and recruitment commenced during 2019. Women have long been playing an important role in the mining industry, but only from 1996 onwards were they allowed to legally work underground in South African mines. Data by the Minerals Council of South Africa puts the number of women employees in the mining sector at more than 56,600 in 2019. This is a significant increase from 11,400 in the early 2000s and women now represent 12% of South Africa’s total mining labour force of 454,861 people. The iron ore sector employs a total of 2,916 females which makes up 15% of women in mining.
“As the mining industry – in South Africa and globally – moves into the future, it is increasingly clear that the move to modernisation is critical. As mining becomes more mechanised, physical strength and stamina will become less important than fine motor skills, dexterity and problem-solving abilities. This shift will create significant opportunities for women in the industry,” reads a March 2020 Fact Sheet by the Minerals Council.
