The Mine Managers’ certificate of competency is a licence to practice at a South African mine. These certificates are issued to a competent person who can be appointed legally to perform duties of a mine manager at a South African mine as stipulated in the Mine Health and Safety Act, 1996 (Act 29 of 1996) as amended and its regulations.
There are two types of Mine Managers’ certificates of competency:
A potential candidate must be a holder of a blasting certificate of competency, meet the required number of practical mine shifts and other application requirements, before an application to become a candidate is made. The candidate can then apply to the Department of Mineral Resources to write examination. Upon acceptance as a candidate, the individual will be subjected to an assessment to determine competence.
It is only after a candidate is found competent in a written examination consisting of three parts for all required subjects, that a certificate of competence is issued. Exemptions from writing some of the three parts can be given at the discretion of the Chief Inspector of Mines depending on the mining qualification held by a candidate.
The process of co-ordinating the Mine Managers’ certificate examinations is done at the Head office component of the Department of Mineral Resources.
All applications and enquiries - acceptance as a candidate and acceptance to write examinations - should be directed to gcc_examinations@dmr.gov.za.
Optional questions will be given for coal/metal where appropriate:
There will be separate papers for metal and coal (priorities determine).
This is an open-book examination and is two-and-a-half hours long.