Media&News

Govt wants to revive SA’s oldest coal mine – and says it can help generate clean power
Business Insider
4 November 2020

The Stormberg Mountains are best-known for recording the coldest temperatures in South Africa, and sustaining the country’s first commercial coal mining operations in 1870. The small town of Molteno played a pivotal role in the region’s early expansion, funding the development of a railway system to open supply routes further north.

Molteno’s dominance was short-lived. By 1920, access to the abundance of coal buried beneath the interior Highveld forced the frontier town into a state of decline.

Now, almost a century later, the government is looking to revive mining operations in the area, drawing both attention and resources to the Molteno-Indiwe coalfields – for better or for worse. Read full article here.

 

Mined commodities set to underwhelm in 2021 as stimulus measures end, economies unlock
Mining Weekly
4 November 2020

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Mined commodities are set to underwhelm in 2021 as the boost to commodity prices from stimulus measures and the phased unlocking of economies are short-lived, says Wood Mackenzie (WoodMac) metals research global head Simon Morris and bulk research global head Derryn Maade.

Speaking during a commodity-focused session at this year’s virtual Junior Indaba, Morris said “everything will stay down” through to 2025, apart from gold, which is seen as the “bellwether of geopolitical tension, government fiscal balance sheet strengths and general stability in the world”.

The story for copper, cobalt, lithium and nickel is “basically the same” across the board, as there is a “massive oversupply” and uncertainty around what demand is going to be like as the world emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The big challenge, however, is a lack of a supply-side response, which Morris lamented has, so far, put downward pressure on prices. Read full article here.

Botswana’s Minergy sets sights on Eskom
Business Day
4 November 2020

Botswana-based coal miner Minergy has ramped up coal sales to SA’s industrial customers and has now set its sights on supplying Eskom.

The group, which is listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange and produces coal from its flagship Masama project, 60km northeast of Gaborone, has been selling coal commercially for a year now. In this time, it has sold 300,000 tonnes of coal into SA, Botswana and Namibia, CEO Morné Du Plessis said at the virtual Junior Indaba for mining on Wednesday. Read full article here.

South Africa to prioritise exploration, formalise artisanal mining
Mining Journal
4 November 2020

South Africa is prioritising exploration and formalising artisanal mining, among moves to boost the mining sector and in turn the country’s battered economy, resources and energy minister Gwede Mantashe told a mining forum this week.

Mining had contracted in the second quarter of 2020 in South Africa, and the country had already slipped into recession prior to the COVID-19 lockdown in March.

Mantashe said it was "time for the industry to work together to pull South Africa out of the crisis".

"The future of our mining industry rests with the junior mining sector," he said at 2020 Junior Indaba.

"Exploration is the way to go and a priority for the department."

Artisanal mining would be formalised to create an avenue to mine sterilised deposits. Read full article here.

SA mines minister, Gwede Mantashe, claims Sibanye-Stillwater “reckless” with BEE compliance
Miningmx
3 November 2020

SIBANYE-Stillwater had fallen foul of the South African government’s empowerment legislation and was not compliant, said Gwede Mantashe, the country’s mines and energy minister.

Speaking at the Junior Indaba, an online mining conference, Mantashe said that Sibanye-Stillwater had “stolen” the empowerment points awarded to Gold Fields from having completed an empowerment transaction in 2009. This was the deal in which Gold Fields sold a 15% stake in its South African gold mines to Mvelaphanda Resources, then owned by Tokyo Sexwale, a black industrialist.

Gold Fields subsequently de-merged its South African gold mines to form Sibanye Gold, the forerunner of the gold and platinum group metals producer, Sibanye-Stillwater. Mantashe said Sibanye-Stillwater had been “reckless” in claiming the empowerment from the transaction. Read full article here. 

The mining map you’re not supposed to see
Mining Review Africa
3 November 2020

AmaranthCX, the mining supply sales consultancy, has launched its most comprehensive coal minerals map yet, timed to coincide with this week’s Junior Indaba.

This is the information that the incumbent organised industry and the SA government Department of Mineral Resource and Energy (DMRE) would far prefer you didn’t know and couldn’t see.

The organised industry has made a commitment to transparent engagement with the society at large – however, goes on to make the commitment entirely meaningless by not extending it to actually publishing their full registers of Prospecting Rights, Mining Rights and Mining Permits.

Since March 2020 Mining Rights holders have been required to publish their Social & Labour Plans online – which would include the location of Mining Rights. Read full article here.

Expediting South African exploration
Mining Review Africa
3 November 2020


Exploration spend in South Africa has undoubtedly taken a knock as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with S&P Global Market Intelligence predicting a 29% decrease in global exploration spend for 2020.

However, as a crucial first step in the project cycle, exploration will become a key focus for the country as the Department of Minerals Resources and Energy (DMRE) looks to release a six-point exploration strategy aimed at enabling and expediting exploration to take place within South Africa, attendees of The Junior Indaba, heard today.

According to DMRE Minister Gwede Mantashe, there are plans afoot to develop an exploration implementation plan, together with the Minerals Council South Africa and the Council for Geoscience. It is Mantashe’s desire to release this strategy sooner rather than later, to give the mining sector an opportunity to comment on whether or not it believes the strategy provides a workable solution. Read full article here. 

Panel calls for more junior mining, exploration in SADC region
Mining Weekly
3 November 2020

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – While many of the countries in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region continue to face various challenges, a panel at this year’s virtual Junior Mining Indaba found that Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continue to perform well.

As an example, Caledonia Mining CEO Steve Curtis said that, while Zimbabwe had a very negative investor sentiment, owing mainly to poor infrastructure, a lack of power and difficulties in obtaining funding, doing business in the country still faced “very few hurdles” once a project was settled.

Thanks to the country’s abundant resources, and subsequent opportunities, Curtis has found Zimbabwe “a good place to be”, especially considering that its government is “very willing” and keen to assist.

DRA Global projects executive VP Alistair Hodgkinson shared Curtis’ sentiment on Zimbabwe, adding that the country had “great communities” and a “skilled workforce”, ultimately making project implementation easier, despite potential funding delays. Read full article here.

Clean, green copper of N Cape will be produced at nigh zero cost – Orion
Mining weekly
3 November 2020

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The clean, green copper that Orion Minerals will mine with the help of the Northern Cape’s hot sun and prime wind will be almost free of cost, paid for by the zinc credits, Orion Minerals CEO Errol Smart said on Tuesday.

“If you take it as a copper mine only, net of zinc credits, we come close to dropping off the scale, because the zinc actually pays for the production on this mine. You get the copper almost for free,” Smart told the 2020 Junior Indaba, a virtual online event, which was moderated by mining stalwart Bernard Swanepoel.

Right now, base metals prices are surging and copper and zinc are mooted to be really streaking ahead over the next couple of years and the abundance of renewable energy will provide the added benefit of premium prices.

“And we have this build-ready project,” Smart said of the Prieska project, the centrepiece of Orion’s asset portfolio, near Copperton, a copper and zinc-mining area that saw its heyday between 1970 and the end of the twentieth century, when it housed about 3 000 workers and their families. Read full article here.

Smart says global decarbonisation journey will benefit Northern Cape base metals hub
Mining Weekly
3 November 2020

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Growing global demand for zinc, copper and tin minerals will place South Africa’s Northern Cape in a favourable position as the world continues to decarbonise the global economy, says Orion Minerals MD and CEO Errol Smart.

The use of battery metals, of which copper is a main component, will continue to drive appetite for the commodity. Smart is, therefore, encouraging the use of modern exploration technologies, like electromagnetic techniques. to further explore the region, which has not seen copper production in over 40 years.

This delay in exploration and production is not owing to a lack of copper, but rather because major mining companies stopped exploration as they had “exhausted the available economic reserve” in the region, subsequent to which mines shut down and mining companies left the area in search of greener pastures, explains Smart.

However, owing to the Northern Cape’s style of mineralisation, he says the region is “very productive for exploration” once successful and modern tools are applied. Read full article here.

Caledonia Mining Corp. sees building a 500,000 ounce per year gold company
Miningmx
3 November 2020

CALEDONIA Mining Corporation could “see itself” growing into a 500,000 ounce a year gold producer through acquisitions of exploration properties in Zimbabwe, said Steve Curtis, CEO of the Toronto-listed firm.

The company was also scanning the Zimbabwean gold industry for opportunities to consolidate existing gold production.

Bloomberg News reported last month that Caledonia Mining signed a memorandum of understanding with the Zimbabwe government to evaluate some of the gold assets of Mining Development Corporation, a state-owned company. Read full article here.

Gwede Mantashe accuses Sibanye of stealing gold division’s BEE credits
Business Day
3 November 2020

Mineral resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe has raised doubts over Sibanye-Stillwater’s BEE credits at its gold division, saying the company was "reckless" for talking about this in public and should approach his department.

Sibanye said in response that it had not spoken publicly about the matter and was in talks with the department about the renewal of its mining right at the Beatrix mine rather than its entire gold division. Read full article here.

Exploration is priority, says Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe
Mining Weekly
3 November 2020

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – South Africa should be an exploration site that contributes to gross domestic product growth and employment creation.

“Exploration is the way to go and a priority,” Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe told the 2020 Junior Indaba in his keynote address on Tuesday.

The Minister assured the conference of the commitment of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy to strengthen its administrative capacity to ensure transparency and short turnaround times for the processing of mining and prospecting licences.

He said the future development of South Africa’s mining and minerals industry rested with the junior mining sector. Read full article here.

Mantashe muddies the policy waters with attack on Sibanye’s BEE record
Business maverick
3 November 2020

Minerals and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe does not know how to woo investors. At the Junior Mining Indaba on Tuesday, he launched a broadside against Sibanye-Stillwater, saying it was reckless on the issue of BEE. Pointedly, he made little mention of the lack of transparency bedevilling the coal sector.

