Most Southern African Mines Are Running Below Potential

Most Southern African Mines Are Running Below Their Potential.

The Gap Isn’t Equipment.

The Expert

Jaco Strydon - Business Development Executive
Full name: Jaco Strydom
Job title: Business Development Executive: Digital Industries: IS3 – AVEVA Solutions
Which countries or operations you’ve worked with most closely in Southern Africa:

South Africa & Zambia
Various mines (Gold & Copper)
Cement plants.

About Jaco
Helping customers to achieve digital transformation across various industries by connecting industry challenges with intelligent operations solutions, building executive partnerships, and helping customers unlock measurable improvements in productivity, sustainability and operational resilience.

One of the biggest opportunities in mining today is in unearthing the value that already exists within current operations.

I’ve seen many mining operations invest in modern processing plants, automation systems and instrumentation. On paper, they have the capacity to produce more “output” at higher recovery rates and lower energy intensity. But the reality is: performance tends to fall short of design capability.

Lack of equipment is rarely the cause. Instead, operations are often constrained by 3 things:

fragmented information,
delayed visibility and
inconsistent decision-making.

Operations run at about 85% of their potential throughput because operators rely on outdated data instead of current conditions. Maintenance teams frequently schedule interventions based on fixed intervals rather than actual equipment health. This causes them to spend excessive time compiling spreadsheets instead of analysing trends for improvement.

What results is a performance gap that highlights the difference between an asset’s potential and its actual output. Mines that close this gap can create value quicker than those that depend solely on capital expansion, especially as demand for various minerals rises.

The Workforce Problem In Mining

Across Southern Africa, we’re also seeing experienced engineers, metallurgists and process specialists retiring or moving into other roles. The expectation is that the next generation will fill the skills gap. The problem, however, is that much of the expertise exists as “unspoken” knowledge rather than documented procedures.

Your organisation doesn’t just lose people when experienced professionals leave; you lose operational memory.

The consequences arise quickly:

longer troubleshooting cycles,
inconsistent shift performance,
slower onboarding of new staff, and
greater dependence on a shrinking number of subject matter experts.

Digital operations and systems are the answer. They let you preserve the valuable existing knowledge by combining historical process data, operational context and standardised workflows into a single source of truth. Organisations that create institutional knowledge will keep it regardless of personnel changes.

Mining’s Operational Data Problem

When we talk about “flying blind” it means having disconnected information and the effective tools/solutions to contextualise and visualise the data. There’s the perception of flying blind meaning insufficient information, which isn’t always the case.

Operations teams may be looking at SCADA screens, maintenance systems, laboratory results, production reports and spreadsheets. Each of these contains valuable insights, but none present a complete operational picture.

Different departments often operate with different versions of the truth.

A production supervisor believes throughput is on target.

The maintenance team is unaware that equipment performance has been deteriorating for days.

The metallurgist identifies a recovery issue after the shift has ended, when the opportunity to intervene has already passed.

People spend more time searching for information than acting on it. This is a symptom of reactive decision-making. High-performing operations aim to have predictive decision-making.

Sibanye Gold worked with IS³ to consolidate fragmented operational data across shift teams into a single live view. The result was faster exception response and measurable improvement in shift-to-shift consistency — without capital expansion.

How Do Good Mining Operations Look?

What high-performing mining operations are doing isn’t necessarily having better equipment. They’re making better and faster decisions, consistently.

The mining operations that are winning have clear visibility from the plant floor to the executive level, with everyone working from the same operational information.

Instead of reviewing yesterday’s performance, winning teams understand what is happening now and what is likely to happen next.

They focus on production planning that’s informed by live operational constraints. Not assumptions.

Metallurgical performance is continuously monitored and adjusted. Not reviewed after losses have already occurred.

Perhaps the biggest difference is organisational alignment.

Winning teams, from operations to maintenance to engineering and even management, prioritise collaboration, supported by trusted data.

This creates a culture of continuous improvement where incremental gains compound over time.

Read the Sibanye Gold success story here

Start Improving Your Operations

If I were sitting with a CTO at a mid-size copper or manganese operation in Southern Africa right now, I’d advise them to start by understanding how their operational decisions are being slowed down by fragmented information.
It’s important to map critical decisions that affect production, recovery, energy consumption and asset reliability. Then identify where the required data resides, who owns it and how long it takes to transform that data into action.

Most organisations discover that they already possess the information they need. It simply isn’t connected, contextualised, effectively visualised or accessible to the people making operational decisions.

The first step is to establish a trusted operational data foundation and create a single, consistent view of the business. Focus on one high-value use case, demonstrate measurable improvement and build from there.

Digital transformation is most successful when it is driven by operational outcomes rather than technology projects.

If you’re ready to close the performance gap in your operation, the first conversation costs nothing. IS³ works with mining operations across Southern Africa to establish a trusted operational data foundation.

Book a discovery session with our team to start improving your mining operations now.