Abstract
Some recent public reports have warned that South African Platinum Group Metals (PGMs)
Mineral Reserves based on conventional drill and blast technologies will be depleted by 2030 and
Mineral Reserves supported by mechanised mining methods exhausted by 2035 (Turner 2016).
The South African mining industry is currently considering research and development as a means
to find more efficient, modern and cost effective ways to mine. The mineral industry looks to
mechanisation, non-explosive rock breaking, automation, and continuous mining as the panacea
for its problems with the goal that results from Research and Development activities will be
capable of extending PGM Mineral Reserves beyond 2042...