Back in 2004, Gold Fields completed an empowerment transaction in which it sold a 15% stake in its South African mines to Tokyo Sexwale’s Mvelaphanda Resources (Mvela). Most of those mines in 2013 would be spun-off into Sibanye, which is now a gold and platinum group metals producer called Sibanye-Stillwater. Sibanye has always maintained that the transaction meant its gold assets were “once empowered, always empowered”, even though Mvela gradually sold off its Gold Fields shares.

Years later, the minister suddenly brought up the issue during the online Junior Mining Indaba, organised by Resources 4 Africa. He claimed Sibanye had “stolen” the empowerment points. Read full article here.

AmaranthCX launches detailed map of South Africa’s coal rights
Mining Weekly
2 November 2020

Mining supply sales consultancy AmaranthCX has launched its most comprehensive coal minerals map yet, timed to coincide with this week’s junior mining event, the Junior Indaba, which will take place on November 3 and 4.

AmaranthCX director and owner Paul Miller says the information presented in the map is revealing, containing information that some in the industry and government may “prefer you did not know and could not see”.

AmaranthCX notes that, although mining rights holders are required to publish their social and labour plans online, most mining right holders, outside some in the organised industry, do not even have their own websites.

It further notes that meaningful detail on mining rights, prospecting rights and mining permits is also not generally available through government entities. Read full article here.

Australian companies remain hungry for African opportunities says AAMEG

With a number of its members already successfully operating in Africa’s resource-rich mining sector, the Australia-Africa Minerals & Energy Group (AAMEG), says that Australian companies remain hungry for the opportunities that Africa has to offer. While CEO William Witham believes there are huge opportunities abound, he doesn’t shy away from admitting that operating in Africa is not without its challenges writes Chantelle Kotze. Having taken to the helm of the AAMEG in January 2018, succeeding former CEO Trish O’Reilly, Witham brought with him a wealth of experience, spanning corporate leadership in resource development in Africa, senior roles in resource sector representative bodies and direct experience in government lobbying and negotiating. Read the full article here

Coal will be around for a long time yet

The idea that coal mining is a sunset industry was put to rest at the Coal Industry Day in Johannesburg this week. Coal’s outsized contribution to mining and the energy grid cannot be wished away, no matter how many wind turbines are erected in honour of environmental correctness. Xavier Prévost, senior coal analyst at XMP Consulting, ran through the numbers and it’s clear coal will be here for a long time yet. Coal is found in 70 countries and mined in 50 of them. At current rates of consumption, the International Energy Agency forecasts that coal will last another 114 years, compared to 53 years for gas and 51 years for oil. Read the full article here

Coal mining definitely not on its way out
Ciaran Ryan, Moneyweb

The idea that coal mining is a sunset industry was put to rest at the Coal Industry Day in Johannesburg this week. Coal’s outsized contribution to mining and the energy grid cannot be wished away, no matter how many wind turbines are erected in honour of environmental correctness. Xavier Prévost, senior coal analyst at XMP Consulting, ran through the numbers and it’s clear coal will be here for a long time yet. Coal is found in 70 countries and mined in 50 of them. At current rates of consumption, the International Energy Agency forecasts that coal will last another 114 years, compared to 53 years for gas and 51 years for oil. Read the full article here

Coal critical to enabling South Africa’s stability and growth

High input costs to power generation, including coal, ultimately cause higher electricity prices which is detrimental to South Africa's economy, says Menar MD, Vuslat Bayoglu. He was speaking during a panel discussion on how the sector can assist Eskom in resolving its power generation challenges at the inaugural Coal Industry Day in Johannesburg. Bayoglu said that although none of Menar’s subsidiaries currently have contracts with Eskom at this stage, they were in discussion with the utility about offtake agreements, either through existing operations and/or acquisitions of new ones. Read the full article here

Securing investment – advice for junior miners
Jul 26, 2019

Junior miners honest about your ore body, realistic about your expectations and make sure that you have ticked all your boxes from a regulatory, social and environmental and point of view. This is the compendious advice that Robert Philpot of Qinisele Resources has for any junior miner looking to secure investment. Gerard Peter writes. After qualifying as an attorney, Philpot soon traded his robe for the world of corporate mining finance, becoming a partner at corporate advisory boutique, Qinisele Resources, in 2007. When it comes to securing funding for projects, he explains that unfortunately many retail and institutional investors follow short-term commodity cycles. Read the full article here

Ismail Momoniat says SA miners have bigger worries than carbon tax

A senior Treasury official dismissed as a "red herring" the SA mining industry’s concern over a relatively new tax on carbon dioxide emissions, saying the levy was too low to add up to unbearable costs. The tax, which was enshrined into law in May, faced opposition from big polluters such as miners, steelmakers and Eskom, which had warned it would eat into profits and push up electricity prices. Anglo American Platinum has said the tax could cost it up to R300m, while the Minerals Council of SA warned it could lead to 6,000 job losses a year. "In the short term, the impact of the carbon tax on the price of electricity is minimal," said Treasury deputy director-general Ismail Momoniat on the sidelines of a coal industry conference on Wednesday. Read the full article here

Eskom needs more support from coal producers, SADC – panel

Coal producers should offer State-owned utility Eskom fairer pricing, while the Southern African Development Community (SADC) States should do more to support Eskom, delegates attending the Coal Industry Day, in Johannesburg, on Wednesday, were told. In a panel discussion on the role of coal in resolving Eskom’s generation capacity and Southern Africa’s energy needs, Menar MD Vuslat Bayoglu noted that coal pricing, and therefore coal producers, needed to be fairer, while Shumba Energy MD Mashale Phumapahi noted that, given Eskom’s role in the SADC region, “it's time that other countries start contributing to ensure that there is security of supply.” Read the full article here 

Prevost urges coal producers to focus on local demand
Nadine James - Creamer Media Writer 

South African coal producers should focus on supplying local industries and State-owned power utility Eskom, given the changing and uncertain export environment, XMP Consulting senior coal analyst Xavier Prevost said on Wednesday. Speaking at the inaugural Coal Industry Day hosted by Resources 4 Africa at the Johannesburg Country Club, he pointed out that both China and India – the latter of which buys about 46% of South Africa’s coal exports – plan to reduce their coal import volumes. Read the full article here

The importance of attending Junior Indaba 2019
Jul 17, 2019

Mining Review Africa talks to attendees at the 2019 Junior Indaba about why the event is a must-attend on their calendar. Watch the video here

Why the junior mining sector still matters
Jul 17, 2019

Mining Review Africa talks to attendees at the 2019 Junior Indaba about why they feel the junior mining sector is important to the future of mining in South Africa. Watch the video here

Mantashe has a mountain to climb as SA mining exploration is at an investment ebb
By Natalie Greve - July 11, 2019

The scoreboard doesn’t lie. That’s the message from former Harmony Gold CEO, Bernard Swanepoel, and others when appraising the state of South Africa’s exploration and junior mining sector. Swanepoel references S&P Global Market Intelligence research on mining exploration in Africa when asked by Miningmx for his views on whether a material mining exploration industry still exists in the country. The report shows how, despite South Africa placing top of the list between 2000 and 2009 among African states’ ability to attract early-stage funding, it has since dropped to sixth place. Attracting $97.8m in exploration investment in 2018, South Africa now lags the Democratic Republic of the Congo ($269.5m) in first place, Burkina Faso ($149.10m), Ghana ($102.90m) and Côte d’Ivoire ($101.60m), and Mali ($99.60m). Read the full article here 

SMALL WONDERS
Mining Decisions
Charlotte Mathews

 Junior miners are overcoming a challenging environment by identifying promising projects that can attract capital. Aspiring junior miners face intimidating hurdles. Yet some companies are managing to raise funding and develop greenfield projects in Africa, sometimes in destinations that have deterred their bigger peers. What these firms have in common are supportive shareholders, experienced management and commodities that appear to present good medium-term prospects. In a February 2019 report, the Minerals Council South Africa (MCSA) estimates that, in 2018, junior miners represented about 10% of the South African industry, with revenues of ZAR54.4 billion. Small mining companies (defined by Statistics South Africa as having ZAR2 million to ZAR105 million turnover) spent ZAR293 million on capex in 2018. Read the full article here

 

Fillip Needed
Mining Weekly - 14 Jun 2019

Junior mining is badly in need of a policy framework that will kick start activity, mining luminary Bernard Swanepoel said last week. Speaking to a packed 2019 Junior Indaba conference for explorers, developers and investors in junior mining, Swanepoel outlined how he had boldly stepped into the world of entrepreneurial junior mining after many years in the corporate mining world. "It's very tough to be small in a country of big business, big government and big labour," said the former Harmony Gold CEO. The country was, he said, failing to achieve inclusive, job-creating growth because of the dire state of small businesses. "As the holder of prospecting permits, the investor in a small coal mine and the co-owner of a manganese refinery, I stand here like so many of you in this audience trying to survive against all odds," said Swanepoel. Read the full article here

Tie-Ups Urged
Mining Weekly - 14 Jun 2019

 Strategic partnerships with midtiers or majors were one of the more realistic and beneficial means for junior miners to secure funding for initial exploration, a panel of speakers at the Junior Indaba said last week. Moderated by Botswana Diamonds MD James Campbell, the panel focused on the comparative lack of exploration funding for South African exploration, compared with the global exploration space. Campbell focused on raising funds for exploration and predevelopment activities, because, he noted, "once you've got a bankable feasibility study, it becomes relatively easy". MX Mining Capital Advisors director Dr Mike Seeger said there was "a lot of money in that pot", referring to the potential of juniors teaming up with midtier companies. Read the full article here

