Improving one machine does not guarantee that a mine produces more. Delays can move elsewhere in the cycle, maintenance can change availability, and operating rules can create interactions that are difficult to reason about from averages alone.
Hloni Manyakoana developed a simulation of platinum production using a Bathopele mine case study with Sibanye-Stillwater. The model represents the production cycle so that productivity and maintenance choices can be evaluated at system level.
By the second quarter of 2026 the research was complete and the dissertation had reached its second internal review. The study contributes to a wider RAMMS simulation portfolio that uses mine evidence to make bottlenecks and trade-offs visible before changes are made underground.