Modern Mining November 2018

CONSULTANTS/ PROJECT HOUSES

lower commodity price environment has meant cutbacks in exploration and in reserve and resource replacement.” As mining in South Africa hopes for better times, the recent decisions over the Mining Charter are expected to improve the regulatory environment. Stability in the regulations going forward will give investors more confidence in making the long term investments required in exploration and mining, according to Oliver Bayley, senior exploration geologist at SRK Exploration Services. This would help support the goal of a home-grown junior sector. “There is good potential for discovery and exploitation of smaller mineral deposits in South Africa that have not been worthwhile for the larger players – who have historically held much of the ground – to pursue,” he said. “However, this kind of investor is particularly sensitive to issues related to sovereign risk and tenure.” He said SRK Exploration Services has certainly seen an uptick in enquiries for explo- ration work in recent months, but often the champions do not have strong mining back- grounds and have limited access to the levels of capital required. “They also face a local investment environ- ment in which high-risk capital is hard to find,” he said. “Ideally, an exploration company will have a portfolio of prospects they can regularly review, and from which the best options can be chosen for funding; there are not many compa- nies of this scale in South Africa.” He foresaw some growth in both exploration and mining ventures in the near future, which would have a beneficial effect on employment and host communities. “While there are some opportunities in South Africa that will lead to exploration, these are limited compared to the rest of Africa,” said Bayley. Wertz highlighted the potential role of smaller companies in reviving South Africa’s mining sector – and said regulations needed to

be conducive to fund-raising, as this was a par- ticularly high-risk segment. “Such investment would promote wider access to the sector, and hasten the transforma- tion that all stakeholders are seeking,” he said. SRK continues to serve its mining and explo- ration clients in countries across Africa, with its West African office in Ghana, its Central African office in the Democratic Republic of Congo and its renewed focus on East Africa. Its integrated range of services extends beyond mining, geological and geotechnical work to environmental, social, water, energy and

LCT pegmatite drilling in Mozambique.

related disciplines. Photos courtesy of SRK

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November 2018  MODERN MINING  41