Bright Outlook
Mining Weekly - 14 Jun 2019

Manganese could make its mark in the battery electric vehicle EV arena by displacing cobalt to a large extent in many of the cathode formulations, where the bulk of battery metals are used. The Junior Indaba heard last week that manganese, which South Africa hosts in abundance, is in a race with nickel, cobalt and aluminium to win the favour of original equipment manufacturers concerned about cobalt's high concentration in a single country, where ethical issues also cloud its use. The favourable positioning of manganese surfaced during a panel discussion on strategic metals, led by Impala Platinum mining executive and Women in Mining chairperson Thabile Makgala, and made up of Standard Bank commodities analyst Thabang Thlaku, Manganese Metal Company chief marketing officer Madelein Todd, Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe executive director Paul Chimbodza and Ivanplats senior VP Gerick Mouton. Read the full article here

The mining grinches are right: SA needs a new broom for endemic dysfunction
By David McKay - June 13, 2019

SOUTH African mines minister, Gwede Mantashe’s, compromise on energy in which he hopes to align the aspirations of the green lobby with miners, seems a sensible approach. The country doesn’t have a coal mining problem, it has an energy problem so the debate around solving it needs to be appropriately universal in character. The middle way is not, however, working out quite as well in the mining sector. Without doubt, Mining Charter III is an advance on previous versions, but it falls short in critical areas which have been taken to court by the Minerals Council, as is well documented. Read the full article here

Only a deep rethink can save mining
13 JUNE 2019 - 05:07

It was a single comment at a recent junior mining conference that put into context a major part of the problems besetting SA’s mining sector and it ties into the government’s inability to comprehend regulatory stability as the basis for investment decisions. Peter Leon, a veteran mining lawyer now with Herbert Smith Freehills, said that when the first Mining Charter was agreed and implemented from 2004 the document was taken on a joint roadshow by officials from the then-Chamber of Mines and from the then-department of minerals and energy. Read the full article here

Resources Watch
11 June 2019 - Creamer Media’s Resources Watch

Welcome to Creamer Media’s Resources Watch, a weekly video round-up of the events and people making and shaping the news in the mining industry. This week: Junior mining badly in need of kickstart and Manganese poised to make its mark as EV metal Junior mining is badly in need of a policy framework that will kickstart activity. Junior Indaba Chairperson Bernard Swanepoel: Manganese could make its mark in the battery electric vehicle arena by displacing cobalt to a large extent in many of the cathode formulations, where the bulk of battery metals are used. Listen here

Sale of Gupta - linked mines close
Business Report (The Star) - 7 Jun 2019

The sale of the Gupta linked Optimum and Koornfontein mines could be concluded by the end of next month. Business rescue practitioner Louis Klopper said yesterday that eight bidders had entered the sale process. Bidders were scheduled to complete the due diligence for the sale by mid-June and creditors were expected to vote on the most compelling proposal thereafter. Eskom and Centaur are the two biggest creditors who have submitted claims of R5 billion and Rlbn respectively. Read the full article here

On-The-Air (07/06/2019)

Every Friday, SAfm’s radio anchor Sakina Kamwendo speaks to Martin Creamer, publishing editor of Engineering News and Mining Weekly. Reported here is this Friday’s At the Coalface transcript: Kamwendo: Great news for South Africa is that manganese, which we host in such abundance, is edging its way into the growing electric vehicle (EV) market. Listen to the interview here

The Long and Winding Road: Fighting for breath in Gwede Mantashe’s new and improved portfolio

Kevin Bloom

In his first speech as Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy at the Johannesburg Country Club this week, Gwede Mantashe gave South Africans a hint of what to expect. Seeing as the new super-ministry has been formed in the teeth of climate and ecosystem collapse, the ANC stalwart had no option but to address the issues. Meaning, he addressed them by not addressing them, as befits his affable, debate-loving nature. Read the full article here. 

Indaba panel shines spotlight on access to funding for junior mining companies
Business Report (Cape Times) - 6 Jun 2019

Access to funding for junior mining companies in South Africa came under the spotlight at the Junior Indaba in Johannesburg yesterday. Olebogeng Sentsho, the chief executive at Simba Mgodi Funding, told a panel discussion at the Indaba that junior miners had to look into alternatives to traditional funding methods including crowdfunding. "We have looked into blockchain applications, and into crowdfunding which has been very successful for us," she said, adding that junior miners opted to raise money abroad. Read the full article here

Mantashe lashes Minerals Council over mischievous' approach
Dineo Faku

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe yesterday hit out at the Minerals Council South Africa, describing the lobby group as mischievous in its legal battle to have certain aspects of the third version of the mining charter overturned. In his first public appearance since he was appointed the head of the amalgamated ministry last week, an emboldened Mantashe told delegates of the Junior Indaba in Johannesburg that the council should place the legal process aside. Mantashe said that all stakeholders, including the council, signed off on the charter before it was gazetted in September last year. Read the full article here. 

PwC: Mynbou moet sy beeld poets

Elvira Wood

 

As die mynboubedryf beleggers wil lok, sal hy sy beeld moet poets sodat gewone mense verstaan watter rol dié bedryf in hul alledaagse lewe speel. Die bedryf moet in navorsing en innovasie belê om meer toepassings vir hul produkte te vind, het Andries Rossouw, vennoot vir mynwese en energie by PwC, Dinsdag gesê toe PwC se jongste Mynbouverslag bekend gestel is. Die verslag – die 16de wat PwC uitreik – is op die Junior Indaba in Auckland Park, Johannesburg, bekend gestel. Rossouw sê mynmaatskappye moet werk maak daarvan om vir gewone mense te wys hulle “grawe nie net gate” nie. “Hulle moet aan verbruikers wys hoe wat hulle doen die tegnologie moontlik maak wat verbruikers elke dag gebruik,” sê hy. Read the full article here. 

Manganese poised to make its mark as EV metal

Martin Creamer 

Manganese could make its mark in the battery electric vehicle (EV) arena by displacing cobalt to a large extent in many of the cathode formulations, where the bulk of battery metals are used.The Junior Indaba heard on Wednesday that manganese, which South Africa hosts in abundance, is in a race with nickel, cobalt and aluminium to win the favour of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) concerned about cobalt’s high concentration in a single country, where ethical issues also cloud its use. Read the full article here. 

Junior miners need funding to be democratised

The Simba Mgodi Fund is specifically aimed at youth and women-owned businesses, and provides entrepreneurs with much needed start-up capital and seed funding that is most critical to their successful establishment but which is hardest to come by. Read the full article here. 

Mantashe renews defence of coal, urges investors to weigh CGS’s new projects

David McKay

South African mines minister, Gwede Mantashe, sought to broaden the debate about the prospects for the country’s electricity utility, Eskom, to one regarding ‘energy security’, but he simultaneously found time to promote coal projects discovered by his department. Mantashe was last week appointed minister of the combined minerals resources and energy department, one of several departmental mergers overseen by President Cyril Ramaphosa following his successful election victory on May 8. Questions have been raised as to whether Mantashe would influence policy regarding the use of renewable energy in favour of coal having previously stated when he was minister of mineral resources that coal ought to be supported in the face of opposition to fossil fuels. Read the full article here

Junior mining badly in need of kickstart – Swanepoel

Junior mining is badly in need of a policy framework that will kickstart activity, mining luminary Bernard Swanepoel said on Tuesday. Speaking to a packed 2019 Junior Indaba conference for explorers, developers and investors in junior mining, Swanepoel outlined how he had boldly stepped into the world of entrepreneurial junior mining after many years in the corporate mining world. Read the full article here

Junior Indaba panel finds sentiment in Charter towards juniors still lacks

Opening the Junior Indaba, in Auckland Park, on Tuesday, chairperson Bernard Swanepoel questioned whether Mining Charter III had helped to kickstart exploration activity in South Africa’s mining sector. Swanepoel mentioned that the prevailing sentiment seemed to be that, while the gazetted charter was a “vast” improvement on previous versions, it was tailored more towards large mining houses and did not offer the junior sector or potential investors incentives to engage in prospecting and exploration. Read the full article here

 

Mantashe renews defence of coal, urges investors to weigh CGS’s new projects

David Mckay

SOUTH African mines minister, Gwede Mantashe, sought to broaden the debate about the prospects for the country’s electricity utility, Eskom, to one regarding ‘energy security’, but he simultaneously found time to promote coal projects discovered by his department.

Mantashe was last week appointed minister of the combined minerals resources and energy department, one of several departmental mergers overseen by President Cyril Ramaphosa following his successful election victory on May 8.

Questions have been raised as to whether Mantashe would influence policy regarding the use of renewable energy in favour of coal having previously stated when he was minister of mineral resources that coal ought to be supported in the face of opposition to fossil fuels. Read the full article here.

Gwede Mantashe backs coal and nuclear in SA’s energy mix

SA’s coal industry has a lifeline now that the government’s energy portfolio is under Gwede Mantashe, the mineral resources and energy minister. Mantashe says he sees a longer role for coal in SA’s energy mix as the country grapples with energy shortages and soaring electricity costs, speaking at the Junior Indaba mining conference Mantashe stated it would be a mistake to focus on renewable energy at the expense of coal, and he urged coal miners and energy companies to find and exploit clean coal technology. Listen Here 

The Mining Charter

Herbert Smith Freehills Global Coach Peter Dion is being interviewed. The focus is on the mining charter focusing at the Junior Indaba. Int: Herbert Smith Freehills: Global Coach: Peter Dion Mention: DA Listen to the interview here

Reinvigorate exploration in SA
Business Report (Pretoria News) - 3 Jun 2019

Reinvigorate exploration in SA Junior miners and women have the potential to change the face of the mining industry IT IS IMPORTANT for mining companies, observes this writer, to create policies to ensure, for example, a 50 50 gender mix of new graduate intake and that women are given fair treatment when promotional opportunities arise. I WALDO SWIEGERS Bloomberg MINING THABILE MAKGALA JUNIOR miners and women have the potential to change the face and trajectory of the mining industry in South Africa. I believe this is a change we need and should support. Let's look at the mining sector first, because for women to meaningfully participate and contribute to the industry, we need it to be robust, growing and attracting investor interest. The Full article here  

Coal mining’s star shines bright
By Esmerelda Lombard| May 31st, 2019|Mining in Focus

