Civil Engineering April 2022 | Vol 30 No 3

22 April 2022 Civil Engineering T he Geoffrey Blight Oration honours the memory of late Prof. G.E. Blight who dedicated part of his research efforts to tailings engineering. The Oration is awarded to an indi- vidual based anywhere in the world who has made an outstanding contribution to the engineering of tailings dams. The award was granted for the first time (as the Geoffrey Blight Lecture) in 2016 to Prof. Andy Fourie from the University of Western Australia. From 1990 to 2004 Andy was an academic at the University of the Witwatersrand where he collaborated with Prof. Blight on multiple occasions. Since that time, he has continued to contribute extensively to the technical literature on tailings. He also actively participates in the education of tailings engineers and is a member of the International Advisory Panel to support the new Global Tailings Management Institute. Andy delivered his Geoff Blight Lecture during the First Southern African Geotechnical Conference which took place in Sun City, South Africa in May 2016. The title of his lecture was “Box ticking is no longer sufficient – new imperatives for tailings management.” Since 2016, the Geoffrey Blight Lecture changed its name slightly to the Geoffrey Blight Oration, because the former wording is now used by the Technical Committee on Unsaturated Soils (TC106) of the International Society of Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. It is a true testament to Prof. Blight’s legacy that there is more than one award that honours his memory! In 2021 the Geoffrey Blight Oration was granted for the second time and on this occasion the winner was Prof. Dirk van Zyl, Emeritus Professor from the University of British Columbia. Dr Luis Alberto Torres-Cruz Senior Lecturer University of the Witwatersrand luisalberto.torrescruz@wits.ac.za Andrew Copeland Pr Eng, FSAICE Director Knight Piésold acopeland@knightpiesold.com Scott Gover Pr Eng Principal Geotechnical & Tailings Engineer WSP Golder scott.gover@wsp.com Winners of distinctions granted by the Tailings Sub-Committee The Tailings Sub-Committee of SAICE’s Geotechnical Division grants two distinctions to celebrate individuals who have made significant contributions to our geotechnical understanding of tailings: the Geoffrey Blight Oration and the SAICE Tailings Medal. Prof. Andy Fourie, winner of the Geoff Blight Lecture in 2016 Prof. Dirk van Zyl, winner of the 2021 Geoff Blight Oration