Legislation,
technology in focus
at 48th IQSA conference
By Robyn Grimsley
This year’s Annual Conference and Exhibition for the Institute of Quarrying Southern Africa
(IQSA) took place at the Coastlands Hotel in Umhlanga Rocks and incorporated both the
IQSA and the Aggregate and Sand Producers Association of Southern Africa (ASPASA)
annual general meetings (AGM).
T
he 48th annual Conference and
Exhibition for the Institute of
Quarrying Southern Africa (IQSA)
afforded delegates an invaluable
networking opportunity, as well as a chance
to learn about issues affecting the industry.
In addition to two days of conference
sessions it also hosted the annual general
meetings for both the institute and ASPASA.
More than 260 delegates, including close
to 60 exhibitors, turned out in force to
support the institute and to network with
and learn from others in the industry. The
two days of presentations focused on issues
relevant to South Africa’s quarrying industry,
while the 2017 conference highlighted
several areas that affect the sector –
directly or indirectly – and showcased
some of the solutions to move forward in a
technologically evolving world.
The keynote speakers, futurist Pieter
Geldenhuys and political and policy
specialist Theo Venter, brought some much-
needed perspective to the conversation,
looking at both global and regional trends
in the context of South Africa’s political
landscape before conference speakers
weighed in on some of the pressing issues
facing the industry.
Pressing matters
The programme for the two-day conference
made one thing immediately apparent:
legislation and the environment are two
of the most pressing issues facing South
Africa’s quarrying industry today. Another
area of interest covered at the conference,
is the impact of different technologies
on daily operations, and several speakers
used case studies to show how different
solutions and technologies can affect
the productivity and costs of quarrying
operations. Presentations ranged from
‘Environmental developments affecting our
industry’ (presented by father and daughter
team Alan and Colleen Cluett from Cluett
Consulting) to ‘Environmental legislative
amendments: Impact on mining’ (delivered
by EOH Legal Services environmental
law specialist Selvan Subroyen). Based
on the questions raised following these
Bronwyn Parker from EOH Legal
Services received the best paper award
for 2016, for her paper ‘Mining &
Environmental Law: Current Issues 2016’,
while Thabile Ntibane from PPC was
awarded best student paper for 2016 for
her paper ‘Geological Optimization’. Both
papers were presented at the mid-year
conference in September 2016.
Best papers (2016)
AEL’s Simon Tose took over from Deon Bosman as chairman of the Institute of Quarrying.
10 _ QUARRY SA | JULY 2017