Innovation & technology

Sibanye-Stillwater aspires to be an innovative, technologically advanced, and digitally integrated mining organisation.

Innovation and technology support delivery on our strategic goals. Our innovation efforts enable a diverse and inclusive innovation environment in which harness the collective intelligence of our organisation in pursuit of solutions to create and deliver superior value to all our stakeholders.

Sibanye-Stillwater has, for many years, embraced digitisation, digitalisation and digital transformation as a means to improve efficiencies and productivity and enhance the creation of value for all stakeholders. However, holistic digital transformation cannot be achieved just through the adoption and implementation of digital technologies; our inherent culture, processes and structures need to be aligned to facilitate this journey and support digital adoption.

It is in this context that we have adopted a ‘digital first’ approach, which takes the digital transformation journey to the next level. Sibanye-Stillwater defines a digital first organisation as one that, not only adopts innovation and digital technology, but as one that creates cultures, structures and processes to support digital transformation and applies technology or digital solutions to realise an opportunity or to solve problems.

A CLOSER LOOK

DigiMine laboratory

We have partnered with the Wits Mining Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, to develop a state-of-the-art digital mining laboratory. The DigiMine Laboratory is a one-of-a-kind laboratory, complete with a mock mine, that simulates actual underground mining conditions and enables researchers to develop and test digital systems in a simulated environment to design the mine of the future.

DigiMine is a multidisciplinary research programme, combining skills from various disciplines. Among other objectives, DigiMine is focused on digitally-enabled health and safety and seismicity research. Sibanye-Stillwater renewed its anchor agreement for 2021 to 2023 at a value of R16.5 million (or R5.5 million per annum).

Learn more at www.wits.ac.za/wmi/digimine/
Simulacrum

Under a similar partnership model to that of DigiMine, Sibanye-Stillwater is funding Simulacrum, a state-of-the-art training facility within the mining faculty at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The aim of the facility is to enhance the practical experience of undergraduate students within the mining faculty, through virtual and augmented reality training solutions.

The facility will also be used to aid understanding of the applicability of these solutions within the mining industry. The facility will be launched in H1 2022. Sibanye-Stillwater has committed to an investment of R22 million for the 2022-2023 period.

Learn more at www.uj.ac.za
Mandela Mining Precinct
Sibanye-Stillwater is an active participant in the Mandela Mining Precinct (MMP), a public-private partnership with government and several other mining houses. The MMP focuses on applied research and development in five programmes:
- Longevity of current mining (LoCM)
- Non-explosive rock breaking and mechanised mining systems (NERB and MMS)
- Real-time information management systems (RTIMS)
- Advanced orebody knowledge (AOK)
- Successful adoption of technology centred around people (SATCAP).
Sibanye-Stillwater plays a leading role in the MMP, not only as a participant in the various programmes but as chair of the LoCM and NERB/MMS programmes. In addition, Sibanye-Stillwater is pleased to note the consolidation of various projects between the MMP and our partners at Wits and UJ (LoCM with UJ and RTIMS and SATCAP with Wits).
iXS-Incubate and iXS-Develop
In South Africa, regulatory requirements (as well as other contributing factors) result in limited exposure to globally competitive technology. South Africa’s capacity for research and development is limited due to historically depressed investment levels and lack of skills.

In response to these challenges, Sibanye-Stillwater launched its iXS initiative in September 2021. This is an investment programme to develop innovators and entrepreneurs, and support the start-up community.

The initiative has three objectives:
- To develop expertise to solve mining-related issues with novel entrepreneurial and innovative solutions
- To fund the development and adoption of technology from prototype to proof of concept
- To develop businesses within South Africa’s mining value chain capable of achieving commercial viability and global application
The initiative is structured in three parts: iXS-Incubate, iXS-Develop and iXS-Scale. However, only iXS-Incubate and iXS-Develop have been implemented to date.

iXS-Incubate develops entrepreneurs and innovators through its Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) and Innovator in Residence programmes (IIR). These programmes are structured as a contractual relationship, targeting high-quality candidates with post-graduate qualifications.

iXS-Develop invests in South African technology companies that are underpinned by locally developed commercial, science, and engineering innovations and are linked to Sibanye-Stillwater’s activities. iXS-Incubate will host five EIRs and IIRs in 2022 while iXS-Develop intends to support five startups.
Digital-One

Digital enablement continues to explore novel mechanisms to establish effective capability and capacity in support of digital adoption, without compromising organisational flexibility. In 2021, we developed international partnership models and infrastructure, intended to support the adoption of novel and competitive digital solutions.

The development considers two imperatives as fundamental concerns: the ability to execute with agility, while maintaining a flexible organizational structure; and the ability to deploy internationally across our organisation, as and when required, in order to digitally integrate and optimise current and new assets.

This development follows an extensive and objective review of our digital strategy, capability, and capacity in 2021 which has informed the design of a flexible model in H1 2022. If successful, group-wide consolidation and planning will be executed in H2 2022 for rollout in 2023.
Innocentrix's SA Innovation League

The SA Innovation League is a collaborative initiative between Innocentrix, the Milpark Business School and the Da Vinci Institute’s Technology Top 100 (tt100) Awards, which assesses organisations’ innovation management strategies and practices. At the 2021/2022 league, the approach, for the first time since inception in 2014, aligned with the series of ISO/SANS 56002 Innovation Management Standards. Sibanye-Stillwater announced on 20 Many 2022, that it achieved second place in the 2021/2022 awards, competing in the Large Organisation category.
Heraeus Precious Metals
- Partnership with Heraeus Precious Metals, a leading provider of precious metals products and services, including refining and recycling
- R&D and commercialisation of novel, PGM-containing catalysts for Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolysis to produce green hydrogen
- Current catalysts contain platinum and relatively high loadings of iridium – one of the most scarce PGMs, with limited availability
- Project aims to develop a new, robust solution looking at the substitution of iridium with other metals, as well as developing more sophisticated metal oxide structures
- Success would result in a more sustainable and cost-effective catalyst that encourages the adoption of PGM-containing PEM electrolysers and enables a multi-GW green hydrogen ecosystem
Relevant media
Please note that some of the links above are not hosted by Sibanye-Stillwater. Sibanye-Stillwater is not responsible for the content or availability of third-party websites.

References

Integrated Report 2021: Harnessing continuous innovation

A CLOSER LOOK

References

Explore More

PGM recycling

Safety & health

Environment