DEVELOP A CAPABLE WORKFORCE. Objective 1 Increase staff capacity. Objective statement Ensure that Measurement and Control has sufficient capacity to execute R&D, manufacturing and commercial work by increasing the head count of suitably skilled SET employees to 23 persons (through recruitment, head-hunting, joint research and fast-tracking employees) by the end of 2022. Impact: Improve Measurement and Control’s research profile to enable intensified R&D. Baseline Current baseline is 22 SET employees Objective 2 Improve staff retention. Objective statement The objective of this programme is to retain and grow the skills base of existing staff. Much of the efforts will align with the Human Capital Development programme (furthering studies, professor- ships, career development plans, etc.) being formulated at corporate level. A distinct initiative by the division, as part of furthering studies, involves bursars completing the core modules of the University of Pretoria’s honours course in Control Systems on a part-time basis as part of their Graduate Development Programme. This will bolster the confidence of new graduates and motivate them to remain in their present fields. Another initiative involves investigating options for alternative modes of employment, such as the establishment of satellite offices for staff planning to emigrate, or who have recently emigrated, to support project execution globally. The objective will be to es- tablish what is possible, should the need arise. Impact: Retention of the relevant skills force to support industry and execute R&D to plan. Baseline Graduate Development Programme excludes an option of furthering studies. All staff are currently based in one office in Randburg. GOAL 4 ENSURE FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY Objective 1 Improve competitive advantage. Objective statement This programme is aimed at lowering the barrier to entry for Measurement and Control’s products and services (by developing low-cost versions of equipment and designing attractive pricing models) by the end of 2023. Impact 1: Opening up new markets (particularly junior miners), and accelerating adoption and market penetration. Impact 2: Increased sales of new products. Impact 3: Stable and more predictable service support revenue. Baseline Junior miners struggle to justify investment to purchase Measurement and Control’s instruments at the same price as that used by large mining companies. The current pricing model is an outright purchase of unbundled products (usually at high cost),...
DEVELOP A CAPABLE WORKFORCE. Objective Grow the number of qualified SET employees in the division Objective statement Establish a team that has a majority of employees with a minimum honours degree for both the commercial unit and research unit within the next 3 years in order to ensure high quality output and sustainable financial position Baseline There are currently has 18 SET employees of which only 4 employees have PhD degrees and 2 employees have Masters degrees GOAL 4 ENSURE FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY Objective Improve financial position of analytical services Objective statement Establish and implement a good mix between commercial and research activities in order to attract funding for research in addition to commercial revenue and break even. Baseline Analytical services incurred losses in the previous financial year.
DEVELOP A CAPABLE WORKFORCE. Objective 1 Ensure that the programme has transformed and diversified workforce Objective statement Increase the number of SET employees to 14 Baseline Currently, there are 10 SET staff in mineralogy Objective 2 Skilled workforce with higher qualifications, Doctoral degrees Objective statement Increase the total number SET staff with Doctorate degrees from 2 to 6 Baseline There are 2 SET staff with Doctorate Objective 3 Skilled workforce with higher qualifications, Masters degrees Objective statement Total number SET staff with Masters degrees from 4 to 8 Baseline There are 4 staff with Masters degree GOAL 4 FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY Objective Income from Products and Services Objective statement Ensure the division attracts and retain its clients to maintain the revenue of above R10 M per annum Baseline The current commercial revenue for FY 2019/2020 is R 9 M GOAL 5 DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN WORLD-CLASS RDI INFRASTRUCTURE Objective Ensure that mineralogy has the state of the art instruments Objective statement Instrument availability and less breakdowns. The sample preparation laboratory will have to be automated in order to keep up with the automated SEMs. Baseline Currently, Mintek has 4 Autosems, 1 SEMS, 1 XRD, 1 Micro-XRF, 1 LA-ICP-MS and Sample Preparation instruments
DEVELOP A CAPABLE WORKFORCE. Objective Increasing the level of qualification of the SET staff Objective statement Accelerate the development of SET staff to deliver applicable technologies and scientific outputs. Upskilling, training and skills transfer within the Division on SET staff must be initiated. MPD must increase the total number of PhDs to 6, and for MSc to 10. Baseline Currently, the total number of PhD is 3, and MSc is 6. Also, currently 2 Papers per year are produced, 1 Discovery pre year is being made.
DEVELOP A CAPABLE WORKFORCE. Objective Developing and maintaining a world-class research team tailored to the HMD value proposition. Objective statement Develop a team of researchers that are able to deliver applicable technologies and scientific output at a SET ratio of 3 researchers per output by increasing the number of world class researchers through development and recruitment over a three year period. Baseline 3 PhDs 2 Masters 2 journal papers per annum (base of 12 researchers) 3 book chapters per annum (base of 12 researchers) 4 conference papers (from a baseline of 12 researchers) 1 discoveries 3 patents GOAL 4 ENSURE FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY Objective 1 Offering high value-to-cost and diversified services to industry Objective statement Developing new and digital services to support and grow the commercial revenue stream. Modelling capacity to support and grow the business development for the division. Baseline 1 PhD modeller Objective 2 Increase revenue earning capacity Objective statement Appointment of experienced senior researchers to increase revenue earning capacity to build a SET capacity from 4 to 6 senior researchers able to lead research teams. Baseline 2 PhD 2 Masters GOAL 5 DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN WORLD-CLASS RDI INFRASTRUCTURE Objective Establishing and maintaining fit for purpose infrastructure Objective statement Securing funding for flexible and fully instrumented pilot plant facility for the verification of process models and staff development. Baseline Mintek funded continuous POX pilot plant (R10) MTEF funded Automated Solvent extraction pilot plant (R15M) Mintek funded membrane pilot scale test rig (R2M)
DEVELOP A CAPABLE WORKFORCE. Objective Develop and maintain a world-class research team that provide innovative solutions to the mining and metallurgical industries with a strong emphasis on knowledge and technology transfer. Objective statement Develop a highly skilled team of researchers through continued upskilling of staff and through creating collaborations and relationships with research institutes and universities locally and globally, which will lead to collaborative research programmes, sharing of resources and exposure of staff to world-class research opportunities. Baseline The skills base of the division is currently developed through support of one MSc and two PhD candidates. The junior staff is being developed and mentored by senior technical staff. 4 journal papers per year (base of 13 researchers) 6 conference papers per year (base of 13 researchers) 1 discovery 1 trade xxxx GOAL 4 ENSURE FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY Strategic Goal 4 Ensure financial sustainability Objective Increase revenue earning Objective statement Increase revenue from commercial work and significantly expand the contract research income. Baseline A number of long-term commercial and contract research projects have been secured from mining industries and funding agencies such as the WRC, DSI and Coaltech.
