http://dx.doi.org/10.

17159/2411-9717/2016/v116n3a8

The importance of people in the process

of converting a narrow tabular hard-
rock mine to mechanization
by D. Vogt* and T. Hattingh*

Africa announced their intent to mechanize

more widely during the first quarter of 2014
and it is now accepted that mining companies

$0/"'1' in this field will not open new shafts that are
This paper argues that the technology change to mechanization is also not mechanized.
going to require a change in people. It presents a model for technological The underground South African coal
progress and adapts it to the mining industry. It then goes on to motivate industry mechanized successfully during the
the need for mines to become learning organizations in order to achieve 1970s–1990s from predominantly drill-and-
maximum value from their people as they become less labour-intensive. In
blast operations to continuous miners and
an important sense, mechanization is as much about knowledge as it is
longwalls. There are now very few drill-and-
about technology.
The change when a mine introduces mechanization or a level of blast sections remaining in the country.
automation is not simply one of technology but also a stage in the Surface mining in South Africa has also
development of mining from ‘art’ to ‘science’. ‘Art’ describes a state of followed international best practice, and is
technology characterized by tacit knowledge, an understanding that comes highly mechanized.
only from experience, and has no formal procedures and little structure. In However, the low stoping heights, modest
contrast, ‘science’ represents a state of technology where all the grades, and difficult dips have slowed the
component processes are understood in detail, all knowledge is explicit, introduction of mechanization in gold and
and processes and structures are formal. platinum mines, the focus of this paper.
Studies of other industries, including metal part manufacture and
Attempts to mechanize in South Africa have
aviation, show that each stage in the progression from art to science
met with mixed success. Several gold mines
changes the nature of the organization and requires a different mix of
skills from the workforce. Perhaps the most important change is the
proposed or adopted some level of
increase in knowledge and decision-making required as the technology mechanization in the late 1980s (Association
gets closer to science. of Mine Managers, 1988), including Joel, Vaal
There is anecdotal evidence that South African underground hard-rock Reefs South, Randfontein Estates, Western
mines are not learning organizations. Mines by their nature are capital- Areas, and Freddies. None of those early
intensive with long lead times from investment to returns, so there is efforts in gold are today producing by
reluctance to change from the original plans or to encourage staff to think primarily using mechanized methods. Later
independently. Particularly as mines move from art to science, this mechanization efforts concentrated on thicker
reluctance must be overcome. orebodies at mines like Target and South Deep,
The important lesson for engineers involved in introducing
and have been more successful.
mechanization is to understand that success or failure will be determined
Mechanization has fared somewhat better
by the people involved, and not solely by the technology. The process will
almost certainly require a culture change on the mine. We recommend that in platinum. The lower dip allows the use of
the mechanization team includes an expert in human and organizational rubber-tyred vehicles, and mines have been
behaviour to ensure that a receptive workforce and management are in successful in mechanizing both using
place to accept the new technology when it arrives.. mechanized bord-and-pillar and extra-low-
profile methods and by hybrid mining – a
52$/, '
combination of conventional layout with
levels of technology, mechanization, underground mining, productivity,
change management.
machines (Nong, 2010).

* Centre for Mechanized Mining Systems, University

0.,/ &-.1/0 of the Witwartersrand, Johannesburg.
All mineral commodity prices are currently at © The Southern African Institute of Mining and
Metallurgy, 2016. ISSN 2225-6253. This paper
historically low levels. The South African
was first presented at the, 23rd International
mining industry is under pressure to reduce Symposium on Mine Planning and Equipment
costs in an attempt to become profitable again. Selection (MPES) 2015, 8–11 November 2015,
All the chief executives of the major narrow- Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg,
stope, hard-rock mining companies in South South Africa.
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 265
The importance of people in the process of converting a narrow tabular hard-rock
Anecdotally, many mechanization efforts fit the model of tacit knowledge that has been passed down from master to
technology implementation in factories developed by Chew et apprentice over generations. Each ‘artwork’ is individual.
al. (1991) and illustrated in Figure 1. Planning for the ‘Science’ implies a process that uses explicit mathematics and
implementation of a new process allows for a delay after the physics to produce predictable, repeatable products.
process starts up before the expected improved performance The maturity of any technology can be described along a
level is reached. In reality, performance actually starts to number of dimensions. Bohn chose three: how work is done;
deteriorate before the change is made, as the factory prepares the quality of results achieved; and how well the technology
for the change. Anywhere from weeks to years later, the is understood (Bohn, 2005), tabulated in Table I.
actual performance returns to its previous level and, with Bohn applied his description of moving from art to
luck, exceeds it. In fact, in many cases, the costs involved in science in an analysis of the development of flying (Bohn,
the adjustment period cause the factory to stop the implemen- 2010). He described how flying started out as a craft, with
tation (Chew et al., 1991). The same has happened in many pilots flying using knowledge laboriously gained, and passed
underground narrow-reef hard-rock mines that have from person to person. By about the 1930s, aircraft had
attempted to implement mechanization in South Africa. become sufficiently complex that rules and instruments
Chew et al. define the challenge as one of knowledge. If started to be used: knowledge started to become codified. In
managers knew exactly what problems were going to occur the 1940s, aircraft became so complex that a level of
they could anticipate them in advance, but there is a lack of standardization was required to lower pilot workload, and
knowledge of the new process, because the experience of standard procedures were implemented.
current employees is not relevant – this is particularly true As the science of flying became better understood, it
when mechanizing a mine. Chew et al. also suggest that became possible to automate aspects of flying. Today,
managers and engineers do not know in detail what is going automated systems are connected together to operate the
on, and that the scientific method is not employed in most
aircraft, with supervision by the pilot in computer-integrated
manufacturing plants. We argue that the same is true of
flight. The key point is that at each stage, the role and nature
mining: there are not enough experiments and those that do
of the work of the pilot changed until the pilot eventually
occur are often not recorded.
became a ‘manager’ of the process of flying.
In this paper, an existing model for documenting the
There is a parallel with the development of the technology
transition from art- or craft-based activities to those based on
of mining: it started as a craft, become subject to rules, and is
science is presented and a variation of the model is proposed
currently deeply invested in standard operating procedures.
for mining. The model highlights how the workplace changes
As mining becomes more mechanized, the role of the miner
as mining becomes more automated, and therefore how
becomes similar to that of a modern pilot: managing the
people need to change. It is suggested that South African
process of mining.
mines are not learning organizations, and that to succeed in
mechanizing, they need to introduce a culture of learning.