The recent announcement by several South African banks that they will no longer fund new coal mining projects in the country, has once again opened a can of worms. The action prompted Minister of Mineral Resources Gwede Mantashe to call on coal mining companies to invest in “clean” coal technologies, and impelled environmental groups to intensify their anti-coal campaigns. But are they flogging a dead horse? The green movement’s efforts of punting renewables are commendable, and one has to admit that generating green energy sounds enticing. Coal mining is a dirty business, but weaning the world, and South Africa, from its coal addiction in the next 20 years, might be just a tad idealistic. Read the full article here

UNTENABLE PROPOSITION?
Mining Weekly - 24 May 2019

UNTENABLE PROPOSITION? EXEMPT TO A POINT While prospecting rights and mining permits are exempted from complying with Mining Charter III, the stipulations and guidelines related to the charter come into effect once the company applies for a mining right SPECIAL MINERALS LEGISLATION NADINE JAMES I CREAMER MEDIA CONTRIBUTING EDITOR There should be a new regulatory regime for juniors one that adheres to the spirit of Mining Charter III, but which introduces reasonable and achievable trans formation and procurement targets relative to the size and financial constraints of junior and emerging miners, says Eversheds Sutherland mining head Warren Beech. This proposition is echoed by South African Diamond Producers Organisation SADPO chairperson Gert van Niekerk, who states that the small or junior alluvial diamond mining industry has experienced steady decline since 2004, when the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act MPRDA was implemented, and that further harm will occur as a consequence of Mining Charter III and, most of all, the implementation guidelines. Read the full article here

Mining Charter III sets tone for juniors' revival
Mining Weekly - 24 May 2019

Following reflection on Mining Charter III, which is seen as a "positive game changer" and a shift in the local political landscape, discussions at this year's Junior Indaba will be tailored around 'the revival of the junior' and the prospects of achieving a thriving industry. The conference for junior mining explorers, developers and investors aims to address topics regarding new projects, the latest developments in financing and remodelling of operations, besides others, says event organiser and conference specialist Resources 4 Africa. Read the full article here

Solid support for mining entrepreneurs

Project delivery company Worley is leading the way in mining technology in southern Africa with swift technological advancements that match the requirements of a new digital age. The global professional services provider is uniquely positioned to assist junior miners in creating cost-effective, fit-for-purpose solutions to assist with funding opportunities and development of solid business cases for investment. With this year’s Junior Indaba focusing on the forward momentum of emerging miners and exploration in South Africa, Worley will be showcasing its leading-edge data management and digital solutions that can create a more enabling environment for mining entrepreneurs. Read the full article here

 WORLEY SUPPORTS MINING ENTREPRENEURS - SA Mining - 1 May 2019

Worley will showcase its digital solutions at the Junior lndaba Project delivery company Worley is well positioned to help junior miners create a cost-effective fit for purpose solutions to assist with funding opportunities and development of solid business cases for investment, the company says. With this year's Junior Indaba focusing on the forward momentum of emerging miners and exploration in South Africa, Worley will be showcasing its leading edge data management and digital solutions that can create a more enabling environment for mining entrepreneurs. Read the full article here

SA’s junior miners feel marginalised by regulations: SRK
By David McKay - June 21, 2018

PARTNERS at SRK Consulting, a consulting engineering firm, said junior miners were being marginalised by South Africa’s Mining Charter as they were being treated as if they were the same as established mining companies. Speaking earlier this month at the Junior Indaba, a conference, SRK Consulting principal geologist and partner at SRK, Mark Wanless said: “They would like smaller firms and start-ups to be exempt from BEE [black economic empowerment] requirements, as having a large BEE shareholder with limited funding capacity is a big hurdle when seeking capital funding from investors”. “The DMR [Department of Mineral Resources] has no usable portal where explorers or investors can find out who requires which prospecting licenses, and what licences are available,” he said. “The application process is quite opaque, time-consuming and expensive; previously, it was possible to get a prospecting license for a nominal fee on the same day.” Read the full article here

Orion Minerals heads for capital market as share doubles in a year
By David McKay - June 21, 2018

Orion Minerals opted to raise capital earlier rather than later after announcing today its share had been suspended ahead of an announcement regarding the finalisation of capital raising. The firm, which is digging for zinc and copper in South Africa’s Northern Cape province, had in late May struck an agreement with a major shareholder to extend a bridging loan to September so its available funds could be used for exploration expenses. Shares in Orion Minerals on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange are double their level of 12 months ago. At some 50 South African cents, the company is capitalised at R695m. Read the full article here

A 10% free carry clause to form focus of Mining Charter contestation
By David McKay - June 16, 2018

A PROPOSAL for a 10% free carry for communities and employees on new projects is set to become a point of contestation following the publication yesterday of a draft new Mining Charter by the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), said industry and analysts. The Minerals Council said in a statement that the sector “… does not favour a requirement of 10% ‘free carry’ on new mining rights as part of the proposed 30% BEE equity ownership target, as it would render uneconomic a significant proportion of potential new projects, and would undermine and constrain any prospects for growth in the sector and indeed the economy as a whole”. The view was echoed by analysts at RMB Morgan Stanley. “The requirement to free-carry employees and communities and provide shareholder discounts to ‘black entrepreneurs’ will need to be factored into project returns,” said analysts at the investment bank Brian Morgan, Christopher Nicholson, Jared Hoover and Menno Sanderse. Read the full article here  

Junior miners fund needs to be given momentum that only foreign direct investment can provide
Mining Weekly - 15 Jun 2018

Junior miners fund needs to be given momentum that only foreign direct investment can provide IT IS WONDERFUL NEWS that the Department of Mineral Resources is at last acknowledging the importance of junior mining promotion by announcing its intention to create a junior miners fund for emerging black startups of greenfield exploration projects. But what has still to be acknowledged is that, for meaningful momentum to build up in this vital space, incentivisation needs to be able to match what is being provided in other mining jurisdictions. For some reason, an intransigent National Treasury seems to think it should reinvent the wheel when it comes to providing effective tax credits that have been tried and tested and proved successful in other countries. Read the full article here

Unrelenting Plea
Mining Weekly - 15 Jun 2018

JUNIOR INDABA 1 No letup on calls for flowthrough model to boost exploration Unrelenting Plea MARTIN CREAMER I CREAMER MEDIA EDITOR The failure to raise risk capital for greenfield exploration in South Africa was highlighted at last week's Junior Indaba, where there was no letup on calls for the adoption of a proven Canadatype flowthrough share scheme and ongoing criticism of the unintended consequences of South Africa's modified 12J tax incentive. "I would again like to say that we do need to lobby further for a flowthrough model, or something similar, in South Africa, so that we're able to attract the required risk capital," JSE business development manager Patrycja KulaVerster stated, referring to the North American country's highly successful, but locally spurned, flowthrough scheme. KulaVerster was taking part in a panel discussion chaired by consulting geologist Allan Saad and including Letaba Elihle Investments executive chairperson Dalubuhle Ncube, independent consultant Dan Moagi and Snowden Mining Industry Consultants GM Bill McKechnie. Read the full article here

Current mining 'boom' very different to last one -CRU
Mining Weekly - 15 Jun 2018

Current mining 'boom' very different to last one CRU MARTIN CREAMER CREAMER MEDIA EDITOR A RETURN of capital expenditure capex and inorganic sources of growth is seen as a key corporate priority for 2018 and beyond, CRU Group senior consultant Aleksander Popovic said last week. The provider of marketing intelligence to mining told the Junior Indaba that the company's 200response April survey showed that the managing of supplyside fundamentals such as technology, productivity and labour relations was viewed as an equally important current corporate theme. Overall, the results of the survey suggested that sectorwide optimism was building, spurred by rising concerns over trade policy and geopolitical tension. Read the full article here

Illegal mining worth R7bn a year – PwC
By: Martin Creamer - Creamer Media Editor

The value of illegal mining and dealing of metals and diamonds in South Africa is estimated to be more than R7-billion a year, says PwC. In its latest edition of 'SA Mine', the professional services firm equates this to revenue generated from 430 000 oz of gold at the current market price.This ninth-edition work was released shortly ahead of the legitimising of hundreds of illegal diamond miners in Kimberley by Deputy Mineral Resources Minister Godfrey Oliphant. The former diamond 'zama-zamas' are now permitted to mine a diamond tailings dump and 500 ha of diamondiferous ‘floors’– both surface assets – following engagement with private sector company company Ekapa Mining Joint Venture. Unconfirmed reports state that this came at a cost of R30-million to Ekapa, in which the London-listed Petra diamond mining company is the joint venture partner. Read the full article here

How to ride the new mining wave
David McKay

One of the major questions on the lips of most, if not all, mining industry investors, is whether the captains of the global industry are going to lose it again. The fear is that a new wave of heightened demand encourages a fresh wave of project optimism and zealous capital spend. A report by financial services firm PwC shows just how rehabilitated the mining sector is following the commodity price meltdown of 2012 – a horror show of note. It’s worth recalling just how bad things in the sector became. Take the aggregate market capitalisation of the world’s 40 largest mining companies, for instance: they fell from $1.2tr to $494bn in three years. All the metrics point to a loss of financial discipline that has since been recovered. For 2014, the market capitalisation of the Top 40 – which includes the likes of BHP, Anglo American, Glencore and South32 – rose to $926bn from $714bn a year earlier. Read the full article here

Hoe om die nuwe mynbougolf te ry
David McKay

Read the article here 

Policy certainty is key to mining investment
Danette Breitenbach- 12 June 2018

The recent changes in leadership in Angola, South Africa, Botswana, and Zimbabwe bode well for investment, and junior miners need to take advantage of the new status quo. What is also encouraging in this scenario is that people who understand the industry have been put into key positions, such as Gwede Mantashe’s appointment as mining minister. “It says the region is taking mining seriously,” said Mike Teke, CEO, Seriti Resources. However, despite these changes, without good policy and regulation that create certainty in the mining sectors, investment will be slow to follow. Read the full article here

