Maptek Managing Director Peter Johnson will chair an Innovations and Opportunities session on day one of the Third International Future Mining Conference in Sydney this week.
According to the United Nations Environmental Programme, an estimated 50 million tons of electronic waste are generated around the world every year. What's more, the metal deposits found in many types of e-waste can be 40 to 50 times richer than the raw ore extracted from mines.
Productivity is the current catch phrase for the mining industry, and energy productivity has a large role to play where low grade ore bodies are processed in remote locations.
At least 1.6-million people live in informal settlements around Johannesburg, many of them on or near mine waste sites, plagued by illegal miners and controlled by armed bands.