72-+0/(/)$3 2!2(/"%20.3#,/%3*,.3./3'-120-2
In this section, a general model is described to characterize
the level of technology used in an industry. Descriptions of
two industries in terms of the model provide the basis for
applying the model to mining.
Bohn (2005) describes how technologies develop by
invoking the metaphor of transforming from art to science.
The metaphor is long established and widely used, for
example in the title of an 1802 book on surveying, ‘Art
without Science, or, The Art of Surveying Unshackled with
the Terms and Science of Mathematics, Designed for Farmers’
boys’ (Sedger, 1802). Today, art and science are seen as ends 1)&,23&,"+$'3&,!23+1(23.+23 2.*1('3/#3.+23-&,!23-+*0)23.+2
of a spectrum: ‘art’ implies a measure of craftsmanship and '+*"231'3,2%*,*($3-/0'1'.20.3+23
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%,$/01-3.2-+0/(/)$3*,.  2*(3.2-+0/(/)$3'-120-2

How activities are executed Zero procedure; idiosyncratic Fully specified procedure
What results are achieved Each one different, mostly poor Consistent and excellent
Characteristics of knowledge
How knowledge is specified Tacit Codified
What is knowledge about Purely know-how Also know-why
Extent of knowledge Minimal, can distinguish good from bad results, but little more Complete
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266   
  
       