South Africa’s ‘Samcodes way’ a world-beater – Mullins

Martin Creamer - Mining Weekly

South Africa has succeeded in creating a meticulous set of mineral reporting codes that continue to gain international recognition. The South African Mineral Reporting Codes (Samcodes), which protect investors, are currently so highly regarded that in October South Africa will host a large delegation from China, which will be visiting the country to learn about the codes as well as the role played by the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE). This follows hot on the heels of South Africa being instrumental in helping Kazakhstan to develop its own new code. Read the full article here

Petra deal all but solves Kimberley artisanal mining problem – for now
Brendan Ryan - June 11, 2018

Some 830 former illegal miners operating on Petra Diamonds’ lease area at Kimberley have been now been legalised as artisanal miners on ground given up by Petra. One of the key conditions in the deal was the former illegals had to make commitments that they would stop interfering with Petra’s other extensive operations which recover diamonds from surface tailings dumps. But the key outstanding issue is what will happen when the 600 hectares of ground they have been allocated is worked out and the newly-legalised artisanal miners start looking around for new areas to mine. Read the full article here

 

Zululand Anthracite Colliery to expand operations in KZN

By: Marleny Arnoldi - Creamer Media Online Writer 

South African anthracite producer and exporter Zululand Anthracite Colliery (ZAC) plans to expand its mining operations and production capacity in KwaZulu-Natal.The company plans to open a new shaft by the end of this year, bringing the total number of shafts to four, as well as start a completely new mine, near Vryheid, to complement the high-quality coal produced in Zululand. Additionally, ZAC plans on adding another mine to its portfolio in the province in the next two years. The once lossmaking Zululand operation has come a long way since previous owner diversified miner Rio Tinto put it up for sale and investment company Menar Holding bought it in 2016 and turned it around to be profitable. Read the full article here

Beneficiation opportunities in zinc, fuel cells – Oliphant

Martin Creamer- Creamer Media Editor

Deputy Mineral Resources Minister Godfrey Oliphant is engaging with companies on local value-addition opportunities in zinc and platinum-catalysed fuel cells, and would like mining companies to make these and other locally mined commodities available at developmental prices to facilitate economic-growth-generation through local beneficiation. Oliphant, who was responding to Mining Weekly Onlineduring a media conference on the sidelines of last week’s Junior Indaba, revealed that local zinc beneficiation plans with a major mining company were at an advanced stage and certain foreign companies were looking into fuel cell markets. Read the full article here

Unpacking the Junior Indaba
Edited by: Creamer Media Reporter

The Junior Indaba kicked off in Johannesburg this week. Mining weekly Editor Martin Creamer attended and unpacks the event’s headlines. Read the full article here

Century-old Agnes to get new lease on life with Galane Gold
By Brendan Ryan - June 7, 2018

Addressing the Junior Indaba being held in Johannesburg, Galane CEO, Nick Brodie, said he had approached 40 overseas funds before finally reaching an agreement with Barak. “We went out two-and-a-half years ago to raise money for this project and could not do it. Thirty-five of the funds turned us down because Galaxy was in South Africa; four turned us down because we were only looking for $5m, and the last one made us an offer at 36%. “We finally found a backer in South Africa. We will raise another $2m in equity in Canada and we will use our internal capital.” Read the full article here

Big miners expected to deliver record rewards to investors
06 JUNE 2018 - 05:07 ALLAN SECCOMBE

The world’s 40 largest mining companies were expected to increase returns to shareholders to record levels during 2018 despite spending more on their assets to make up for the past few lean years, PwC said in its Mine 2018 report. Dividends paid by the top 40 global mining companies by market capitalisation grew 125% to $36bn in 2017 from the previous year on the back of a 23% increase in revenue to $600bn, creating a problem with governments and other stakeholders wanting to grab a slice, said Andries Rossouw, a partner at PwC’s energy and mining assurance group. Read the full article here

Botswana Diamonds hunts for gems at five sites
06 JUNE 2018 - 05:07 ALLAN SECCOMBE

Botswana Diamonds is working hard on three exploration projects in SA and two in Botswana, while carefully assessing bolt-on diamond projects in both countries and further afield. Botswana Diamonds, which is listed on London’s Alternative Investment Market and the Botswana bourse, combines two of the industry’s most experienced veterans, James Campbell and John Teeling. Campbell, who spent decades at De Beers, largely in exploration, is the CEO of the exploration company, which has signed a memorandum of understanding to enter Zimbabwe to explore for diamonds. Teeling chaired African Diamonds, which worked closely with De Beers on a big diamond deposit in Botswana. Read the full article here

DMR takes first step in legalising zama zamas

Mineral Resources Deputy Minister, Godfrey Oliphant, will specifically hand over two mining permits to artisanal miners (former zama zamas) in Kimberly, Northern Cape. The artisanal miners successfully negotiated a Tailings Mining Resource (dump) from Ekapa Mining and now have access to 500 ha of ground to mine for themselves. This announcement was made by a press statement issued to the media by the DMR. Ekapa Mining is actually part of the Kimberley Ekapa Mining JV - a joint venture between Petra Diamonds and its partner Ekapa Mining and incorporates the Kimberley Underground mine (mining the Bultfontein, Dutoitspan and Wesselton kimberlite pipes), extensive tailings retreatment programmes (with total tailings resources of some 140.1 Mt) and the high volume Central Treatment Plant (“CTP”). Read the full article here

WATCH: Why junior miners are tired of being snubbed
06 JUNE 2018 - 09:27 BUSINESS DAY TV

The fourth edition of the Junior Indaba for explorers, developers and investors in junior mining began on Tuesday. Indaba convenor Bernard Swanepoel has criticised the government and Minerals Council SA for failing to accommodate the needs of the junior mining sector. He said a one-size-fits-all approach to junior mining development was ill-conceived. Swanepoel spoke to Business Day TV about the indaba. Read the full article here

ANC opposition to free enterprise has crippled junior mining
By Brendan Ryan - June 6, 2018

The South African junior mining sector is broken and is impossible to fix under current circumstances. That’s according to Paul Miller, MD of mining investment trust Concentrate Capital Partner (CCP), an investment fund. In a hard-hitting speech to the Junior Indaba being held at the Country Club in Johannesburg, Miller cited three main reasons for his pessimistic assessment which included his opinion that the ANC government was fundamentally against free enterprise. The other reasons included the nature of “big mining” and “big labour” which – together with “big government” – have been charged with fixing the country’s mining sector. Miller pointed out that big mining –  as represented by the rebranded Chamber of Mines which is now the Minerals Council – represented the interests of sunk capital. “These are people who have money stuck in the ground and have already left. They have either sold down in South Africa or unbundled in South Africa and even when they have unbundled in South Africa, they have gone and bought assets abroad. Read the full article here

Era of mega-projects is over as lenders detail investment criteria

INVESTORS are willing to put money into exploration projects, but only under certain circumstances, funders said at the 2018 Junior Indaba on Tuesday. In a panel discussion on the investor appetite for funding junior miners, Dr Mike Seeger, director of MX Mining Capital Advisors, said his firm would fund an exploration project if it was in a good location, with historical data, and for a strategic commodity. One of the first priorities was that it had to be led by an experienced team that had previously developed a mine. He said smaller projects of $5m to $100m were attractive. “The time of mega-projects is over.” Stuart Ausmeier, director of Concentrate Capital Partners, which has set up the CCP 12J Fund, said there was a greater appetite for investing in Zimbabwe than there used to be. As long as the risk could be managed, even in riskier jurisdictions, projects would get funded, he said. Concentrate Capital insists that any project it funds has valid licences. The management team also needs to present a plan on funding and timelines. Read the full article here

Current mining ‘boom’ very different from last one – CRU
By: Martin Creamer - Creamer Media Editor

A return of capital expenditure (capex) and inorganic sources of growth are seen as a key corporate priority for 2018 and beyond, CRU Group senior consultant Aleksander Popovic said on Wednesday. The provider of marketing intelligence to mining told the Junior Indaba that the company’s 200-response April survey showed that the managing of supply-side fundamentals such as technology, productivity and labour relations was viewed as an equally important current corporate theme. Overall, the results of the survey suggested that sector-wide optimism is building, spurred by rising concerns over trade policy and geopolitical tension. Read the full article here

Mining Charter number 3 may be released on Friday

The draft of the revised third Mining Charter could be released on Friday, with the proposed 30percent black ownership requirement likely to remain unchanged after the recent round of consultations. Deputy Mineral Resources Minister Godfrey Oliphant told journalists on the sidelines of the Junior Indaba in Johannesburg that the government’s planned summit on the charter would discuss substantive matters. Oliphant said the “free carry” provision was the only sticking point remaining. Read the full article here

Govt asks miners for turnover-based donations to junior fund
By David McKay - June 5, 2018

South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) has approached the country’s mining sector to contribute a portion of its turnover to a junior miner exploration fund which will also be backed by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), said Godfrey Oliphant, deputy minister of mines. “We are developing a junior miners’ funds for exploration capital for black emerging miners,” said Oliphant in a keynote speech at the Junior Indaba, a mining conference in Johannesburg. “The PIC [Public Investment Corporation] has also agreed to make a significant contribution to the fund,” he said. “It is a programme I think should succeed. We have approached the formal sector to contribute a small portion of their turnover to the fund,” he said. Read the full article here

One-size-fits-all approach for juniors ill-conceived – Swanepoel

BY: MARTIN CREAMER 

CREAMER MEDIA EDITOR

To have a one-size-fits-all approach to junior mining development is ill-conceived, Junior Indaba chairperson Bernard Swanepoel said on Tuesday. He said Canada and Australia receive a disproportion of the exploration investment because they are incentivised, whereas South Africa’s intended mining incentive had the unintended consequence of incentivising the building of more shopping centres but had failed to incentivise exploration in South Africa, a country with a deep history of mining. He flashed up on to the screen an abundance of collated global statistics on the issue of mining-related permits, but lamented the absence of access to statistics in South Africa and expressed concern about perceived permit corruption. Read the full article here

