THE fundamentals of compliance in mining do not change despite the introduction of new technologies, Association of Mine Managers Zimbabwe (AMMZ) President Eng Gift Mapakame has said.
Speaking during Mining Webinar – Mine Managers Bench Session 2 hosted by AMMZ in partnership with Zimbabwe School of Mines, Eng Mapakame said while modern mining has become increasingly contentious for the conventional mine manager due to technological advancement, the legal anchor and compliance test placed on the mine manager remains.
“There is now a proliferation of technologies, different mining technologies, that are now being introduced and deployed. You’re looking at your automation in some operations, we now have semi-autonomous equipment, you’re looking at your ultra-large-scale production for bulk commodities like the lithium,” he said.
“These are also proving to be a bit more contentious to the conventional mine manager,” he said.
Eng Mapakame said irrespective of the technologies being employed, the compliance question will always exist.
“The compliance test will always continue to exist, the compliance question will always continue to exist, irrespective of perhaps the technologies that are actually being employed. And as a mine manager, the fundamentals of compliance, you need to appreciate that the fundamentals of compliance really do not change in as far as the objectives of mine,” Eng Mapakame said.
Eng Mapakame explained that the mine manager remains the instrumental person accountable for operational compliance, emphasizing that it is a legal obligation.
“The mine manager becomes the instrumental person, or let me say for lack of a better word, the public officer accountable for operational compliance, in actual fact, not limited. And a mine manager can actually be susceptible. And it’s actually a legal obligation,” he said.
He said the mine manager is responsible for understanding all compliance obligations, establishing associated risks, and building systematic frameworks to ensure compliance.
“The mine manager is broadly responsible for ensuring that they understand the compliance obligations that are affecting the operation, and that they establish the risks that these compliance obligations bring about. They set out systems that ensure this compliance, you need to build your compliance obligations within a systematic framework, and that there is effective structure, your supervision that can deploy this system, and ensure that the compliance is met,” he said.
“Those requirements go on even into your inspections, corrective actions, and so forth. So I just thought that I would put that across as the legal anchor that befalls a mine manager, in so far as our industry is concerned,” he added.
