It is generally acknowledged that the mining industry in South Africa is a main source of economic growth and social transformation.  Heads of Departments at UP expressed the opinion that mining in South Africa was not meeting the full expectations of investors, government, employees, organised labour, communities and other stakeholders for a number of complex reasons.

UP has the potential to play a significant role in improving the current perception around the mining industry in South Africa and to be instrumental in improving the resilience thereof. This will be achieved through researching some of the underlying causes of the underperformance of the mining Industry. It is the objective of this initiative to develop significant inter disciplinary research collaboration within UP and external organisations doing research on related topics.

Acknowledging the need for this led to the decision by UP Management to establish the Mining Resilience Research Centre (MRRC) that remains within the department of Mining Enigineering. This Centre was developed as part of the Sasol Mining Chair in safety, health and environment. The Centre’s objective is to utilise the resources within the different departments at UP in order to address challenges relating to the South African mining industry.  This will be achieved through integrated scientific research that will contribute to practically implementable solutions.  This in turn will lead to an increased resilience of the mining industry. establishing the University as a leading international contributor to solutions for complex mining industry problems.

More information on the MRRC is available here.