New Mining Charter to be revealed within days, says Godfrey Oliphant
05 JUNE 2018 - 11:46 ALLAN SECCOMBE

A draft of the revised third Mining Charter could be unveiled on June 8, but there is a sticking point around a "free-carry" element in the unchanged empowerment ownership level of 30%, says Mineral Resources Deputy Minister Godfrey Oliphant. Speaking on the sidelines of the Junior Indaba, Oliphant said the Department of Mineral Resources had set a date of June 8 to complete deliberations around the charter and hold a summit to present the final draft of the third iteration of the charter. The 30% ownership level remained unchanged from the original version of the third charter, which former mines minister Mosebenzi Zwane gazetted in June 2017. Read the full article here

Oliphant: SA moet mynwese laat werk

Read the full article here 

New Mining Charter to be revealed within days, says Godfrey Oliphant
Allan Seccombe - Business Day

A draft of the revised third Mining Charter could be unveiled on June 8, but there is a sticking point around a "free-carry" element in the unchanged empowerment ownership level of 30%, says Mineral Resources Deputy Minister Godfrey Oliphant. Speaking on the sidelines of the Junior Indaba, Oliphant said the Department of Mineral Resources had set a date of June 8 to complete deliberations around the charter and hold a summit to present the final draft of the third iteration of the charter. The 30% ownership level remained unchanged from the original version of the third charter, which former mines minister Mosebenzi Zwane gazetted in June 2017. Read the full article here

Govt creating junior miners’ fund, boosting geoscience, permitting zama-zamas

Martin Creamer - Creamer Media - www.engineeringnews.co.za

The government is partnering the State-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) to establish a junior miners’ fund that will provide exploration investment capital to black-owned emerging miners; it is also investing R20-billion in the Council for Geoscience to boost exploration as well as legitimising illegal diamond zama-zamas in Kimberley. Revealing these initiatives at the Junior Indaba on Tuesday, Mineral Resources Deputy Minister Godfrey Oliphant told Mining Weekly Online that the junior mining fund was being established within the context of a departmental junior miners’ programme aimed at providing opportunities for new entrants identified throughout the mining value chain. Read the full article here

 

Address by Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources at the 2018 Junior Indaba

South Africa is a country alive with possibilities to better the lives of all. Our country has potential to further grow the economy, stimulate industrial
activities, attract socio-economic investments and create jobs President Cyril Ramaphosa has on numerous occasions affirmed that we, as a country, are expanding our economic capacity and managing the cost of doing business. The President also continues to assure current and potential investors that the country is making progress in satisfying the need for policy certainty and consistency. In his inaugural State of the Nation Address, he said “Mining is another area that has massive unrealized potential for growth and job creation.” Download the full address here

 

One-size-fits-all legislation ill-conceived – Swanepoel

Mining Weekly - 5 Jun 2018

TO HAVE one-size-fits-all mining legislation is ill-conceived, mining luminary Bernard Swanepoel said last week in his opening address to the Junior Indaba. Swanepoel pointed out that Canada and Australia were benefiting from a disproportionate slice of global exploration investment because they were incentivised, whereas South Africa's intended mining incentive had had the unintended consequence of incentivising the building of more shopping centres, but had failed to incentivise exploration in South Africa, a country with a deep history of mining. He flashed onto the screen an abundance of collated global statistics on the issue of mining of access to statistics in South Africa and expressed concern about perceived permit corruption. Read the full article here

Junior miners say they are sidelined
Business Day (Late Final) - 4 Apr 2018 - Allan Seccombe

MINING CHARTER Junior miners say they are sidelined Allan Seccombe Resources Writer There is a sense of frustration among junior and small miners that they are being largely sidelined in the talks between new Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe and industry players, according to Bernard Swanepoel, chairman of the Small Business Initiative SBI. He said the new version of the Mining Charter could be challenged in court by small mining companies if their responses were not sought and incorporated in the document that drives transformation of the South African mining industry. Mantashe has met the Chamber of Mines, unions and the South African Mining Development Association, which purportedly represents junior mining but has a tiny membership and cannot claim to represent hundreds of small mining companies. While not claiming to represent the junior mining sector, the SBI has a large number of junior mining companies that are part of the more than 100 municipal business chambers that make up the institute's membership. Read the full article here

Some respite for world’s top miners says PwC

According to PwC’s Mine 2017 report (www.PwC.com), the world’s Top 40 miners recovered from a race to the bottom, with bolstered balance sheets and a return to profitability in 2016, giving them much-needed space to pause and draw breath. As it looks to the future, the 14th edition of PwC’s industry series analysing financial performance and global trends also outlines the new opportunities and hazards on the horizon – and the impact of the intransigent or innovative activity. Mine 2017 was released by PwC Africa today at the Junior Indaba conference held in Johannesburg. Michal Kotzé, Energy, Utilities and Mining Industry Leader for PwC Africa, commented: “The narrative of the Top 40 in 2016 tends to read like a mine site safety mantra: Stop. Think … Act. The industry has moved out of danger but 2016 was not a year of significant action, and we now wait to see who will be bold and step out beyond the fluctuating market confidence.” http://getnews.co.za/site/some-respite-for-worlds-top-miners-says-pwc/

MINING'S BLEAK FUTURE
Charlotte Mathews - Financial Mail

The world's global resource funds, whose interest in mining investments has risen in the past year, have SA in the same category as countries such as South Sudan. It is regarded as pretty much a no go area, said speakers at last week's 2017 Junior Indaba. This is bad news for attracting foreign investment into exploration. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, Southern Africa attracted only 4% of global exploration budgets last year, against Canada's 14% share and Australia's 13%. West Africa attracted 5%. Without investment in exploration, SA's mining industry has no long-term future. The annual two-day Junior Indaba, organised by witty and outspoken former Harmony Gold CEO Bernard Swanepoel, attracts about 200 representatives of junior mining companies and advisers from Southern Africa. Canvassed for their opinions, delegates said it was not the quality of a mineral resource that could make or break a project, but the legal and regulatory environment.  https://www.gate5.co.za/read/92781/qv/49795095/140056698/5931/j

Zwane reveals final Mining Charter, despite boycott

The new and final Mining Charter revealed by Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane on Thursday increases the level of black ownership at mining companies from 26% to 30%. In addition, mining prospecting rights need to have a minimum of 50% plus one share, while companies will be required to give 8% of their shares to workers. Zwane pointed out that mining companies who already have a 30% black ownership will not be required to restructure their ownership structures. The newly published charter also requires mining companies to pay 1% to the 30% black shareholding over and above any distributions to its shareholders. “This 1% is to ensure real economic value to these black owners,” Zwane said, but it will be subject to liquidity tests. New empowerment targets with respect to black representation have also been set. A minimum of 50% black representation at board level will be required, of which 25% need to be women. At senior management level, a minimum of 60% black ownership is required, while 88% of black ownership is required at junior management level. The charter also requires 70% procurement of mining goods to be purchased from black economic empowerment companies. Zwane said the department has listened to workers and communities who haven’t seen real economic benefits from mining activities. “We engaged financial institutions who need to make profit, but also address developmental needs. We also listened to the sector who asked for policy certainty, but also wanted clarity on historic deals." http://www.miningweekly.com/article/south-africa-raises-mining-sector-black-ownership-requirement-to-30-2017-06-15/rep_id:3650

Chamber to ditch last-minute meeting invite from DMR
Lameez Omarjee - Fin24

The Chamber of Mines is suspicious about a last-minute invitation to meet with Mines Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, ahead of the release of the reviewed Mining Charter. According to a statement issued by the chamber on Wednesday evening, the exact purpose of the meeting with the Mining Industry Growth Development and Employment task team (MIGDETT) is not known. “The notice for the meeting is less than 24 hours and the exact purpose of using MIGDETT is highly suspicious,” the statement read. This particular meeting is scheduled to take place an hour before a press briefing where the minister will discuss the reviewed Mining Charter. As such, the chamber has elected not to attend the MIGDETT meeting. “Its office bearers will not be co-opted into participating in an attempt by the DMR (Department of Mineral Resources) to provide any support into what we believe has been a flawed process by the DMR.” http://www.fin24.com/Companies/Mining/chamber-to-ditch-last-minute-meeting-invite-from-dmr-20170614-2

The day Bernard Swanepoel met his comedic match
By Brendan Ryan 

I DO love a good mining conference and the Junior Indaba is as good as they come thanks in large part to chairman Bernard Swanepoel’s “no holds barred” hosting style, although even he met his match this time around in the form of Irish serial mining entrepreneur John Teeling. Swanepoel – a man I have always felt could have been another Barry Hilton [South African comedian] had he followed a different career path – was outshone by Teeling who demonstrated not only that he had a superior “gift of the gab”, but he was also a better comedian which Swanepoel ruefully acknowledged. Teeling delivered a fundamental truth which is that you invest in junior mining and exploration shares at your very real financial peril. Using that as a starting point let’s take a look at a couple of key examples gleaned from the two day conference last week. “One man’s meat is another man’s poison” was one clear message from the verdicts handed down by analyst Peter Major of Cadiz Corporate Solutions who Swanepoel used as a “hatchet man”, delivering swift judgement on the companies presenting in a section dubbed “Major facts and fiction.” http://www.miningmx.com/news/markets/29791-day-bernard-swanepoel-met-comedic-match/

 

Minister, officials missing in action as miners deride state dysfunction
09 JUNE 2017 ALLAN SECCOMBE

