Modern Mining November 2024

MINING NEWS

The turnaround at Eskom has boosted investor confidence.

A real sense of optimism at Joburg Indaba The first day of the 12 th edition of Joburg Indaba ended with a real sense of optimism, according to Bernard Swanepoel, who led many of the discussions and ‘interrogated’ many of the key speakers and panelists.

“T he growth of the mining sector in South Africa rests on the outcome of collaborative efforts between mining companies, state owned enterprises and government to attract investment and facilitate expansion and exploration. We are enjoying a moment of optimism, the government of national unity is not an opportunity to be wasted. If we create the right environment for capital, then the capital will flow, both local and foreign. It will be self fulfilling.” Crucial interventions that the industry needs include policy certainty and implementation, and rail and energy security – work which is already underway. Jacob Mbele, Director General of the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, said some of the main shortcomings have been the department’s inability to deal speedily with requests to enforce the law. Mbele added that another shortcoming was that with every law there were unintended consequences, which companies exploited and why laws are amended to close loopholes. “Looking forward, we have started a review of the MRPDA to address the gaps and the legal shortcomings.” Roger Baxter, chairman of Southern Palladium said, “It is critical to have an online cadastral system, and to shorten licensing approval times to be competitive with our neighbours, such as Botswana, and to market South Africa better in order to attract venture capital funds. It’s absolutely crucial to have a stable, predictable policy framework to attract long-term investment.” Baxter said to grow the economy meaningfully, the potential of the exploration and junior mining sectors needs to be unlocked. To bolster growth of the mining sector, Nico Muller, CEO

The growth of the mining sector in South Africa rests on the outcome of collaborative efforts between mining companies, state owned enterprises and government.

of Impala Platinum, said, “We have to start with crime and corruption, port congestion, rail infrastructure, illegal mining and, most importantly, an investor friendly jurisdiction. We need to reduce the cost of listing for junior miners and attract venture capital. There are 1,600 junior miners listed in Toronto, we have less than 20 – with our minerals endowment this is inexcusable.” Richard Stewart, Chief Regional Officer, Southern Africa at Sibanye-Stillwater, said to unlock value in the short-term, water, energy and logistics issues need to be addressed. “However, in the longer term we have to invest in the value chain, including beneficiation, for which we will need to find the right partners.”

6  MODERN MINING  www.modernminingmagazine.co.za | November 2024