b'Conferences and eventsNewsNGEA Africa held at SAGA 2022In December 2022, students from the University of the Witwatersrand attended the South African Geophysical Associations 17th Biennial Conference and Exhibition (SAGA) in Sun City, South Africa to present their submissions for NGEA Africa.NGEA Africa is a regional-based geoscience challenge undertaken in partnership with Professor Sue Webb from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, and Reese van Buren from SAGA. The Council for Geoscience (CGS), a branch of the South AfricanStudents presenting their NGEA Africa challenge submissions at SAGA 2022government, kindly provided a multi-layered geoscience dataset of the Springbok area in north-western South Africa known for base metal, gold and uranium mineralisation.A judging panel of three mining industry professionals were on hand to assess the presentations and give their final scores. After much deliberation, Impact Explorers were named as the winning team!Team members Kenneth Rapetsoa, Luyanda Mayekiso, Mmathinya Dikgale, Marcus Mkhomazi, Silindokuhle Majola, Yamkela Mapetshana, and Ndamulelo Mutshafa were excited by the results and thanked the Next Generation Explorers Award Association for the opportunity as well as NGEA Africa sponsors Ivanhoe Mines and New Resolution GeophysicsNGEA Africa challenge submission being presented by a student at SAGA 2022(NRG).When I was asked to join the NGEAIn addition, all competing studentsThe NGEA Committee wishes to challenge I worried about what my inputreceived a certificate of theirthank all its sponsors for supporting might be in a field I had no experienceparticipation in the contest as well as athis initiative and a special thanks to in, shared Impact Explorers Mmathinyacopy of the recently published book Thethe contest judges and Professor Sue Dikgale, BEng Civil Engineering. TheHistory of Geophysics in Southern Africa byWebb. The SAGA organisation was very following months with back-to-backJohan H de Beer. pleased with the positive reception the briefing and research I was exposed to aThe six NGEA Africa submissions werestudent contest received from both the field of practice in which civil engineersalso entered into the global NGEAconference delegates and students, and can collaborate with geophysicists andchallenge, with the Impact Explorers andplans to add a student competition to geologists for the purpose of mineralThe Rock Engravers being selected asfuture SAGA conferences.exploration and mining, especiallytwo of the six finalists to present at PDACThe Next Generation Explorers Award construction and structural health2023 in Toronto, Canada! recently announced the six teams monitoring of mining infrastructure inselected to advance to the finals of this this case. I am humbled by the experience NGEAyears challenge at the Prospectors and Africa has given me as a young aspiringDevelopers Association of Canada (PDAC) Being part of the NGEA competitiongeoscientist, Percy Kelepile from Rockconvention in Toronto, Canada. The I gained a substantial amount ofEngravers shared. From a professionalfinalists will present live at the PDAC on knowledge, said Mpilenhle Mkhize fromand academic point of view, I believe thisMonday, March 6from 2:00-4:00 pm EST.thteam Data Dominators. Being part ofcompetition is a great initiative that helps a team of diverse geophysics and non- inspire new innovative solutions andIn addition, the 2024 NGEA challenge geophysics students proved how beneficialideas by bringing together young talentsis now open! We encourage everyone to it is to incorporate different disciplines andfrom different parts of the world andorganise a team and apply today!different aspects of thinking in achievinguniting them under one roof to address one goal. It was truly a privilege and honourthe burning issues of society on ourMarc Gasparotto to be part of such a fruitful experience. beloved continent. nextgenerationexplorersaward@gmail.com13 PREVIEW FEBRUARY 2023'