Speaker after speaker at a junior mining conference told of their frustration with the Department of Mineral Resources, but it was an industry talking to itself as no one from the department was there to listen or respond to allegations of how a dysfunctional and ineffective regulator was crippling investment and existing mining operations. Speakers at the Junior Indaba, attended by 320 delegates ranging from senior management and fund managers to bankers and lawyers, might not have agreed on which minerals offered the best investment opportunity but there was an almost unanimously expressed thread running through two days of presentations: the department is dysfunctional, legal recourse is the best option to resolve differences with the department or to force it into action, and it is incredibly tough to raise capital for junior companies operating in SA.  https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/companies/mining/2017-06-09-minister-officials-missing-in-action-as-miners-deride-state-dysfunction/

Junior Indaba: Prepare for war.
Warren Thompson / 8 June 2017

The Junior Mining Indaba got under way on Wednesday, with frustration at government for the state of the mining industry clearly evident. The frustration and despair isn’t just felt by those in the industry, but by members of the ANC too, notably Mathews Phosa, who, as a candidate for the ANC leadership, gave a fiery speech on the state of the ruling party and its compromised president. Event convenor Bernard Swanepoel didn’t mince his words either. “I can’t believe the mining industry is under attack by the very people who should have its best interests at heart,” he said in a not-too-veiled dig at the role Mining Minister Mosebenzi Zwane played in strong-arming Glencore to sell the Optimum Coal Mine to the Guptas. And it’s not as though the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) could defend itself. It couldn’t even bother to send one official to a gathering that attempts to encourage investment in the mining industry – in a country that is now officially in recession. How pathetic! https://www.moneyweb.co.za/moneyweb-opinion/junior-indaba-prepare-for-war/

Phosa lambasts Zuma’s looting as ‘worst crime since apartheid’

Presidential hopeful Mathews Phosa, an ANC veteran, said on Wednesday the entire Cabinet should be held responsible for the “worst crime” since apartheid against the people of SA, perpetrated by President Jacob Zuma and the Gupta family. Phosa, who had declared his willingness to run for the presidency of the ANC, spared few of the people in the upper echelons of the party in his opening address at the Junior Indaba for mining companies. The Department of Mineral Resources shunned the conference despite being invited. Phosa called on ANC MPs to obey their oath of office and vote in favour of the pending motion of no confidence in Zuma, who is embroiled in a mounting political and corruption scandal, along with an increasing number of senior politicians. https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/politics/2017-06-08-phosa-lambasts-zumas-looting-as-worst-crime-since-apartheid/ 

Low investment exposes miners’ capex dilemma
08 June 2017 -Allan Seccombe

Capital expenditure by the top 40 companies in the global mining industry has hit its lowest point in at least 15 years, professional services firm PwC says in its latest annual mining survey. It expected the outlook for 2017 to be similar, casting doubt on future growth in mineral supplies, PwC said.The survey of the world’s top 40 mining firms by market capitalisation shows capex fell to $49bn in 2016, down from $138bn in 2012, with at least half of 2016’s spending going towards sustaining existing operations rather than growth. A large amount of money was spent at the top of the commodity cycle, particularly on iron-ore projects, which were now coming into production, PwC assurance partner Andries Rossouw said.  https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/companies/mining/2017-06-08-low-investment-exposes-miners-capex-dilemma/

Mathews Phosa Launches Scathing Attack On Zuma And His Cabinet

Former ANC treasurer-general and presidential hopeful Mathews Phosa has called the scandal around President Jacob Zuma and the Gupta family "the worst crime" since apartheid, Business Day reported. Phosa was reportedly addressing the Junior Indaba for mining companies, which the Department of Mineral Resources reportedly did not attend despite being invited. Phosa called on ANC MPs to vote in favour of the upcoming motion of no confidence vote against Zuma in Parliament and said the entire Cabinet should be held responsible for what has happened. According to Business Day, Phosa said: "Let me openly say that, after apartheid, I regard the Zuma-Gupta scandal as the worst crime ever against the people of South Africa. What we have seen under this presidency is radical economic looting. "The executive under President Zuma has long ceased to understand their sworn duty to uplift the poorest of the poor. I do not exclude a single member, minister or deputy minister." Phosa said all members of the executive need to take collective responsibility. "He (Zuma) and all the public representatives and executive appointees must take joint and collective responsibility for not only the massive damage to our economy but also for raping the interests of the poor. "Let me be clear: all members of Cabinet must take joint responsibility for the sad state of our nation." http://www.huffingtonpost.co.za/2017/06/08/mathews-phosa-launches-scathing-attack-on-zuma-and-his-cabinet_a_22131767/?utm_hp_ref=za-homepage

Zuma's looting 'worst crime since apartheid'
By Tmg Digital | Jun 08, 2017

Phosa was scathing in his criticism when he delivered an opening address at the Junior Indaba for mining companies on Wednesday. “Let me openly say that‚ after apartheid‚ I regard the Zuma-Gupta scandal as the worst crime ever against the people of South Africa‚” he said. Business Day quoted him in a report on Thursday as saying: “What we have seen under this presidency is radical economic looting.” He said the entire cabinet should be held responsible for the “worst crime” since apartheid against citizens. An extensive cache of leaked emails have laid bare the extent of the Gupta family’s control over cabinet ministers‚ and state-owned companies and their CEOs and boards. “The explosive evidence comes as President Jacob Zuma fights for his political life amid mounting confirmation of state capture and growing opposition in his own party to his links with the family‚” the Sunday Times reported nearly two weeks ago. Since then‚ damning allegations of “state capture” have been levelled against the family‚ as more emails entered the public domain. http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2017/06/08/zuma-s-looting-worst-crime-since-apartheid

Mines urged to act on opportunities

According to PwC’s Mine 2017 report, the world’s top 40 miners recovered from a race to the bottom, with bolstered balance sheets and a return to profitability in 2016, giving them much-needed space to pause and draw breath. As it looks to the future, the 14th edition of PwC’s industry series analysing financial performance and global trends, also outlines the new opportunities and hazards on the horizon – and the impact of intransigent or innovative activity. Mine 2017 was released by PwC Africa today at the Junior Indaba conference held in Johannesburg. Michal Kotzé, energy, utilities and mining industry leader for PwC Africa, comments: “The narrative of the Top 40 in 2016 tends to read like a mine site safety mantra: Stop. Think … Act. The industry has moved out of danger but 2016 was not a year of significant action, and we now wait to see who will be bold and step out beyond the fluctuating market confidence.” https://it-online.co.za/2017/06/08/mines-urged-to-act-on-opportunities/ 

'I feel we must consult to death in a democracy'

The Department of Mineral Resources needs an urgent change in leadership and the third empowerment charter for the industry, due to be gazetted next week, should be started afresh. That’s the message from Mathews Phosa, who is an ANC veteran and former treasurer-general of the party, [and] also a businessman. He was at the Junior Indaba this morning, giving the opening address for mining companies. He joins us in studio this evening. Mathews, so you’ve made a statement that you would stop the current charter re-draft in its tracks in favour of launching a more consultative process. Talk us through why, because we’ve had the mines minister certainly insisting that the process has been very consultative. He insists that his department holds an open-door policy. https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/business-and-economy/2017-06-08-business-day-tv-i-feel-we-must-consult-to-death-in-a-democracy/

Zinc, tin, nickel, platinum evoke most optimism at Junior Indaba
BY: MARTIN CREAMER - CREAMER MEDIA EDITOR

UK market intelligence firm CRU is most optimistic about the prospects for zinc, tin, nickel and, to a certain extent, platinum over a 12-month time horizon and named copper, bauxite, nickel and gold as good commodities to be in over the longer term. CRU principal consultant Ben Jones told the Junior Indaba in Johannesburg on Thursday that he expected a divergence across bulk commodities and base metals. Jones formed part of a panel discussion led by Standard Bank mining head Sandra du Toit and participated in by Regarding Capital Management chairperson Piet Viljoen and Standard Bank mining research head Tim Clark.Clark said heart had to be taken from the mining industry finding the bottom, after a period of cost cutting, and experiencing a rebound and a restart because the waning of supply had brought it into the present healthier state. “We’ve seen the bottom, we’ve seen very bad days and it’s unlikely that we’ll see those bad days again, simply because companies are a lot more sensitive now about their balance sheet position and growth,” he said. http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/zinc-tin-nickel-platinum-get-short-term-thumbs-up-at-junior-indaba-2017-06-08/rep_id:4136 

Diamond junior sector in urgent need of fixing – Bristow
BY: MARTIN CREAMER - CREAMER MEDIA EDITOR

South Africa needs to fix its declining junior mining sector because the country still has amazing mineral deposits that its mining entrepreneurs are best placed to mine, Global Diamond Network director Dr John Bristow told the Junior Indaba on Thursday. Bristow, who has an illustrious record as a diamond explorer and miner, flashed a graphic on to a large screen that pointed to the worrying decline of South Africa’s junior diamond mining sector. “We’ve got the best diamonds in the world,” said Bristow, who is director of a company that runs a diamond tender house that sells diamonds on a monthly basis. Two months ago, the 106 ct of diamonds sold fetched R44-million.    http://www.miningweekly.com/article/diamond-junior-sector-in-urgent-need-of-fixing-bristow-2017-06-08/rep_id:3650

‘After apartheid‚ Zuma and the Guptas are the worst crime against the people of SA’‚ says Phosa

By: Allan Seccombe -Sowetan Live

The entire cabinet should be held responsible for one of the worst crimes against the people of SA perpetrated by President Jacob Zuma and the Gupta family‚ says former ANC treasurer Mathews Phosa. He says there also needs to be an urgent change in leadership of the Department of Mineral Resources‚ which takes “painfully long” to issue licences‚ affecting investment appetite. Phosa‚ who says he is willing to run for presidency of the African National Congress‚ spared no one in his opening address at the Junior Indaba for mining companies‚ saying ruling parliamentarians should vote in favour of the pending motion of no confidence in Zuma‚ who is embroiled in a growing political and corruption scandal along with an increasing number of senior politicians. http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2017/06/07/after-apartheid-zuma-and-the-guptas-are-the-worst-crime-against-the-people-of-sa-says-phosa

