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Senior expertise, directly accessible
DAQ Geotech is led by its founder and draws on specialist associates and accredited laboratories as each project requires.
David Nyungu
Lead Geotechnical Engineer and Director
A rock and geotechnical engineer with more than 18 years across open pit and underground mining and consulting, combining numerical analysis with operational and business experience.
David's work focuses on situations where ground conditions, mine design, structural stability and operational constraints interact. He has led geotechnical departments at large gold operations, held legal ground-control appointments, and designed support for mines across the continent.
Qualifications
- MSc Mining Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand
- BSc Mining Engineering (Hons), University of Zimbabwe
- Chamber of Mines Rock Mechanics Certificate
- New Managers Programme, Wits Business School
- Mine seismology and operations risk management
Professional standing
- Certificated Rock Mechanics Engineer (COM)
- Member, SAIMM
- Member, SANIRE
- ECSA Professional Engineer candidate
- COMREC qualified; working knowledge of JORC reporting
Career
- 2025 – present
Lead Geotechnical Engineer and Director, DAQ Geotech
Specialist geotechnical, rock engineering and ground-stability consulting.
- 2022 – 2025
Geotechnical Superintendent, Barrick (Kibali, DRC; Bulyanhulu, Tanzania)
Led the geotechnical department: stope design, paste fill, raise-bore stability, pit slope radar monitoring and mine planning inputs.
- 2021 – 2022
Rock Engineering Specialist, Thungela Resources
Legal ground-control appointment; surface and underground design custodian; residue and spoils dump stability.
- 2020 – 2021
Rock Engineering Manager, gold mining operation
Established the rock engineering department; seismic and fall-of-ground risk in a high-stress environment.
- 2020
Rock Engineer (contract), Anglo American Platinum
Support cost review, stoping procedures and technical evaluation of a robotic mining test site.
- 2017 – 2020
Business Development and Projects, New Concept Mining (Epiroc)
Ground support design and QA for mines across Southern, Central and West Africa.
- 2016 – 2017
Senior Rock Engineer, AngloGold Ashanti Mponeng
Ultra-deep seismic risk; large storage chambers with support costs cut by at least 40%.
- 2012 – 2016
Shaft Rock Engineer, Anglo American Platinum Amandelbult
Open pit and underground rock mass characterisation, wide-reef risk and team leadership.
- 2009 – 2011
Rock / Geotechnical Engineer, geotechnical consultancy
Open pit and underground monitoring, numerical analysis and feasibility studies.
- 2005 – 2009
Mining Engineer, Rio Tinto Renco Gold Mine
Cut-and-fill mining, planning, support design and tailings exposure.
Publications
- Time-dependent tensile strengths of Bushveld Complex rocks and implications for rock failure around mining excavations. SAIMM, 2014.
- Identifying relevant ground movement monitoring requirements. SARES, 2019.
Associates and partners
For larger programmes DAQ Geotech assembles project teams of field crews, instrumentation specialists, structural and cost engineers, and accredited laboratories, all working under the same engineering lead and quality process.