The importance of people in the process of converting a narrow tabular hard-rock
Bohn’s dimensions of art and technology in Table I with its specification. Workers were no longer product-
describe some measures that can be used to qualitatively specific, but became experts on particular tools.
investigate the maturity of the technology in a particular In this paper, productivity is taken to be the number of
mine or mining method, but they leave much to be guns made per employee and the minimum effective scale is
interpreted. It is also difficult to draw a parallel with flying, the smallest group that can economically produce a particular
given the small number of pilots on aircraft and the large set of parts.
number of miners in a mine. A more explicit, though not The English System improved productivity over the Craft
direct comparison for mining can be made by comparing it System about fourfold, but at the same time, it increased the
with a well-characterized existing process. In the next minimum scale of a workgroup from eight craftsmen to about
section, a study of metal parts manufacturing is summarized 40 people using three machines. In the English System, all
as a framework to suggest an analogy for the mining workers were still directly involved in making products
industry. (Jaikumar, 2005) and there was a formal system of learning,
though now of trades rather than components.
43-*'23'.& $3/#3.2-+0/(/)$3 2!2(/"%20.3)&0
%*0&#*-.&,2 "# "!$# "
Beretta manufactures guns in northern Italy. It has operated The availability of skilled operators became a constraint on
since 1492, has a continuous record of its activities dating growth. The American System was designed to overcome this
back to 1526, has been owned by the same family for 16 limit. It was introduced at Beretta in 1860 through the
generations, and has survived six revolutionary transfor- purchase of a factory from Pratt and Whitney (Jaikumar,
mations in metal part manufacturing. Beretta is an excellent 2005). The American System was developed to provide
case study in manufacturing technology because its product, precise and interchangeable parts. In the English System,
guns, has remained constant for more than five hundred parts were made to fit with one another as closely as
years, while the process of manufacturing the product has possible, and were not interchangeable. In the American
changed dramatically (Jaikumar, 2005). System, parts could be interchanged easily by being designed
Jaikumar’s study (2005) is summarized here for the for clearance (Jaikumar, 2005). Charles Babbage was the first
insights it can offer into the similar technological change person to characterize the advance of the American System
occurring in mining. His paper is well worth reading for its over the English by using the word ‘manufacture’ rather than
complete description of many of the aspects of technology ‘make’ to describe the process (Balconi, 2002).
change and manufacturing, only some of which are In practice, the American System introduced the idea of a
summarized here. factory as a large machine for making a product. The
American System divided the manufacture of each part into a
"# # " number of processes, and assigned each process to one
When Beretta was established, guns were manufactured operator using one machine. Each machine was designed
using the Craft System. Craftsmen made each part of the lock only to apply a single operation to the part. Go/no-go gauges
of a gun using a forge and files, and by continuously determined if a part met specification.
comparing the part being made with a reference model kept The American System started the shift towards unskilled
in the workshop. Each part was then adapted to fit with the labour on the production line. Operations were codified so
parts that had already been manufactured, until the lock was that new operators could be trained with an absolute
complete. The people in the lock shop were product-focused, minimum of effort. It was also during the introduction of the
with everyone involved in all processes. The degree of skill of American System that the workforce stopped being 100%
the worker had a huge effect on productivity, with the most devoted to production. Now, there were workers who built,
skilled workers being up to four times more productive than maintained, and improved machines, and others made parts
the least skilled (Jaikumar, 2005). A master managed a by the thousand. The minimum scale of a factory increased to
workshop of about eight people and passed his craft on to about 150 people, where 20 of those were not directly
journeymen, who in turn aspired to become masters through working in production. Productivity per person increased by
a process of learning. Everyone in the shop was skilled and about threefold over the English System (Jaikumar, 2005). It
adaptable. Adaptability was required because of the inability is also likely that the labour cost per gun produced went
of the process to create accurate, precise, and repeatable parts down due to the lower number of skilled workers.
(Jaikumar, 2005).
"## "
"#$!# " If the factory was the machine, the next step in technological
In about 1810, Beretta introduced the English System. From advancement was to apply the principles of science to the
about the 1790s, machine tools were being introduced in workers. Frederick Taylor realized that workers were not
Britain. Two innovations allowed the English System to making maximum use of machines, and productivity could be
become dominant: the machine lathe and the micrometer improved if human activity was measured, analysed, and
(Jaikumar, 2005). These two tools allowed gun part then controlled in the manner that machine work was
manufacture to become less labour-intensive and, for the first controlled in the American System (Jaikumar, 2005).
time, they allowed for parts to be made according to an Taylor broke each job down into its smallest elements,
engineering drawing. The master in the workshop was no and measured the effort required for each. He also separated
longer required to provide guidance or approval: drawings activities: for example, a lathe operator might find that his
gave guidance and a micrometer ensured that a part complied cutting tool needed sharpening. In earlier times, the lathe
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 267
