Technical Review of Thin Seam Clearance Systems for Rom Coal

Mines already provide substantial training and their junior managers were found motivated and committed, yet development at this level remains problematic. Gaps sat in commercial exposure, financial and accounting skills, industrial relations, quality standards, administration and project management. The report sets out the attributes to screen for at appointment and a framework that makes candidates responsible for their own development.

No operating full scale frictional ignition test facility was found anywhere in the world, and building one was judged expensive, impractical and unlikely to justify its cost against laboratory scale testing. Effort should instead go to small scale laboratory equipment using South African rocks, and to expanding geological data such as silica distribution and petrographic analysis.