Johanna R von Holdt, (PhD)

Dr Johanna von Holdt is a Senior Lecturer and HOD at the Department of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, University of Cape Town. She is a previous UCT postdoctoral research fellow specialising in various aspects of mine dust. As the UCT mine dust networking group co-ordinator, Dr von Holdt is perfectly placed to coordinate the GCRF Mine Dust and Health Network activities, play an active role in Network discussions and activities, and to subsequently help to implement research directives that result from the Network.

Jennifer Broadhurst, Pr. Sci. Nat. (PhD)

Jennifer Broadhurst was the founding Director of the Mining Dust and Health Network and currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor and Senior Scholar at UCT. With more than 40 years’ experience spanning the mining industry and academia, she remains actively involved in research and education on environmental and other sustainability issues relevant to the minerals sector, with a special interest in developing inter- and trans-disciplinary capacity towards addressing concerns like mine dust.

Background

Jennifer Broadhurst has more than 40 years research and development experience in the field of mineral’s beneficiation within various industry, consultancy and academic organisations. With a background in fundamental process and environmental chemistry, Jennifer’s research interests over the past 25 years have expanded to include the broader sustainability challenges (environmental, economic and social) facing the resource extraction sector and the inter-generation burdens these places on mining communities, particularly in the South African and African contexts. Current research collaborations with academics within, and external to, UCT span across several disciplines, including geographical and geological sciences, social sciences, law, health, and economics. She also continues to be actively involved in developing inter- and trans-disciplinary human and research capacity through her teaching and post-graduate student supervision and convenes the Leaders in Extractives and African Development (LEAD) and Mineral Resources and Sustainable Development CPD programmes. Prior to her retirement in 2025, Jennifer held several leadership roles within UCT, including co-director of the Minerals to Metals Initiative (2015-2025), Research Coordinator and EXCO member of the Department of Chemical Engineering (2020-2023), Interim SARChI holder for

Bioprocess Engineering (2019-2022), and Director of the UKRI-funded GCRF Mine Dust and Health Network (2019-2022). Jennifer was a finalist for the 2019/2020 National Science and Technology Fund (NSTF) Kambule award in recognition of my contributions to science, engineering and technology (SET) and innovation, and received the e-wisely Exceptional Woman in Sustainability award 2021.

Since joining academia in 2008 Jennifer has supervised 31 masters and 12 PhD students. She has co-edited 2 books and authored 8 book chapters, 40 accredited journal articles, 33 peer-reviews conference papers and in excess of 100 technical reports.

EMPLOYMENT

Current Positions

· Emeritus Professor: Department of Chemical Engineering, UCT

· Senior Scholar: Minerals to Metals Initiative, Department of Chemical Engineering, UCT

Previous Positions

· Professor: Department of Chemical Engineering, UCT (9 years)

· Deputy Director: Minerals to Metals, UCT (10 years)

· Research Director: Department of Chemical Engineering, UCT (4 years)

· Interim NRF South African Research Chair: Bioprocess Engineering, UCT (4 years)

· Research Fellow: Department of Chemical Engineering, UCT (9 years)

· Consulting process and environmental chemist: self-employed (15 years)

· Principal Research Metallurgist: Billiton Pty Ltd (10 years)

· Scientist: Process Chemistry Division, Atomic Energy Corporation of South Africa (4 years)

RESEARCH PROFILE

Jennifer’s research focuses primarily on the development of innovative and holistic approaches for mitigating the environmental and associated socio-economic impacts from the primary mineral extraction sector, and optimizing the efficient utilization of minerals, as well as other resources associated with their extraction (water, energy, land). Current research topics include: mine closure and post-closure land-use; mine dust characterisation and risk analysis; mine water accounting; mine-environment-community relationships and engagement; re-purposing and down-stream processing of large volume mine waste; recovery of value from acid mine drainage; development of tools and metrics for performance assessment of mineral resource systems; acid rock drainage prediction and mitigation.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Koovarjee B., Becker M., Broadhurst J. and von Holdt J. Spatial framework for assessing chronic containment risks in tailings storage facilities: A case study from South Africa. Cleaner Waste Systems. Available on-line 27 May 2026.

Pai S., James J., Deeksha P., Broadhurst, J., Carr-Wilson S. and Ewing, J. Coal Value Chain Repurposing in India, South Africa and the United States: Options and Pathways. The Electricity Journal. Available on-line 21 January 2026.

Wills, N., Cohen, B., Broadhurst, J., Burton, J., James, J., Pai, S. A Climate Blindspot? Coal Mine Methane in South Africa. Swaniti Global, 2025.

Stander H-M., Du S., Mokolmela R. and Broadhurst J.L. An integrated approach for waste repurposing and environmental remediation in the South African coal mining industry. Mine Closure 2025, Lulea, Sweden, 23-25 September, 2025.

Stander H-M. and Broadhurst J.L. (2025) Conceptualising a regionally integrated approach for the valorisation of coal mining-related waste: A case study in the Mpumalanga Province, South Africa. 21st International Coal Preparation Congress (ICPC XXI), Sun City, South Africa, 12-16 October, 2025.

Opitz A. K. B., Harrison S.T.L., Broadhurst J.L. and Becker M. A systematic approach for the characterisation of potential elemental risks associated with sulphide-bearing mine waste: A gold waste rock case study. Minerals Engineering. Available on-line 1 June 2025.

Stander H-M, Harrison S.T.L. and Broadhurst J.L. Early-stage design and development of mine waste valorisation technologies with expert input. Journal of Cleaner Production. Available on-line 24 February 2025.

Moyo A., Amaral Filho J., Harrison S.T.L. and Broadhurst J.L. Acid mine drainage and metal(loid) risk potential of South African coal processing waste. Minerals Engineering. Available on-line 14 July 2024.

