Mimosa Mining Company is advancing the digital transformation of its Zimbabwean operations through a collaboration with Rockwell Automation and local engineering specialist Mine Elect, with the initiative focused on strengthening operational technology (OT), cybersecurity and the resilience of the mine’s industrial infrastructure.
The collaboration forms part of a multi-year digital migration programme at Mimosa, a platinum-group metals (PGM) and base-metals operation located on Zimbabwe’s Great Dyke in Midlands province. The mine has been progressively modernising its operational technology environment, including the migration of legacy OT networks towards Ethernet/IP, as it seeks to improve connectivity between industrial systems while maintaining the reliability required in a continuous mining operation.
The latest phase focuses on network architecture, security segmentation and more secure mechanisms for system access, data transfer, monitoring and recovery. Rockwell Automation said the work is intended to provide Mimosa with greater visibility across its operational networks and strengthen safeguards around critical industrial systems.
The development comes as the boundaries between information technology and operational technology become increasingly important across Africa’s mining industry. Mines are adopting automation, connected equipment, industrial data platforms and remote monitoring to improve operational decision-making and efficiency. Yet greater connectivity can also increase exposure to cyber risks, particularly where modern digital systems have to operate alongside legacy equipment and infrastructure.
For mining companies, cybersecurity therefore has a different operational dimension from conventional corporate IT security. Industrial control systems can interact directly with machinery, processing equipment and other physical processes. A cyber incident affecting such systems can consequently have implications for production, maintenance and, depending on the systems involved, operational safety.
Rockwell Automation’s 2025 State of Smart Manufacturing research identified cybersecurity among the significant challenges facing manufacturers as industrial digitalisation expands. The research also highlighted investment in securing IT/OT architecture as an area of growing importance for industrial organisations. These trends are relevant to mining operations, where the integration of connected technologies has accelerated the need to understand and manage the relationship between digital networks and physical production systems.
Mimosa’s experience illustrates that digital transformation is not necessarily a single technology deployment. Mine Elect managing director Dr Blessing Mahomva said the company began the digital transformation journey more than three years ago, including upgrades to key OT infrastructure and the migration of legacy networks to Ethernet/IP.
Mine Elect’s involvement also provides an important local dimension to the project. As a Zimbabwe-based Rockwell Automation specialty distributor, the company has provided engineering, implementation and on-site support. The arrangement combines international industrial automation expertise with technical knowledge and execution capacity based within Zimbabwe.
That local capability is increasingly relevant as African mining companies modernise. Digital transformation can easily be characterised as a process of importing sophisticated technologies into resource-producing economies. In practice, however, its long-term value depends substantially on whether local engineers, technicians and technology specialists can participate in implementing, maintaining and securing those systems.
Mimosa operates within a strategically important part of Zimbabwe’s mining economy. The operation is jointly owned by Impala Platinum Holdings and Sibanye-Stillwater, each holding a 50% interest. Concentrate produced at Mimosa is transported to South Africa for further processing, illustrating the regional industrial relationships that underpin the southern African PGM value chain.
The mine produced 253,900 ounces of 6E concentrate in the financial year ended June 2025, compared with 255,400 ounces in the preceding year. Its performance has also been influenced by factors beyond digital infrastructure. Regional electricity disruptions, for example, have presented operational challenges, demonstrating that cybersecurity and digital resilience form only one part of the broader resilience equation facing African mines.
This distinction is important. A more secure industrial network can improve visibility, monitoring and control, but it cannot by itself resolve electricity shortages, equipment failures, logistics constraints, commodity-price volatility or other structural pressures affecting mining operations.
Mimosa’s digital investment is also taking place against a longer-term discussion about the future of Zimbabwe’s PGM industry. Sibanye-Stillwater reports that the current operation has a mine life extending to 2033 and has identified potential for the North Hill development to extend the operation’s productive life by an additional 10 to 15 years, subject to investment and development decisions.
The implications therefore extend beyond cybersecurity. As Zimbabwe seeks to capture greater value from its mineral resources, the capabilities surrounding extraction — including engineering, automation, software, cybersecurity, data management and technical skills — are likely to become increasingly important components of the mining value chain.
The Mimosa collaboration consequently reflects a broader transition within African mining towards more connected and data-intensive operations. The strategic question is not simply whether mines can acquire advanced technologies, but whether those technologies can be integrated sustainably into existing industrial environments while strengthening local capabilities.
For Zimbabwe, that distinction is particularly significant. A successful digital transformation should not be measured solely by the installation of new networks or cybersecurity systems. Its longer-term contribution will depend on whether it improves operational resilience, develops technical capacity and allows local expertise to participate meaningfully in the increasingly digital architecture of the country’s mining industry.
The Mimosa initiative represents another stage in that process: one in which cybersecurity, industrial connectivity and mining expertise are becoming increasingly interconnected, while the underlying challenge remains ensuring that digital modernisation contributes to a more resilient and locally capable African mining sector.
