Evaluating Technological Awareness in South African Hard Rock Mining Operations

Hard rock mining contributes significantly to South Africa’s gross domestic product and employment. As a pivotal component of the nation’s economic framework, the sector encounters profound challenges threatening its stability and future growth. The sector’s continued struggles with an alarming rate of accidents and health-related incidents highlight the urgent need for improvement. Emerging technologies (ETs), an attribute of Industry 4.0, offer numerous beneficial potentials as a strategic response to the sector’s challenges. Hence, this study evaluates the awareness of ETs in the South African hard rock mining industry. A structured, closed-ended questionnaire survey was administered to respondents. The questionnaire comprised twenty-one (21) ETs identified through an extensive literature review. The collected data were then subjected to descriptive analysis. Findings revealed that proximity detection systems, facial recognition clocking systems, and wearable technology are the most well-known ETs. ETs are, therefore, key to improving the mining sector’s safety, operational efficiency and sustainability.