Editor’s take: ChatGPT is coming for your job and, if you are a journalist, you are in the firing line. From the financial sector to health care to publishing, several industries remain vulnerable as artificial intelligence is increasingly being used to perform a variety of tasks, including producing sophisticated written content. So, the next time you read this column be wary – check carefully to see who’s written it. Even as AI targets your lunch-money, storms wreak havoc and loadshedding, our constant companion, adds to our woes as it hammers businesses and increases numbers in the unemployment line; Finance Minister, Enoch Godongwana’s medium-term growth outlook, revised down from the 1,6% forecast in October, to 1.4 per cent for 2023 to 2025, will leave you feeling even more defeated.
On the cover
African Trading Group boldly expands to new frontiers
Johannesburg-based maintenance supply chain services company African Trading Group is expanding its geographical footprint to conquer new frontiers in Central America and Asia. This is not just any ordinary expansion – it's a high-stakes adventure into the unknown, full of risks and rewards – and, with our expertise and determination, African Trading Group is poised to make our mark on the global stage, says CEO LeeAnn Strydom.
Lindi Jumbo on-track for year-end graphite production
As Tanzania’s pioneer graphite mine developer, Walkabout Resources, hurtles towards first production from the Lindi Jumbo project, it does so at a most fortuitous time just as demand for graphite outstrips supply and prices for the critical metal soar, CEO Andrew Cunningham tells Modern Mining. Citing London-based price reporting agency, Benchmark Mineral Intelligent’s latest report, Cunningham says that to keep apace with soaring demand, the industry would need to establish 97 new graphite mines, each producing 56 000 tpa of graphite concentrate, in the next 12 years. This gives the soon-to-be-miner, first mover advantage in a highly lucrative race.
Sandvik's legacy drill rig takes a step up
Building on one of Africa’s most successful rotary drill lines, Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions has introduced its Sandvik D25KX rotary drill rig – for the perfect combination of reliability and technology. According to Nelize Nel, Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions’ acting business line manager for rotary drills, the D25KX model derives directly from the D25KS, which proved itself over decades as the drilling contractors’ machine of choice.
CRU unpacks the role of Africa’s bulk metals and base-metals in the global economy
Underpinned by high population growth, which recently ballooned to over 8 billion people, demand for steel used in infrastructure development will continue to grow apace to meet global population needs. Although Africa currently accounts for just 5% of global iron-ore exports, it is expected to gain market share as key iron ore projects come online to meet growing demand, says CRU’s head of steelmaking raw materials, Erik Hedborg.
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