The importance of people in the process of converting a narrow tabular hard-rock
operator would have sharpened the tool himself. Taylor NC allowed a general-purpose machine to undertake a
considered sharpening to be a different activity to cutting and number of operations on a single part. The major difference
separated the tasks. He measured how long each task took between NC and previous semi-automated machines was the
through time study and he standardized the machines to ability to easily alter the operations by changing the
achieve high utilization. programming on NC machines.
At Beretta, where it was introduced in 1928, the Taylor For NC to work at high production rates, every element of
System resulted in a threefold increase in productivity over the machining operation has to be made explicit. Knowledge
the American System, but increased the minimum scale of a held by machinists, for example about adjusting tools as they
factory to 300 people operating 150 machines. Of the wear, now has to become codified.
workforce, 60 were involved in maintaining the factory and CNC greatly reduces the manual set-up time so a single
in quality control (Jaikumar, 2005). As in the American operator can now look after more than one NC machine. One
System, the bulk of workers were unskilled, with a small operator and a group of machines becomes a cell, leading to a
group of highly skilled workers who maintained the factory, cellular plant layout (Jaikumar, 2005).
planned new products, and developed the procedures used by An NC operator now becomes concerned not with a
the rest of the staff. The Taylor System represents the lowest process, but with a procedure. NC at Beretta improved
point of worker involvement with the whole process as the productivity threefold over SPC, but significantly, it dropped
workers on the line had no concept of the product beyond the minimum scale from 300 people running 150 machines to
their own small tasks. 100 people running 50 machines. Only half of the people
were directly involved in production, although the tasks
  ! !#"#$ 
undertaken on the line blurred the definition of ‘line’ versus
In 1950, Beretta started producing its own machine tools as a ‘staff’. NC greatly improved the flexibility of the line too,
result of a contract to produce a new rifle, the Garand M1, for allowing a single line to produce up to 100 different products
NATO. The contract specified tolerances an order of with just a 2% rework rate (Jaikumar, 2005).
magnitude tighter than they had previously achieved, and The change to NC was significant and difficult. Jaikumar
interchangeability of components had to be 100% (Jaikumar, (2005) reports ‘“It was,” averred Ugo Beretta, “the biggest
2005). change in the culture of the plant that I have ever seen.’” But
In order to achieve high accuracy and precision, the it added a flexibility and standardization that was of huge
variability in factory processes had to be accounted for and benefit. In 1985, Beretta won the contract to supply the
removed. This was done through the introduction of standard pistol for the US military, but the weapon had to be
statistical process control (SPC). While Taylorism is based on manufactured in the USA. The reproducibility and transporta-
the idea of a ‘right’ or ‘best’ way to conduct a machining bility of NC methods meant that Beretta could build a new
operation, machines do not perform consistently. The Taylor
factory in the USA in less than eighteen months, and make
way will not produce identical parts, for example, as a lathe
money despite their bid being less than half that of the next
tool loses its sharpness.
cheapest bidder.
To counter variations in the process, Beretta started
visually recording key parameters of parts on charts as they  "!$ " "#$ !$
were manufactured. The charts allowed the operator to
For Beretta, the next move after NC was to computerize the
identify systematic error and compensate for it. Day-to-day
entire manufacturing process, including design and factory
management now focused on the process, rather than the
operation, in what became known as computer-integrated
products (Jaikumar, 2005). At the same time, automation
manufacturing (CIM). CIM at Beretta started with a flexible
reduced the labour required for manufacture, which freed
manufacturing system (FMS) that consisted of a number of
operator time to monitor processes and identify and solve
problems. NC machines serviced by an automatic belt and robot arms
Under SPC, quality control became an integral part of for loading and unloading. In a typical line at Beretta, three
manufacture. The staff function increased from 60 to 100 machines perform all the operations to manufacture a
people, while people with a line function decreased from 240 receiver (part of a gun) and are managed by a single worker.
to 200. Overall, the minimum scale of 300 people and 150 The flexibility reduces the minimum viable scale to just
machines remained. 30 people, with 20 of them in staff functions, and 10
SPC reduced rework from 25% to 8%, but productivity operators managing 30 machines. CIM offers a threefold
increased only by between 25% and 50%. So was SPC a improvement in productivity over NC, and a remarkably low
revolution? Jaikumar argues that it was, as the nature of rework rate of just 0.5% (Jaikumar, 2005). The flexibility
work changed. Operators became managers of the process, also offers the potential of manufacturing any product that
with a requirement for learning, discretion, and control of can be designed, one day potentially leading to production
work that had been removed by the American and Taylor runs of just a single custom gun.
systems (Jaikumar, 2005). Jaikumar (2005) makes the point that CIM started off as a
productivity enhancement tool, but it quickly became
"!#$  apparent that it is also a knowledge enhancement or learning
SPC was the first process that recognized the difference tool. It encapsulates knowledge about processes, and adds to
between information about the process parameters and that knowledge with each new product. It also provides a
information about the physical process itself. This realization level of system intelligence by integrated problem-solving
was taken further with the introduction of numeric control over different areas in the factory, rather than concentrating
(NC), later to become computer numeric control or CNC. on single functional or product areas.

