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PERSONALITY OF THE MONTH
National Currie Cup Tournament
August 1983. SA Mines Soccer side
FOOTBALL CRAZY?
Dixon’s mining colleagues will remember his enthusiastic football playing days,
where his involvement cut across the lines of race, work status and later even age.
As a schoolboy and at university, he had usually been captain of his respective
teams, and he threw himself into the game in South Africa with the same zest.
Such was his performance for the Welkom Club, that he was even invited to play
for Welkom Real Hearts – a black team from the nearby Thabong township. He
remembered a particularly exciting trip to play in the Castle Cup at Kings Park
stadium in Durban, and the shocked reaction of some conservative white South
Africans to see white and black youngsters in the same team.
Even in Johannesburg, Roger revelled in his football, playing for the Wanderers
on the No. 2 Oval – which has now given way to an office block. The level of his
game rose further on returning to Western Deep Levels, where his non-racial team
played in the national second division.
“There was always a great spirit in these teams,” remembers Dixon. “After the
game, we’d often have drinks at the mineworkers’ hostels – and even have a few
rounds of boxing just for fun. But going to and from the games, we’d be smartly
kitted out in blazers with the mine’s crest – and were generally very well behaved.”
Even as section manager, he loved the interaction with teammates and would
often talk football underground in the stopes with the miners. His passion kept him
in the game well into his 30s, when he captained mostly younger players in the first
Chamber of Mines soccer team in the demanding national Currie Cup.
He remains a fervent and committed supporter of the Manchester United football
club, and his hopes for a better season for his team look set to be realised.
12 MINING REVIEW AFRICA
| JANUARY 2015
Members of CRIRSCO and the Mongolian
Professional Institute of Geosciences and
Mining at Oyu Tolgoi Mine – October 2014
conference in Toronto, he was reminded
of the importance that investors attached
to the integrity of geological data
advertised by mining firms when raising
capital. At that stage, some countries had
reporting codes to enhance these levels
of integrity, but not South Africa.
To remedy this situation, he initiated
the South African Code for Reporting of
Exploration Results, Mineral Resources
and Mineral Reserves (SAMREC), which
developed a code and published it in
2000. He also went on to participate
in the global Committee for Mineral
Reserves International Reporting
Standards (CRIRSCO), which he chaired in
2009 and 2010.
“To build a mining sector sustainably, all
stakeholders benefit from high standards
of reporting of mineral resources and
reserve estimates and of exploration
progress,” he says.
He joined SRK Consulting (SA) in 2004,
and has been an integral part of the
group’s expansion into Africa. Unlike
most corporate entities, SRK’s business
model involves a network of manag-
er-owned offices – encouraging local
ownership, professional standards and
entrepreneurial ability.
“Helping start the SRK offices in Ghana,
Cameroon and the Democratic Republic
of Congo in recent years has been very
exciting,” says Dixon.
“With the high level of local expertise
and experience in these practices, and
the commitment of our colleagues in
these offices, we see a promising future
for SRK in Africa.”