Modern Mining August 2022

Light at the end of the tunnel – not so fast! S tatistics South Africa recently pegged South Africa’s population at over 60-million people, citing a positive population growth year-on year. Now, given that a vast number of the

The good news is that coupled with the renew able energy procurement programme Bid Window 4, which has seen over 2 000 MW of solar and wind power generation connected to the grid and a further 2 600 MW of capacity set for procure ment through Bid Window 5, the raising of the licensing threshold to 100 MW has seen numer ous heavy energy consumers, especially mining houses, moving with speed to establish renew able energy plants. According to Ramaphosa, Eskom has made land available next to its power stations in Mpumalanga for renewable energy projects, which will unlock 1 800 MW of new capacity. Apart from importing power from the Southern African Power Pool, the power utility will con struct its first solar and battery storage projects at Komati, Majuba, Lethabo and several other power stations, which will result in over 500 MW being added to the system. Lastly, government is looking to incentivise greater uptake of rooftop solar for all commercial and residential installations on its network – I’m sure fed-up citizens can’t wait to take up this opportunity and be Eskom-free. While it is heartening to note that plans for greater power stability are in play for the not-too distant future, in the immediate time-frame, we ready ourselves for the next bout of loadshedding. In this edition This issue highlights two important events – Women’s Month and Electra Mining – both of which have been editorially well supported with numerous companies keen to showcase their efforts in meeting gender equity targets. It was interesting to learn that De Beers’ annual pay audits ensure that the contentious issue of pay parity is effectively dealt with. Here’s hoping more companies will follow suit and implement pay audits to guarantee equity in pay. Meanwhile, as the Electra Mining Africa 2022 event draws closer, companies are eager for in-person meetings with clients and to be show casing their latest product launches. The event takes place from 5 - 9 September 2022 at the Johannesburg Expo Centre. 

population have access to electricity (the World Bank reported 84.39% in 2020), this is a whole lot of people who have all experienced severe loadshedding – with Stage 6 trending for all the wrong reasons. Fear of Stage 8 and total blackout was, and continues to be, a real concern for most people. According to media reports, Stage 6 load shed ding cost the country over R4bn per day. I vividly remember thinking, the very first time we experienced loadshedding in 2008, that the issue would soon be solved – 14 years later and we are in a worse situation. But, if we think that we are the only ones on the dark side – think again. European countries that rely heavily on Russia for their energy source are bearing the brunt of the Russia-Ukraine war. Russia is the world’s largest oil exporter to global markets, and its natural gas fuels the European economy. Like South Africa, energy bills in Europe are soaring – with countries, including UK, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway all expecting to face a cold, dark and very expensive winter. Having already experienced one of our worst winters loadshedding-wise, South African’s were delighted when President Cyril Ramaphosa came to the table with an energy plan. The plan, he said, aims to improve the perfor mance of Eskom’s existing fleet of power stations; accelerate the procurement of new generation capacity; harness private investment in genera tion capacity; enable businesses and households to invest in rooftop solar; and position the electric ity sector for future sustainability. Eskom 2.0 Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe has put forth the suggestion of having an Eskom 2.0, a second state-owned power utility to supply bulk load for the coun try’s energy needs.

COMMENT

Nellie Moodley

Editor: Nellie Moodley e-mail: mining@crown.co.za Features Writer: Peter Middleton e-mail: peterm@crown.co.za Advertising Manager: Rynette Joubert

Publisher: Karen Grant Deputy Publisher: Wilhelm du Plessis Circulation: Brenda Grossmann Published monthly by: Crown Publications (Pty) Ltd P O Box 140, Bedfordview, 2008 Tel: (+27 11) 622-4770 Fax: (+27 11) 615-6108 e-mail: mining@crown.co.za www.modernminingmagazine.co.za

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The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the editor or the publisher.

Average circulation January-March 2022: 12 150

e-mail: rynettej@crown.co.za Design & Layout: Darryl James

2  MODERN MINING  August 2022