Mining in focus
site, unpacked, assembled, and within
two or three weeks, the mine can be
commissioned. “Because it is small, it
allows you to do that. If it was a big
mine, it wouldn’t be possible. You have
to design it from first principles,” Scott
continues.
Scott’s expertise through his
entrepreneurial venture, coupled
with ATI’s 30-year track record in
training artisans, finally enabled them
to do something similar in the skills
development space. It propels ATI to
realise its long-term vision of “taking the
training to the learners, as opposed to
bringing the learners to the training,” as
Scott refers to it.
How will it work?
ATI’s modular training solution, like
the other examples cited, will comprise
‘containers’ fitted with training
equipment. “We will use modular
building technology that could be
pieced together like Lego blocks with
different panels, pack the training
equipment and the building panels into
shipping containers, and set up on site.
The containers will double up as secure
stores to prevent theft and protect
expensive equipment from the elements,”
Scott explains. “We want to simulate
a production workshop environment
as much as possible. For example, in
a remote mining site, the production
workshop is often outside, and our
modular fabrication will duplicate this.”
Because of the nature of the training,
you need materials, consumables, and
expensive equipment. ATI’s intention is
not to fit the classrooms and workshops
themselves, but instead to identify
strategic partners with a similar vision
and vested interest in upskilling people.
Scott also wants to harness ‘green’
technology, in particular for bulk
power supply, water saving, and waste
management. There are many different
technologies available. For example,
using sewage to double up as a power
source, treating it to use as fertiliser
on community farms, or recycling
grey water. The intention is to turn
the modular training sites into self-
sufficient units.
The type of training and trades on
offer would depend on clients’ needs. The
solution, for example, could be offered
to big infrastructure projects that need
construction skills. “Our starting point
will be to do as much of the basic skills
as possible, because those basic skills
make people marketable. Your hand
skills such as carpentry, plumbing, fitting
(not necessarily fitting and turning,
just fitting), and then basic low-voltage
electrical skills.”
From a business model perspective,
ATI is exploring two options, which
will be tweaked in collaboration with
industry. The first is to charge a rental
fee for the units, with small set-up costs
incorporated into the initial contract.
Ideally, access to the facility will not be
exclusive to the mine’s personnel but will
also address the community’s wider
skills needs by subsidising training not
directly relevant to the mine. This in turn
helps the mine with its social licence
to operate and to build local economic
activities beyond mining.
In a second model, the client absorbs
the full costs of the training facility,
contracting ATI only to operate it.
“Mines often build schools and clinics,
but if you don’t staff it properly with
the right teachers or the right nurses,
it’s just another building. Our expertise
lies in operating a training facility, and
to produce people that are not only
qualified, but also job-ready,” says Scott.
“This means that the moment they are
employed, they are productive. They may
not be fully qualified artisans, they could
be artisan aids or assistants, but they are
ready for the workplace.”
Satellite training campuses in
modular form
The challenge, says Scott, does not lie
in creating a mobile, semi-permanent,
or temporary site, but in being able to
properly operate it as a fully fledged but
remote training facility. The intention
is to rely on training-of-trainer
models, and digital or blended learning
approaches to overcome this problem.
Essentially, the units will be satellite
training facilities, run by ATI’s main
artisan training campus in Roodepoort.
“We are very excited about this new
initiative,” says Jones. “We believe it
will offer a more cost-effective training
solution for companies and will make
skills development accessible across the
continent, while speaking directly to the
drive towards local content policies.”
ATI’s mobile training units being built late last year.
www.miningmirror.co.za
FEBRUARY 2019 MINING MIRROR [31]