DEVELOP A CAPABLE WORKFORCE. Objective Create an innovation-focused performance culture Objective statement To xxxxxx a culture of performance and innovation, through learning and growth by attainment of higher degree qualifications by the Divisional staff members; with 3 staff members obtaining Master's degrees and 4 staff obtaining PhDs by 2025. Baseline The Division currently has 24% (5 people) of its staff with Masters (4) or PhD (1)
DEVELOP A CAPABLE WORKFORCE. Objective Develop a capable mineral economics workforce Objective statement MESU will support Mintek’s goals to attract, develop and retain a globally competitive workforce, particularly in the fields of science, engineering and technology, with the requisite expertise and capabilities to drive and support rigorous research and analysis, specifically in the fields of mineral economics and techno-economic feasibility studies Baseline In MESU, 75% (6) of the staff are currently in possession of a Masters (5) or PhD (1) qualifications. One staff member is pursuing a PhD and is expected to graduate in 2021. No additional MSc and PhDs are expected in the short-term. Priority will rather be afforded to building capability in techno-economic feasibility assessments, data analysis, complex modelling and simulation development. GOAL 4 ENSURE FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY Objective Increase revenue streams from new and existing services Objective statement Maintain financial sustainability through the establishment of a pipeline of commercial projects and research collaborations Baseline The baseline is currently very small; however the goal is to increase commercial revenue component to comprise 55% of the Division’s revenues by 2023 APPENDIX II – MATERIALITY FRAMEWORK FOR 2020/21
DEVELOP A CAPABLE WORKFORCE. Objective 1 Grow the number of qualified SET employees in the division. Objective statement Establish a team that has a majority of employees with a minimum of an honours degree for both the commercial and the research units within the next three years to ensure high-quality outputs and a sustainable financial position. The key focus will be to upskill SET staff through integrated learning opportunities towards postgraduate degrees. In addition, to provide training opportunities to staff to develop their expertise in analysis field (e.g. courses such as measurement uncertainty, etc. Baseline There are currently 12 SET employees, of which only four have PhD degrees and four have master’s degrees. Objective 2 Establish new pipeline studentship/bursars/internship Objective statement Establish a new pipeline of student team that are studying towards Masters and PhD degrees in order to strengthen the research and development strategy within the next three years to ensure high-quality outputs. Baseline New initiative within the division Objective 2 Establish new analytical services and products Objective statement Identify areas of opportunities and expand ASD services, including products that support Mintek strategy in generation of new business areas. Expanding of product range that ASD offers Baseline Most of the services offered by XXX, have not changed for over 15 years.
DEVELOP A CAPABLE WORKFORCE. Objective 1 Ensure that the programme has a transformed and diversified workforce. Objective statement Increase the number of SET employees to 14. Baseline There are currently 13 SET staff members in Mineralogy. Objective 2 A skilled workforce with higher qualifications, doctoral degrees. Objective statement Increase the total number of SET staff members with doctoral degrees from 4 to 6. Baseline There are four (4) SET staff members with doctorates. Objective 3 A skilled workforce with higher qualifications, master’s degrees. Objective statement Increase the total number of SET staff members with master’s degrees from 7 to 8. Baseline There are 7 staff members with master’s degrees. GOAL 4 FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY Objective Income from products and services and attract contract research revenue Objective statement Ensure that the division attracts and retains its clients to maintain a revenue of above R12.5 million per annum from products and services and R9 million from contract research Baseline The current commercial revenue for 2020/2021 is R10 million and for contract research is less the a million rand. GOAL 5 DEVELOP AND MAINTAIN A WORLD-CLASS RDI INFRASTRUCTURE Objective To develop and grow the Division’s existing infrastructure to ensure optimal use and value add to characterisation efforts Objective statement Mineralogy wishes to add value to current offerings, through: -automation of workflows, from sample preparation to sample and data management -enhanced connectivity and correlative workflows -development of interactive databasing -development of modelling capabilities for predictive work in line with 4IR principles Baseline The division has the following instruments: 3 working AutoSEMs, 1 SEM, 1 XRD, 1 Micro-XRF, 1 LA-ICP-MS, 1 electron microprobe and Sample Preparation instruments; no automated, correlated workflows, databasing or modelling capabilities at present PROGRAMME 3: MINERAL PROCESSING Mineral Processing contributes to the mining sector by conducting research, development and innovation in physical mineral upgrading processes and technology. It focuses on exploiting the physical properties of minerals for upgrading or concentration purposes. The overall aim in mineral processing is to maximise the value that can be derived from any raw material and any unexplored or sterile resource. This is achieved by means of laboratory and pilot plant studies to develop the most suitable plant configuration for existing operations and new pro...