  
  
       

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268
The importance of people in the process of converting a narrow tabular hard-rock
 At the same time, the operators themselves will have
greater flexibility of decision-making (Figure 4), and will be
Jaikumar’s study discussed the evolution of manufacturing
expected to use this flexibility. The current culture in mining
using at least sixteen different factors. Four key factors are
in South Africa does not promote a high level of autonomy in
summarized here: productivity, minimum effective scale, the
operators, or more generally. A culture change will be
ratio of line to staff functions, and decision-making freedom
required.
on the line.
The level of change management required should also not
In Figure 2, the productivity improvement as a result of
be underestimated. Beretta’s comment that the change to NC
each technology change is plotted. Other data (Jaikumar,
was the biggest change to the culture of the plant that he had
2005) shows that each technology change resulted in a step
ever seen is equally applicable to the change to mechanization
change in productivity, and that between step changes there
in narrow-reef mining. Moxham (2004) cited change manage-
was little organic improvement in productivity.
ment as an unresolved issue for mechanization, and it
In Figure 3, the blue graph plots the number of people
remains so today.
required to achieve a workable scale. In the craft era, it was
eight. In a modern CIM factory, it is 30. In between, it went
up as high as 300 in the time of the Taylor System and SPC. *""10)3%1010)3#,/%3*,.3./3'-120-2
The red line in Figure 3 illustrates the percentage of By analogy to the manufacturing example, it is possible to
people working in the factory actually making parts. In the map mining on a scale from art to science. There are different
Craft and English systems, everyone was making parts. With ways of marking out epochs in mining, for example Karmis et
time, the overhead for maintenance, quality, and planning al., (2010) describe how mining engineering education has
increased, until in the CIM age, only one-third of employees changed with time. Another typical mapping is of the
were directly operating machines. technologies involved, moving from conventional to fully
Although the percentage of workers on the line decreases, automated. Here a mapping is developed that aligns with the
Figure 4 shows that modern line workers have similar levels epochs described for manufacturing in Jaikumar (2005),
of flexibility in decision-making as those in the Craft System. focusing on the nature of the work experience: the autonomy
The figure also implies that the need for learning in the of the operators, the knowledge required to do the job, and
workforce has increased since the Taylor era. the need for learning,
The focus on the operators and on their knowledge
 #!$!$#$#"$##$#$ "
requirements shows the importance of people, learning, and
At a time when mining companies are desperately searching knowledge for the introduction of mechanization.
for improvement in productivity, experience at Beretta
suggests that large increases are not going to come from
organic improvements in productivity, but through a step
change in technology.
As technology changes, the nature of work in mining is
going to change. As gunmaking moved from art to science,
the number of people employed first rose, then fell dramat-
ically. We saw the rise in worker numbers in the early years
of the South African gold mines. As mechanization is
implemented, numbers will fall.
At the same time, the skills mix will change. At the
science end of the Beretta example (Figure 3), the fraction of
operators in the floor as a percentage of overall staff has
fallen. As mechanization is implemented, while operator
numbers will fall, there will be an increasing demand for
skilled professionals in indirect roles such as mine design,
operations planning, ventilation, and rock mechanics, to 1)&,23 &%2,3/#3"2/"(23103%101%&%32##2-.1!23'-*(23*0
support the rapid rate of mining enabled by mechanization. "2,-20.*)23/#3/,2,'320)*)2 3103(1023#&0-.1/0'

