Ammsa
Gold in Johannesburg

AMMSA has four districts covering the gold, platinum and diamond industries in South Africa.

The Association dates back to 1892, when a group of mine managers on the newly-discovered Witwatersrand established a platform for industry professionals to promote the general advancement of mining in South Africa. For more than a century the Association has played a significant part in the development of the industry and in building the profile of the profession. As a side note, the five men were also asked to consider the idea of forming a Mine Managers Association. It was further proposed that an Association of Mine Managers be formed to protect their interests and to encourage social meetings for the interchange of ideas on mining matters. As the mining industry started to boom on the Main Reef, working methods began to mature. The Association of Mine Managers, too, was beginning to grow with fresh applications for memberships at each meeting. In line with this, Council offered to award a medal for the best paper for the year. This was, however, not implemented until 1961, when Tony Forder was awarded the first Gold Medal for his paper entitled The Development and Application of Engineering Planning and Workshop Control at Rand Leases (V) Gold Mine. Over the years, the Association thought of increasing its reach beyond the Rand and had invited managers from Klerksdorp and Barberton to join. In 1914, colliery managers had also decided to form their own association and it seemed that the Association would have to restrict itself to gold mining in the Rand. However, despite these restrictions there was a general increase in membership of the Association. The second of these landmark papers were by presented by John S For entitled Scientific Management, with particular application to a Witwatersrand Gold Mine. In 1951, Association membership exceeded 400 members for the first time and to take into account the changing geographic bias, the district system was reorganized. The East Rand and Far East Rand would be combined to form the Free State District, while the other districts would include the West Rand, Central Rand and East Rand. The first and only gold medal awarded to a mine rather than an individual went to Randfontein Estates in 1984 for presenting nine papers at a general meeting. The mine showed that even though it was one of the oldest in the industry, it was one of the most technically up-to-date. During 1988, Council decided that in future safety would be placed first on the agenda at all Association gatherings and that district meetings would begin with a safety presentation. This idea has been echoed in the recent formation of the tripartite safety meetings taking place before the normal district meetings. In 1994, the Association was allowed a seat on the MOPF board of trustees and also saw the creation of a Mine Qualifications Forum on which government, employers and labour would have an equal say.