Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy impressed by the CSIR technical capability

From left to right: BGRIMM Director of International Relations, Hen Long; BGRIMM President, Sun Chuanyao; CSIR Group Executive for Operations, Dr Hoffie Maree; and CSIR Strategic Alliances Manager, Berenice Lue Marais

The Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (BGRIMM) visited the Centre for Mining Innovation (CMI) and the CSIR National Laser Centre (NLC) on 20 and 21 February 2012 on a fact-finding mission to establish areas of cooperation. CSIR Group Executive for Operations:Dr Hoffie Maree, provided an overview of the CSIR and highlighted the Research Impact Areas (RIAs), enabling technologies and facilities.

The BGRIMM delegation visited the CSIR Pretoria campus after a fruitful visit to CMI in Johannesburg where CSIR CMI Manager, Declan Vogt, provided an overview of the unit. Declan indicated that the CSIR and BGRIMM have received seed funding from the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology to collaborate on sensors for real-time risk management.

Cooperation with the CSIR mining initiative;BGRIMM President, Sun Chuanyao, through the International Relations Director, Hen Long, praised the CSIR capabilities and expressed excitement that in their short visit, the delegates had managed to identify a few areas of interest. These are:

• Aluminium alloy additives;
• Underground communication and monitoring in mining, wireless sensing, and driverless vehicles for the mining industry; and
• Measurement of poisonous gases levels driverless vehicles for the mining industry LIDAR for atmospheric gas detection at the CSIR NLC.

CSIR National Laser Centre Laser Materials Processing Competence Area Manager Federico Sciammarella takes the Chinese delegation on a tour of the National Laser Centre.

CSIR Strategic Alliances Manager Berenice Lue Marais, who facilitated the visit, indicated that, “These industrial visits enable the CSIR to demonstrate its capabilities and identify opportunities for global collaboration. There are possibilities for scientific exchange funded by the Chinese Academy of Science.”NLC Manager, Dr Ndumiso Cingo, explained that cooperation with BGRIMM was important for the CSIR because, “research, development and innovation cannot flourish in isolation, so it is important to constantly be hosting visitors to share ideas with one another that will help us grow, and may also spark collaborative efforts that may be fruitful down the line”.

The CSIR recently hosted a delegation of Chinese research experts at the National Laser Centre.