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 269
The importance of people in the process of converting a narrow tabular hard-rock
"# #" By 1910, there were already more than 200 000 people
employed on Witwatersrand gold mines, of whom 20 000
The craft epoch of mining is epitomized by the descriptions in
were white (Wilson, 1972). Because of colour-based job
‘De Re Metallica’, the famous book on the state-of-the-art as
reservation (Wilson, 1972) the ratio of white to black
it was in the mid-16th century, written by Georg Agricola
workers at this time is a proxy for the ratio of skilled to
(Hoover and Hoover, 1950).
At the time, metal implements were used to break rock, unskilled workers.
typically hammers and chisels; or fire was used to flake off The epoch of labour intensity is also one of lower skills,
pieces of rock, today known as thermal spalling. Agricola matching the American System in the gun industry described
paints a picture of relatively small groups of people working earlier. Mines started work-study activities, and went on to
together. Of their leader, the miner, he says ‘For a miner implement Taylorist management. A study of mining in the
must have the greatest skill in his work.’ Agricola goes on to western USA (Hovis and Mouat, 1996) at around the same
list the skills required of a miner, including knowledge of time as the early Witwatersrand (1896–1930) shows that
geology, mine design, assaying, metallurgy, ‘philosophy’ those mines were following a similar trend, becoming much
(what we would call the scientific method), medicine, larger, controlled by mining engineers and metallurgists, with
astronomy, surveying, arithmetic, architecture (‘that he a lesser role played by skilled miners. The picture is of many
himself may construct the various machines and timber work unskilled workers in a large undertaking, managed by
required underground’), drawing, and law (Hoover and experts. Each individual worker is unskilled, and does not
Hoover, 1950, bk. 1). The list is not that different from a see or understand the whole process of mining.
modern mining curriculum. Labour intensity led to high costs associated with labour,
According to Bohn’s description in Table I, mining of this which caused industrial relations problems on several
period is typical of the craft state of knowledge. Miners had occasions on the Witwatersrand, most famously in 1922 and
extensive knowledge of ‘what’, but not of ‘why’ in the sense in 1989, but more recently in 2014 when most major South
that they did not understand much of the underlying science African platinum producers suffered a five-month strike
of what they did. They understood the entire process and caused by a demand for higher wages. One way around the
they were open to learning. In the same way as in Jaikumar’s impasse of high wage costs and low commodity prices is to
craft epoch in industry, they also passed knowledge from mechanize.
person to person and knowledge was largely tacit. The miners
were responsible for their own performance in the sense that "$!  !$
they knew how to follow veins, how to mine them safely, and Replacing human muscles with machines as a source of
how to extract the metal for profit. power increases the power available and hence the extraction
Two key technologies came to the craft epoch in the rate. Nowhere in mining is this better demonstrated than the
second half of the nineteenth century: dynamite and drilling longwall mining system in a colliery, where just a handful of
machines. Early attempts to use gunpowder for rock-breaking operators could already mine nearly a million tons of coal per
quickly led to placing it in a hole drilled in the face. The month in the late 1990s (Kingshott and Graham 1998).
pneumatic drill, patented by Ingersoll in 1871 (Mahmud, Machines can also remove people from areas of highest risk,
2012) greatly increased the speed of drilling, and with the making mines safer.
introduction of dynamite in 1867 the technology was in place The required change in the nature of work in the move to
to allow high productivity within a craft environment. The mechanization underground is comparable to the changes
technology itself did not change the nature of the work: craft that occurred in the statistical process control and NC epochs
miners still understood the whole process and still valued in manufacturing mentioned above:
learning.
➤ Workers become more productive
There is evidence of the craft skills of Cornish miners in
➤ For each machine, there is an increasing group of
early South African gold mines: the quality of early
support people. A typical continuous miner may require
excavations shows deep understanding of mining techniques.
one artisan for two machines, with further artisans
The Cornish were prized as miners precisely because of their
employed in maintenance, and professionals employed
skills, passed down from father to son, or through fellow
to plan and manage operations
workers (Hovis and Mouat, 1996).
➤ A miner has more freedom to make decisions about
But the large scale and low grades of the Witwatersrand
how to execute work, although still within a framework
orebodies led to a need for mining on a massive scale and
of standard operating procedures (SOPs)
with it, the demise of the craft miner.
➤ The decisions taken by an individual miner start to
"#!$ "$!"#" have a material influence on the performance of the
When a mining operation has low grades and high capital whole mine.
costs, it is economical to mine only on a large scale. The early The epoch of mechanization is characterized by a move
Witwatersrand goldfields were an example. Sinking shafts toward science: knowledge is becoming increasingly codified,
was expensive, and once the early shallow claims had been procedures are becoming specified, and results can be
mined out, mines had to increase their production to cover consistent and excellent. The extent of knowledge has grown.
the costs of their shafts and other development. They did this The largest area of discrepancy between many
by greatly increasing their scale, exactly as gun-making had mechanized operations and a ‘science’ as defined by Bohn is
done in the move to the American System not many years in the nature of knowledge: there is often still a gap in the
before. knowledge of operators about why they are undertaking

