A brand new digital platform developed on the Sibanye-Stillwater Digital Mining Laboratory (DigiMine) throughout the Wits Mining Institute is providing a sensible answer to one of many mining sector’s most persistent challenges: constructing belief with the communities situated close to mining operations.
The platform, generally known as the Clever Group Dialogue Agent (ICDA), is being developed in collaboration with native and worldwide companions as a part of the MASTERMINE challenge, funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe program.
Based on Dr Ahsan Mahboob, Head of DigiMine and Principal Investigator on the ICDA challenge, lots of the most urgent challenges going through the mining trade at the moment should not technical or operational, however social. “Essentially the most complicated challenges going through mining corporations at the moment are now not technical or geological, however social, notably in how they handle their affect on native communities and the encompassing setting,” Mahboob mentioned.
He defined that whereas many mining corporations recognise the significance of accountable neighborhood engagement, there’s typically a niche between intention and efficient motion. The ICDA goals to shut that hole by enabling structured, two-way communication and clear, responsive interplay. “Addressing these tensions requires greater than outreach. It calls for constant, clear, and reciprocal engagement,” he mentioned. “Communities should really feel that their considerations should not solely heard however responded to with readability and urgency.”
The ICDA is designed as a two-part system. It features a cellular utility for members of mining-affected communities and a safe internet platform for mining corporations to handle, reply to and analyse incoming suggestions. The platform was developed by a staff of specialists at DigiMine, together with post-doctoral fellows on the College of the Witwatersrand, who contributed to its design, improvement and implementation.
The cellular app permits customers to submit studies on key points equivalent to well being, security, infrastructure, labour, air pollution, or resettlement. It additionally provides entry to continuously requested questions, public notices, bulletins and native occasion updates. Dr. Mahboob added: “The ICDA has been developed to rework how info and providers are delivered to communities. It ensures that mining-related communication shouldn’t be solely accessible but additionally structured, focused, and clear.”
On the executive aspect, ICDA features a web-based platform designed to be used by mining accomplice organisations. This method was developed by Dr Iqra Atif, Senior Lecturer of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Research, who leads the ICDA internet platform staff at DigiMine.
“Our purpose was to create a safe and user-friendly interface that provides mining companions the instruments they should monitor real-time suggestions, detect rising points, and interact proactively with communities,” Dr Atif mentioned. “The system consists of dashboards, hotspot visualisation and customisable content material administration features, all accessible by way of a single portal”.
Dr Mahboob added that the ICDA helps the broader objectives of accountable mining by aligning engagement practices with company social duty and sustainability frameworks. He mentioned: “The platform supplies mining operators with a structured system to observe neighborhood suggestions and combine it into operational or coverage selections. It enhances each the responsiveness of engagement and alignment with social and environmental commitments.”
The ICDA varieties a part of the OURMINE module throughout the bigger MASTERMINE challenge. This module is devoted to enhancing communication between mining operations and the communities they have an effect on, utilizing modern instruments to foster dialogue and long-term collaboration. “ICDA was developed as a part of the OURMINE module of the MASTERMINE challenge, which focuses on fostering belief, dialogue, and social innovation between mining operations and the communities they have an effect on,” Dr Mahboob mentioned.
The ICDA is now getting into its closed testing part. Chosen mining companions, primarily based in Europe and doubtlessly South Africa, will consider the system in actual operational circumstances. Their suggestions will inform the ultimate refinements earlier than broader deployment.
