Modern Mining February 2018

EVENTS

Improved political outlook lifts Although Cyril Ramaphosa was not yet installed as South Africa’s President at the time of the recent Mining Indaba, the mere prospect of his taking over the top post was enough to lift the mood of del- egates who – by and large – seemed optimistic about the outlook for mining in South Africa, notwith- standing the bitter disputes in recent months over the revision of the Mining Charter. Also reinforcing the positivity was the recent political changes in Zimbabwe, which could see a sharp revival in that country’s long-suffering mining industry.

T he opening address was given by Minerals Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane who noted that the prices for most metals had in- creased year on year in 2017, with zinc going up 40 % and copper and iron ore by about 20 %. “Globally, the recovery is expect- ed to continue in the short to medium-term, supporting commodity prices and demand,” he said. “We can therefore confidently assert that the spring in mining is indeed blossoming into a summer.” The Minister – who, as of this writing in mid-February, is not expected by most com- mentators to retain his post for too much longer – stayed away from contentious issues, prefer- ring to focus instead on progress in geology and mapping, beneficiation and support for junior miners. His address was not particularly well received by delegates, with Jacques Barradas, partner and head of mining at Grant Thornton in Johannesburg, saying it “lacked substance” and Jonathan Veeran, partner and deputy head of Webber Wentzel’s mining sector group, describing it as “a missed opportunity to state

that South Africa is open for business.” A persistent theme of speakers was that South Africa and Africa needed to make them- selves more attractive to investors. Norman Mbazima, Deputy Chairman of Anglo American SA, for example, pointed out that while South Africa was one of the world’s most endowed mining jurisdictions, the country had not been able to bring this endowment to account. As he noted, gross fixed investment in mining has been stagnant since 2009 and had declined by 5 % over the course of the last three years while net investment had declined by 57 % since 2008. “We need to attract capital for South Africa’s mining industry, whether foreign or domestic, and we must accept that such capital needs to get a competitive return,” he said. He stressed that investors required a clear, concise and consistent regulatory environment to justify investing and added that, at present, “we have anything but a conducive regulatory environ- ment.” He said the issues to be resolved were comprehensive and could only be resolved “by dialogue and engagement to arrive at a

Below: Delegates to the Mining Indaba listen to a main stage presentation. Below right: The exhibition area at this year’s Mining Indaba in Cape Town.

30  MODERN MINING  February 2018