Mining Indaba Review – South Africa’s Mining Industry At A Glance
Here are six key outcomes for the South African mining industry from the Mining Indaba 2019, which was held in Cape Town from 4th to 7th February.
- President Cyril Ramaphosa was the first president to have ever delivered a keynote speech at the Mining Indaba. He addressed future hopes as well as current issues facing SA’s mining industry and his 10 principles of sustainable development which are based on the Mining Charter, were well received by the audience.
- The 4IR (Fourth Industrial Revolution): Technology in mining with its recent advancements in AI have led to various debates on issues such as data protection, intellectual property ownership, use of drones and other new technologies and legal liability especially with regards to licensing and use of third-party technology. South Africa intends to outline what strategies, policies and plans it should put in place to position itself as a leading country in the technology revolution. However, these regulations have yet to be drafted and their nature and scope is not yet known.
- SA’s Energy Crisis: It was noted that Eskom cannot increase their tariff too high otherwise key gold & platinum mining businesses could go out of business. The suggestion was put forward to develop alternative sources of energy by means of an incentive programme through an independent power supply for mining companies and their local communities.
- Philip Barton, Chief Executive Officers of De Beers Consolidated Mines, is positive about the future of diamond mining in South Africa as after 2 years of no exploration 32 new licences have been approved, with a view to spend approximately R30 million investment in exploration for 2019 alone.
- South Africa’s Orion Minerals takes 2nd place in Mining Indaba Investment Battlefield. Orion Minerals presented its Prieska Zinc Copper Project, located in the Northern Cape in South Africa. Whilst Prospect Resources were announced the winners for its lithium project located in Zimbabwe. The competition is open to mining companies with a market capital of $50 million or below and entrants must present to a panel of judges made up of 25 leading analysts and investors.
- Gwede Mantashe, South African Mineral Resources Minister, welcomed Total’s announcement about their significant gas discovery in the Outeniqua Basin, off the southern coast of South Africa. Total will pursue 3D seismic tests and later four exploration wells.