  
  
       

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270
The importance of people in the process of converting a narrow tabular hard-rock
certain operations. There is also a gap in valuing knowledge engineers, electrical, mechanical, and industrial engineers,
and consciously making use of experience and experiments etc.).
to learn and gain new knowledge.
! !$##!$!$
  !$ The five stages of mining listed here describe the type of
Automation is defined here as mechanized equipment people required in each phase, and can be used as a guideline
operating independent of human control at some level. There to what will be required from the workforce when
is limited automation in mining already, particularly in mechanization is implemented.
trucks. In high-wage countries with mines in remote The literature from other sectors that have mechanized is
locations, an automated truck can offer a considerable cost useful because it can prepare miners for the inevitable steps
saving over a truck that requires drivers. In 2013, Rio Tinto and challenges at higher levels of technology. While solutions
announced that its automated trucks had moved 100 Mt of for some steps are self-evident, such as the need for more
rock in Australia (Validakis, 2013). skilled artisans, thinking about how jobs change can speed
There are also automated systems running underground. the transition. It is clear that workers in automated factories
Among others, De Beers implemented a truck loop on its are expected to think differently, and have a more holistic
Finsch mine in 2005 (Burger, 2006), and plans automated view of the operation. We argue that this expectation is still
tramming in the block cave level of its Venetia mine. An missing in most thinking about mine mechanization.
advanced automated system is operating at Kiruna in Sweden
(Paraszczak and Planeta, 2001). 7+23022 3#/,3*3(2*,010)3/,)*01*.1/03103%1010)
The level of automation varies from driver assistance, The changes in the level of discretion or autonomy, required
through remote tele-operation with driver assistance, to full knowledge, and individual productivity as mining moves
automation. Apart from removing the driver, automation from art to science require new thinking from everyone
extends the benefits of mechanization and improves produc- working on the mine. The step from massive labour-intensive
tivity, improves the quality of the excavation, and reduces mining to mechanized mining is particularly challenging.
operating and maintenance costs because the machines are Changed thinking is intimately associated with learning.
always operated within their design limits (Brouillette et al., Learning organizations, discussed here, provide
2003; Paraszczak and Planeta, 2001; Swart et al., 2002). environments that enable the learning necessary to adapt to
Possibly the biggest saving to be gained through new techniques like mechanization.
automation is by making roadways narrower. Automated Comparisons of mining with technological epochs in other
trucks can navigate so accurately that they can safely pass industries show the need for workers who are able to learn
each other with less space between them, so roads can be and organizations that encourage and facilitate learning. Are
narrower and correspondingly cheaper to build (Bellamy and mines currently learning organizations?
Pravica, 2011). There are many lines of evidence that South African
Automation occurs at a high level on the art–science narrow tabular hard-rock mines are not learning organi-
continuum. In addition to the requirements for an operator in zations. As one senior technical consultant to the industry
a mechanized system, operators of automated systems recounted, ’When I started on the mines I learnt two things:
require knowledge of why operations occur as well as how. how to lie and how to keep out of sight.’ The statement
Much of the knowledge is already codified within the typifies the culture: results-driven and authoritarian.
computer programs that operate the machines, much as it is The discussion in this section is anecdotal, based on
in automated flying or NC control in factories. informal discussions over many years with mining profes-
While independent machines have been automated, the sionals and others who work underground.
next phase, of automating fleets of equipment, is just starting
to be investigated.  "$ # !$
!$
Initial evidence of the constraints on thinking comes from
 "!$ " "#!$!$ students. The University of the Witwatersrand offers courses
Beyond automation, there is much to be gained by optimizing as one of the components of a Master’s degree in mining. On
the entire process of mining, from exploration to product one 2015 course, the student attendance was split roughly
(Miller, 2009). Mines are traditionally managed using 50:50 between students who had come straight from their
compartmentalized systems, with each activity optimizing its undergraduate studies and students who were working in
own operations, independent of the needs of the larger mining and studying part time.
system. Modern information technology systems are making There was a notable division between the two groups of
it possible to monitor and control the entire value chain students because of the constraints on creativity
within the mine to optimize chosen metrics such as cost, demonstrated by the students with work experience. While
productivity, or capital expenditure. any change to improve mining productivity ultimately has to
A fully automated mine with computer integration would be practical, the work experience of these students had
have few operators in the traditional sense. Those operators limited their ability to even consider approaches outside of
would be knowledgeable about their own tasks and the the current norm.
broader context of the entire process. The majority of people
employed on the mine would be involved in maintaining the $"#!$#"#"#!$"
machinery (artisans), and in planning and executing the Miners in the platinum sector have often commented on the
construction and operation of the mine (geologists, mining relative ease of introducing new technology on the eastern
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 271
The importance of people in the process of converting a narrow tabular hard-rock
limb of the Bushveld Complex compared with the western learning organizations as ‘organizations where people
limb. Miners on the eastern limb are usually from local continually expand their capacity to create the results they
communities, with no previous history of mining. Mine truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking
managers are able to implement novel practices, because the are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and
miners don’t know any other way of doing things. where people are continually learning to see the whole
Miners on the western limb often come from the together’. Senge believes that ‘in the long run, the only
Witwatersrand gold mines, or have long histories in mining. sustainable source of competitive edge is your organisation’s
Attempts to change practices on the western limb have run ability to learn faster than its competitors.’ (Senge, 2006).
into problems, with miners simply reverting to previous The idea of the learning organization is also intrinsic to
practices. one successful school of thought about manufacturing.
The unwillingness to learn on the western limb is Toyota Motor Corporation emerged to become the largest car
indicative of the lack of a learning culture: the miners have manufacturer in the world on the basis of its Toyota
preconceived ideas and have no desire to learn new ones. Production System (TPS), also known as Lean Manufacturing
Miners on the eastern limb have no choice but to learn, as or just Lean (Womack and Jones, 2003). Ballé et al., (2006)
they have no prior experience. Companies can introduce new argue that four frames pervade the TPS: ‘performance
techniques because the workforce is willing to learn. The mindset, problem awareness, solving problems the “right”
evidence does not indicate that eastern limb workers have a way, and developing people through problem-solving’. All
learning culture and will retain it in the future, but does but the first frame are associated with creating an
explain part of why mechanization has been more successful environment that allows and encourages learning in order to
on the eastern limb. solve problems.
Within a context of core capabilities, Leonard-Barton
$ !$# (1992) discusses how she observed four responses to
Compliance with the results-driven and authoritarian culture proposed technological change in manufacturing plants. All
is exacerbated by a lack of timely management information are a consequence of people: abandonment; recidivism;
about the state of operations underground. On deep gold and reorientation; and isolation. The first two lead to failure, the
platinum mines, many key operating parameters such as face last two are routes to success:
advance are measured only once a month. The low sampling ➤ In the case of mining, abandonment and recidivism
rate makes it possible to get away with a lie like, ‘Yes sir, I both lead to mechanization not being applied: either the
did blast today’. The miner hopes to compensate for the lie new technology is abandoned, or the workers go back
with greater productivity before the measurement date and to their old ways – in other words, it might be a
the manager is not easily able to check the truth of the mechanized mine, but it looks and operates like a
statement. labour-intensive mine. Abandonment of mechanization
This lack of timely information, combined with a is often a consequence of a lack of preparedness (Nong
relatively simple layout and very large workforce, has been and Musingwini, 2011), which may stem from
managed through a strongly hierarchical system. The system insufficient emphasis on change management
has applied typically bureaucratic methods, including ➤ Reorientation refers to relocating a change project into
standard operating procedures. It is seldom that a mine a group without the same core capabilities as the
dynamically adapts its SOPs or plans to cater for changing original group. In mining, it could refer to using a new
geological conditions. Miners underground are not asked to team to implement mechanization that does not share
learn and are discouraged from challenging their superiors, key core capabilities, particularly in managerial systems
the current processes, or practices. Miners are also expected and values, with the original team
to function only within their own trade, such as drilling, and ➤ Isolation occurs in new product development when
not to understand or even ask questions about the broader development is undertaken in a new plant. Isolation is
priorities of the workplace. related to reorientation, but refers to adopting a new
technology in a different place, rather than with
!$!$#!! !"
different people. In mining, it suggests that
Production is the key priority in mines. Even with the recent mechanizing a new mine is easier than mechanizing an
focus on safety, it is widely understood that production is still existing one, not least because the people employed on
the priority. Mineworkers in South Africa earn a large a new mine would not share the managerial systems
percentage of their packages through production bonuses. and values of an existing mine.
They regard any threat to production as an imminent threat
to their livelihoods. It is challenging to introduce a new  #"#$#"$##"$!  !$
technology when there might be a short-term drop in Returning to Murphy’s Curve, the case study that started this
production prior to a long-term increase – people are not paper (Figure 1), Chew et al. (1991) offer some recommen-
interested in the delay that will be caused by the learning dations on how to make a successful technological transition.
process. The recommendations are both people- and process-related
and are adapted here for a mechanized mining context.
7+23(2*,010)3/,)*01*.1/0 ➤ Think of implementation as research and development.
Peter Senge promoted the idea of a learning organization in If mechanization is seen as something that can just be
his book ‘The Fifth Discipline’, subtitled ‘The art and practice purchased and put into operation, then the implemen-
of the learning organisation’, (Senge, 2006). Senge defines tation programme will be planned in that way. Instead,

