Alastair Macfarlane

Alastair is a mining engineer with 47 years of mining experience. He graduated as a mining engineer from Camborne School of Mines in 1973, whereupon he came to South Africa, joining Anglo American. After several international assignments, he rose to Mine Manager and Consultant, Mineral Resource Management, in AngloGold.

Most of his production experience was in gold mining in South Africa, with some experience in potash mining at Boulby Mine.

He joined Wits University in 1999, where he worked as a Senior Lecturer, lecturing mining, mineral resource management and mine finance to undergraduates and post graduates. During this time, he developed numerous new courses and programmes.

He formed Macsim Mining Consultancy, from which he has consulted to many companies in South Africa, Zambia, DRC, Tanzania and Australia, in areas of mine optimisation, mine planning and mine feasibility.

Alastair has served many years as a Council member of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, and served as President during this time.

He chaired the SAMVAL Committee, and the International Mineral Valuations Committee for many years, being the founder of the International Valuations template, and the current SAMVAL Code.

He formed a successful BBBEE mining company, Sebilo Resources which is actively mining in the manganese business in the Northern Cape.

Alastair is a Non Executive, Independent Director of Implats, and a Past President of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.

He has also served on Council of the Association of Mine Managers of South Africa.

He has been a founder and co-Director of the Mandela Mining Precinct, which is a multistakeholder partnership formed to promote and further Research and Development in the South African Mining Industry. He has also served as a Director of the Mining Equipment Manufacturers of South Africa cluster.