Folifac L., Ameh AE., Broadhurst J., Petrik L. and Ojumu TV Iron nanoparticles prepared from South African acid mine drainage for the treatment of methylene blue in wastewater. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. Available on-line 27 May 2024.

Kamanzi C., Becker M., von Holdt J.; Hsu N-J., Konečný P., Broadhurst J. and Jacobs, M. (2024) Machine learning demonstrates dominance of physical characteristics over particle composition in coal dust toxicity. Environ. Sci. Technol., 58 (3):1636–1647, 2024.

Cole M., Chimbganda T. Esau M., Abrams A. and Broadhurst J. Developing Mine Closure Risk Ratings and a Post-closure Opportunity Framework for South Africa. South African Water Research Commission Report No. TT 930/2, ISBN 978-0-6392-0582-3, 2024.

Amaral Filho, J., Gcayiya M., Smart M., Kotsiopoulos T., Broadhurst J. and Harrison S. Repurposing Pyrite from Coal Waste. South African Water Research Commission Report No. 3106/1/23, ISBN 978-0-6392-0583-0, 2024

Michael Henry Solomon, (PhD)

Professor Solomon is a mining engineer of 45 years of experience in the gold, platinum, diamond and coal sectors. His career has spanned a balance between production mining, consulting and advisory, project development, capital raising and policy development. From a sustainability perspective he specialises on the economic diversification and decarbonisation of mines, but from commodity and investment risk is also knowledgeable on the mining of precursor battery minerals. He has lectured widely on Mining Investment Risk focussing on the supply-side factors of operational risk, host country political risk and geopolitical risk.

Since the political transformation on South Africa commenced in 1990, he has been integrally involved in the development of government policy and was amember of the ANC Minerals and Energy Group drafting team for the post-transition South African Mining Policy from 1992-1994 and seeing that policy into the promulgation of the country’s Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act. After the ANC moved to government in 1994 he was a founder member of the policy think tank, the Minerals and Energy Policy Centre (MEPC) where he headed the Minerals Policy team. He was also part of the policy team that framed the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Royalty Act, promulgated in 2008. He has served as the Senior Advisor to the South African Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Natoional Mine Closure Strategy from 2019 until 2024.

In South Africa he has served on several governmental and inter-governmental bodies in South Africa and elsewhere. He was the mining expert on the South African Ministerial Water Advisory Committee, the Geosciences Council Advisory Committee, the National Survey Advisory Council and on a number of Judicial and Ministerial Commissions of Enquiry including the mining of mineral sands in environmentally sensitive areas at Richards Bay and around the St Lucia Reserve, the location of the then Iscor Steel Plant at Saldanha Bay, the storage of Iranian Oil at the CEF bunkers at Saldanha Bay and the storage of imported nuclear waste at the Vaalputs Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility in the Northern Cape. He was also a member of a review panel for the South African Presidential Commission for revitalising the South African Mining Industry, Phakisa. He is a member of the Agricultural Economists Association of South Africa (“AESA”) and served on the Steering Committee for the formation of the South African Agricultural Development Agency (“AGDA”) where he chaired the Policy Committee. For the last three years he has been the Senior Advisor to the Council for Geoscience and Department of Minerals and Energy on the National Mine Closure Strategy. He has served on the Board of the United Nations Global Compact in South Africa and is currently a Non-Executive Director of the Federation for a Sustainable Environment.

On international platforms Prof Solomon has served as the UNDP Expert Advisor on the Role of Mining in Poverty Alleviation in Tanzania in 1995 and on the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Expert Group on Minerals Beneficiation from 2015-2017. In 2015 he served as an expert advisor to the UNECA High Level Dialogue on Accelerating the Rwandan Economy under the auspices of the Rwandan Presidency. He served on the Global Agenda Council for the Future of Mining and Metals of the World Economic Forum from the inception of the Council in 2008 to its dissolution in 2016 and remains a member of the WEF Global Expert Network.
Importantly, Prof Solomon has retained his industry roots as a miner, mine manager and mining engineer. He has served as an Independent Non-Executive Director on the Board of ASX-listed Gold One (the precursor company for Sibanye-Stillwater) where he chaired both the Audit and risk and the Technical Committees. He was Chief Executive of Wesizwe Platinum where took the company from first borehole through listing on the JSE and the raising of full funding for the capital construction of the Bakubung Platinum Mine, which is now in production. He currently serves on the board of Sedibelo Resources Limited, a mid-tier Platinum producer for whom he Chairs the Board Technical Committee and sits on the ESG Committee. He is the founder and Chief Executive of Carbon Neutral Energy Systems (CNES), a company specialising in systems integration in carbon neutrality programmes for mines. He has served as a Member of Council of the of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM) for over a decade and he chairs the SAIMM ESGS Committee. In 2022 Prof Solomon was awarded an Honorary Life Fellowship of the SAIMM for his contribution to mining in South Africa. He is an Incoming Vice-President of the SAIMM. He is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Cape Town where he specialises in the economic diversification and decarbonisation of mines. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Natural Sciences and Agriculture at the University of the Free State. Notably, Prof Solomon is the chief architect and strategist, convenor and Senior Advisor to His Majesty King Letsie III of Lesotho on the HMKLIII Just Energy Transition Fund which has been set up to transition the country’s economy from a dependence on the remission of mineworkers’ wages to a sustainable economy premised on the sale of green energy to the South African mining sector. He is also the Senior Strategy and Economic Advisor to Kgosi Leruo Molotlegi of the Royal Bafokeng Nation on a Post-Mining Economic Strategy for the Royal Bafokeng Nation. He has recently been awarded the honour of an appointment as the Minister Counselor of the Sovereign Order of Malta to the Kingdom of Lesotho.