Ian Thomson

Projects to date:

• Feasibility study for mining and processing of tailings dams for Catoca Diamond Mine in Angola
• Feasibility study and mine start up for Lodestone magnetite mine in Namibia
• Feasibility study for Bisunzu lithium deposit in the DRC
• Feasibility study for Lubhuku anthracite project in Eswatini
• Blasting improvement project for Bluestone Mining at their Eastern Cape quarries

• Held Mine Planning Manager roles at various collieries of BHP Billiton (later South32) and also at Head Office level
• Collieries: Douglas Colliery, Middelburg Mine Services, Middelburg Mine, BHP Billiton Energy Coal South Africa and Wolvekrans Colliery
• Was the Competent person for Reserves Reporting for the collieries where I worked, and also the competent person for all the BHP Billiton Collieries when I headed up the long-term planning team for BHP Billiton Energy Coal
• All colliery roles included short term (2 yrs) to medium term (5yrs) mine planning and budgeting, mine geology department, mine surveying department and the mine dispatch systems
• Identified 6 new mining opportunities in the Douglas Middelburg mining complex, did the feasibility studies and project managed the start-up of all 6 open pits
• Implemented the Deswik Mine Planning software application for all the collieries and integrated all planning systems into one application including geology, mine planning and surveying
• Lead the implementation of the SAP production integration twice - with the 2006 implementation of one SAP and with the 2019 implementation of SAP S4 HANA

• Roles held include Mine Production Superintendent Mamatwan Mine, Mine Production Manager for Wessels Mine, Technical Manager for Hotazel Manganese Mines.
• Experience gained in opencast production, underground production, mine planning, product logistics to the port of Port Elizabeth.
• Projects implemented during this period included developing and installing a bulk explosives handling facility for Wessels underground mine, Implementing a end-end planning and forecasting tool from mine production through to rail transport and port stocks, implemented a new quality control system and procedures that eliminated customer complaints from more that 50 per year to zero over two years.