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The Zimbabwe National Institute of Rock Engineering (ZINIRE) has called for rock-engineering solutions that can be applied across mining operations of different sizes, with particular attention to ground support and the prevention of fatalities in artisanal and small-scale mining, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
Speaking at ZINIRE’s 13th Annual General Meeting and Symposium at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge, president Omberai Mandingaisa challenged technology developers and rock-engineering professionals to ensure that innovations address the practical conditions faced by smaller mining operations.
Mandingaisa said the industry needed to consider how ground support could be improved in smaller underground workings, where conventional solutions designed for larger operations might not always be directly applicable.
“They don’t open huge spans, they open small spans. But we need to also look at how do we support these small spans that are working,” Mandingaisa said.
He urged solution developers to pay greater attention to these environments, expressing confidence that appropriate interventions could help reduce the loss of life.
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ZINIRE vice president Freddy Chikwiri reinforced the importance of translating technical expertise into practical safety measures that workers can understand and follow underground.
Chikwiri acknowledged that rock engineering involves complex analysis, numerical modelling and decisions made with limited geological data. However, he said the ultimate purpose of the discipline was to ensure that workers could perform their duties and return home safely.
“You can do the presentations, you can do the numerical models, you can do all the things that you want, but ultimately, your role is to make sure that whoever is getting in that pit, whoever is getting in that shaft, they go back and they see their family and loved ones alive,” he said.
He called on rock-engineering professionals to ensure that advances in technology result in clear, practical instructions that can be implemented by workers on the ground.
“We have a duty to adapt to technology. We have a duty to do complex things. But our duty is making sure that the complex things that we do are also translated to very simple instructions that anyone can follow so that they are safe,” Chikwiri said.
The discussions align with the symposium’s theme, “Leveraging Technology for Next Generation Fall of Ground Management,” which focuses on the role of technology in improving the management of ground instability in mining.
For the industry, the challenge is to ensure that advances in rock engineering translate into effective ground-support practices across different mining environments, helping reduce exposure to ground-related hazards and protect workers underground.