R12,5m for mining and engineering education at Wits

The School of Mining Engineering, within the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at Johannesburg’s University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.

At a handover ceremony held on 25 July at the Sibanye Gold Academy on the West Rand, University of the Witwatersrand Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Knowledge, Information and Management, Professor Beatrys Lacquet, received the donation on behalf of the university from Sibanye Gold Chief Executive Officer, Neal Froneman.

Lacquet said, "This generous donation provides the opportunity for Wits to offer additional student support with respect to needy and deserving students. It will also enable us to further progress our Digital Mine Research Project, while also affording us the much needed funds to extend the laboratory facilities in the Richard Ward building for the chemical and metallurgical engineering students.

"It is commendable to have a company like Sibanye Gold investing in our people and this partnership will go a long way to assist us in moving forward as we continue to strive to support the South African mining industry in a meaningful way," she said.

Creating a legacy

Professor Beatrys Lacquet, University of the Witwatersrand Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Knowledge, Information and Management; Neal Froneman, Sibanye Gold Chief Executive Officer; and Professor Fred Cawood, Head of the School of Mining Engineering at Wits.

Speaking at the handover, Froneman commented that Sibanye remains resolute that mining should benefit all stakeholders and create a legacy that can endure long after the existing mines have reached the end of their productive lives. "Our dream is to facilitate the emergence of engineers from communities around our mines such as Bekkersadal, Khutsong and Matjhabeng because we know that education will not only give us future employees but will help us break the cycle of poverty and thereby eliminate all the social ills associated with it."

Sibanye Gold has supported the university in various ways over a number of years. "Wits is extremely grateful for the sustained contribution made by Sibanye Gold in enabling us to graduate students into the industry. We are committed to South Africa, the industry and this partnership," concluded Lacquet.