  
  
       

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272
The importance of people in the process of converting a narrow tabular hard-rock
the introduction of mechanization should be seen as an ➤ Be prepared, but not too prepared. As the military
experiment. There will be successive phases of data strategist von Moltke said ‘No battle plan survives first
gathering and learning through experiment as the contact with the enemy.’ Implementation failures,
implementation moves through the scoping, pre- particularly in mining, are often blamed on poor
feasibility, and feasibility stages before being planning. Plans are often too specific and end up being
implemented. The goal of experiments should be to unable to deal with reality. It is better to have a clear
address technical and organizational uncertainty. goal, and prepare for contingencies by having
Miners need to be part of the team, working as co- resources and good people. The plan should focus on
developers, rather than having the system dumped on what to look out for and think about, rather than what
them to do (Chew et al., 1991)
➤ Ask ‘what made it hard’, not ‘how well did it work’? ➤ Produce two outputs: ore and knowledge. Once a new
Miners do look at other mines before implementing mining method is up and running, problems will still
mechanization, but the conversation is often about the arise. If the need to produce knowledge is explicitly
success. To learn more about the challenges, it is recognised as part of production, that knowledge will
necessary to dig into them with questions like ‘how did lead to faster problem-solving. This recommendation
you make this work? What had to be changed? What from Chew et al. follows the philosophy of Lean (Ballé
would you do differently?’ (Chew et al., 1991). Miners et al., 2006). The most expensive time to learn is once
should also look at parallel experiences in other the mine is running – but it is still better in the long
industries. As this paper makes clear, the manufac- run to take the short-term cost of learning in exchange
turing industry has a lot of knowledge about for the long-term gain in operational performance.
mechanization available for miners to consider
Chew et al. argue for the need to plan and manage
➤ Learn in many ways at once. There are generally four
directed learning, ‘Anything you don’t learn about early will
methods that a mine could use:
hurt you later.’ They criticize typical investment analysis that
– Vicarious learning – watch what others are doing
sees learning as a pure cost and recommend budgeting for
and learn from them
learning throughout the project schedule. In particular, there
– Simulation – construct synthetic models and use
needs to be budget for learning on the operating system in
them for experimentation and learning
the first few months of operation, over and above the
– Prototype – build and operate the proposed system
planned lower output during start-up. If the earlier learning
on a small scale and in a controlled space
stages of vicarious learning, simulation, and prototyping
– Production, or on-line, learning – learn while
have been thoroughly used, 10% of production time is
trialling or operating the final product (Chew et al.,
1991). realistic (Chew et al., 1991).
As we move down the list, the cost goes up and
the scope for experimentation goes down. /0-(&'1/03*0 3,2-/%%20 *.1/0'
According to Chew et al. (1991) managers prefer Mechanizing a mine requires a change in technology, but it
the perfect fidelity of the operating system (by also creates a change in the nature of work for the miner.
definition it matches reality perfectly), failing to Experience in manufacturing shows that there is high
recognize that learning is not all or nothing – there resistance to changes in the nature of work, particularly
is value in learning about single key issues using when the change requires people to accept higher levels of
tools with less fidelity, which leads naturally to: decision-making and responsibility. There is also a need for
➤ Simulate and prototype everything. If production employees to better understand the overall process as mining
learning is expensive and restrictive, and vicarious moves from art to science.
learning is limited, simulation and prototyping are It is much easier to implement change in a learning
critical. Simulation can vary from spreadsheets to organization. Anecdotal evidence shows that mining
physical models of a mine. It allows for easy investi-
companies in South Africa are not learning organizations, but
gation of complex systems, where individual
are still organized along Taylorist principles. Taylor’s
components are understood, but the way they interact
thinking has been superseded with the recognition that the
is not. It is easy and cheap to run many simulations to
circumstances of an operation change with time.
investigate each component of a proposed mining
In an environment that is as subject to variability as the
system.
rock in an underground mine, a mechanized mining approach
In manufacturing, a prototype is a physical simulation
requires a management system that allows for higher levels
of a process. For mining, a prototype is a trial area. For
of personal initiative. Such a learning system would improve
best value, the trial should be conducted with the
purpose of improving the process, rather than just as a conventional mining operations, but it is essential for a
method of training people to comply with the process successful shift to mechanization.
➤ ‘Everything’ includes the organization. If the rule is
‘simulate everything’, then everything must include the "!!#""$ !$
organization. The physical processes of a new mining Given that engineers drive most mechanization projects, we
layout, for example, are often simulated (Valicek et al., recommend that mechanization teams incorporate experts in
2012). There is much to be gained by also simulating human and organizational behaviour to ensure that the
the organizational structure and culture of the people issues discussed here are not neglected during the
proposed new system. planning and execution of the project.
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Consider approaches to mechanization that allow for KARMIS, M., HEBBLEWHITE, B., DE RUITER, H., SCOBLE, M., CEDRÓN, M., and PHILLIPS,
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