VR, solar and remote mining: South Deep dragged 'kicking and screaming into the new world' | Business – News24

Friday, 02 December
01 Dec

The Johannesburg goldfields are not exactly a place one would think of as a hotbed for innovation. As truck-filled roads lead past one-horse filling stations, sprawling shanty towns, and the odd tavern, it instead appears a fitting setting for what is South Africa’s ailing gold mining industry.
But just off the main road is the surprising South Deep Gold mine, where an expansive sea of glistening black solar panels, visible on approach to the mine gate, gives a clue of the modernisation within.
In the mine’s control centre, screens filled with footage and data points monitor the ongoings of the mine and gold plant in real-time. A fibre network which stretches down into the earth allows workers to operate rock-breaking and other machines remotely without setting a foot below ground. At a virtual reality training centre, cutting-edge technology assists in training employees in a manner that is both practical and highly effective.
01 Dec
Carol Paton
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