Changing Charters will not bring about “radical economic transformation” – Dr Phosa
By Phila Mzamo on June 7, 2017 

There is never a bad time to pursue radical economic transformation, but that must happen within the ruling party and within the government; this was the theme in which Dr Mathews Phosa opened this year’s Junior Indaba in his key note address. Phosa, explaining what South Africa should do to re-establish its relevance to international investors, said that at the very least, South Africa needs to establish new leadership, implement changes in the economic policy, and implement urgent changes in the education system. He said the county should build consensus between all stakeholders on how to revive ‘ radical economic transformation’ in other country, and not merely throw around this term. http://www.miningne.ws/2017/06/07/changing-charters-will-not-bring-about-radical-economic-transformation-dr-phosa/ 

 

Mining data deceiving of reality
Lameez Omarjee - June 7

Johannesburg – The positive contribution of the mining sector to GDP during the first quarter is deceiving of the underlying concerns in reality. This is according to Chamber of Mines chief economist, Henk Langenhoven, who issued a statement on Wednesday ahead of the release of the second quarter production figures. “The positive seasonal contribution of mining to the economy masks the current precarious position of the South African mining sector,” he said. Although the mining sector production grew by 12.8% during the first quarter, Langenhoven said that there are concerning trends within the sector. Given the improvement in the global economy, the uptick in commodity process and the rand commodity index improving by over 20%, the positive impact on the sector should have been greater, he explained. http://www.fin24.com/Companies/Mining/mining-data-deceiving-of-reality-20170607 

Mathews Phosa condemns dictatorial mining charter redraft
By David McKay - June 7, 2017

MATHEWS Phosa, the former Mpumalanga premier and ANC treasurer who is expected to run for the presidency of the ruling party later this year, said he would stop the current charter redraft in its tracks in favour of launching a more consultative process. “I would re-look at all the charters and see what is in the interests of the country,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Junior Indaba conference in Johannesburg today. “We would need a huge economic Codesa where there would be input by the stakeholders themselves.” He was referring to the Convention for a Democratic South Africa, a series of plenary sessions which took place in the Nineties and which were key in the formulation of the country’s first democratic government. http://www.miningmx.com/top-story/29764-mathews-phosa-condemns-dictatorial-mining-charter-redraft/

Phosa condemns charter tinkering, urges growth negotiations
By: Martin Creamer

Stop tinkering with sector charters and instead negotiate them in a manner that creates room for sizable growth, African National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committee member Dr Mathews Phosa urged on Wednesday. Delivering the keynote address at the Junior Indaba, the former premier of Mpumalanga was speaking a day after Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane announced that the upcoming third iteration of the Mining Charter would be gazetted next week and would contain the “designation of minerals” in support of government’s policy of mineral beneficiation.“We need to negotiate charters that satisfy stakeholders and not continue to change the rules of the game in the middle of the game,” Phosa instructed. http://www.miningweekly.com/article/phosa-condemns-charter-tinkering-urges-growth-negotiations-2017-06-07 

Action not BIG talk needed in mining NOW – PwC
Posted by Jimmy - African Mining Brief

According to PwC’s Mine 2017 report (www.PwC.com), the world’s Top 40 miners recovered from a race to the bottom, with bolstered balance sheets and a return to profitability in 2016, giving them much-needed space to pause and draw breath. As it looks to the future, the 14th edition of PwC’s industry series analysing financial performance and global trends, also outlines the new opportunities and hazards on the horizon – and the impact of intransigent or innovative activity. Mine 2017 was released by PwC Africa today at the Junior Indaba conference held in Johannesburg. Michal Kotzé, Energy, Utilities and Mining Industry Leader for PwC Africa, commented: “The narrative of the Top 40 in 2016 tends to read like a mine site safety mantra: Stop. Think … Act. The industry has moved out of danger but 2016 was not a year of significant action, and we now wait to see who will be bold and step out beyond the fluctuating market confidence.” http://ambriefonline.com/action-not-big-talk-needed-in-mining/

Junior miners seek to regain investor confidence in efforts to relive glory days
Ilan Solomons - Mining Weekly

Junior mining companies have certainly been through a tough time of late. Some of the pain has been self-inflicted, some has been a long time coming and some of it has been pure bad luck, says Junior Indaba chairperson Bernard Swanepoel. “That is the way cycles go and the world will hopefully soon discover that it cannot do without junior miners. So, how do we make juniors great again?” he asks. Swanepoel notes that 2017 has already seen some welcome recovery in commodity prices, but the sustainability of recovery is uncertain and the extent of it not consistent across commodities. http://www.miningweekly.com/article/junior-miners-seek-to-regain-investor-confidence-in-efforts-to-relive-glory-days-2017-06-02 

Small is the new black in the mining sector
Bizcommunity

The general sentiment is that a recovery is underway in the resources sector and for the mining sector to secure a sustainable future, smaller projects are the way forward. “The bottom line is we are in a new ‘bull’ market that is just moving into the second innings and will this time likely be hot for the next eight to 10 years” says Alan Clegg, chairman, Shumba Energy. Junior mining companies are well placed to take advantage of the better-performing commodities in 2016/17, among which are gold, copper silver, nickel, tin and zinc, as well as lithium and graphite. However, on a continent that is in desperate need of strong growth in its infrastructure, building materials are looking to be the shining gem in the commodity market. http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/355/161181.html

The Junior Indaba

Construction Review

The Junior Indaba The third edition of the Junior Indaba will take place on 7th & 8th June 2017 in Johannesburg, a lively gathering that has become known for its stimulating discussions, interactive conversations and constructive outcomes Come and join leading CEOs, entrepreneurs, investors and analysts for lively debates and discussions, gain valuable snapshots of projects and.companies as well as insights into.commodity market prospects, exploration hot spots and investment opportunities_ The Junior Indaba, for explorers, developers and investors in junior mining, is brought to you by Resources 4 Africa, the organisers of the Joburg Indaba. Date: 7& 8 June 2017 Venue: The Country Club, Auckland Park, Johannesburg.https://www.gate5.co.za/read/92781/qv/48828404/139757091/5931/t

 

Time for junior miners to rise
The New Age (Bokone Bophirima), Inside 1 - 4 May 2017

Shumba Energy bigwig says 'smaller projects' are the way forward as industry gets set to stage a recovery FOR the mining sector to secure a sustainable future, "smaller projects" are the way forward, as the general sentiment is that a recovery is under way in the resources sector, Alan Clegg, chairperson of Shumba Energy, said yesterday. After several years of a downturn in the mining and mineral resources sector, green shoots continue to appear off the back of a recovery in.commodity prices which began in 2016, with a corresponding improvement in investor sentiment, Clegg said. "The bottom line is we are in a new bull market that is just moving into the second innings and will this time likely be hot for the next eight to 10 years." Junior mining.companies are well placed to take advantage of the betterperforming.commodities in 201617, among which are gold, copper silver, nickel, tin and zinc, as well as lithium and graphite. https://www.gate5.co.za/read/92781/qv/48715839/139709291/5931/t

Platinum Optimism
Mining Weekly - 21 Apr 2017

Platinum has best price improvement prospects, says Major MARTIN CREAMER I CREAMER MEDIA EDITOR JOBURG INDABA platinum has better price improvement prospects than virtually any other.commodity, Cadiz Corporate Solutions mining director Peter Major said earlier this month. Speaking at a breakfast to publicise the upcoming Junior Indaba on June 7 and 8, Major cast doubt on gold going much higher said iron ore was heading for a fall and forecast a lower thermal coal price by year end. "I think platinum has a better chance of going up than almost any other.commodity," Major said, positioning the currently low-priced precious metal as being "very close to its mean". "I've got a lot of my pension fund in platinum, as opposed to gold," he added at the function, which was hosted by Junior Indaba chairperson Bernard Swanepoel, who is also president of AHI, the small and medium-sized enterprise representative organisation.
https://www.gate5.co.za/read/92781/qv/48423698/139607465/5931/t

Bulk Handling Today Elephant Country that Needs Dung Beetles!
Bulk Handling Today - 1 Apr 2017

MINING South Africa is anSouth Africa is truly 'elephant country' when it.comes to mining. It has been endowed with some of the best ore bodies in the world and stands out as the country with the world's deepest mines. In addition, nearly all the mining.companies in the world have roots in South Africa. But there is a shortage of 'dung beetles' or junior miners born from elephant droppings in South Africa because it is easier to run big.companies in the local business environment than small ones. There are as many as 214 pieces of legislation that apply to small listed mining.companies here, which implies that junior miners either break the law or go out of business In order to make the South African mining space favourable for junior miners, ten regulations need to be scrapped for everyone that is contemplated. https://www.gate5.co.za/read/92781/qv/48547595/139640264/5931/t

Platinum firms will opt for quality ounces: RBPlat’s Phiri
David McKay 

Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) CEO, Steve Phiri, has joined the growing number who believe primary platinum production from South Africa will be cut, a development that would contribute towards widening the supply deficit. “Well, if it is not planned, it is forced on us,” said Phiri of production cuts. “Circumstances force us into that direction. You cannot just produce for the sake of volumes,” he said. “To say I’m a Number One producer, and I’m a Number Two producer, I’m producing two million ounces or more, that doesn’t fly,” he said. “You need to produce more quality and less volumes,” he said in an interview. Read the full article here: http://www.miningmx.com/top-story/27408-platinum-firms-will-opt-quality-ounces-rbplats-phiri/

Culture of ethical behaviour to minimise corruption – Dlamini-Zuma
Prinesha Naidoo

The first step in tackling corruption across the African continent is acknowledging that there is a problem and then doing something about it, says African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. Speaking on the sidelines of The Junior Indaba in Johannesburg last week, she addressed the perception that corruption is seemingly isolated to Africa and praised leaders of the African Union and various African countries for their readiness to discuss and deal with corruption. “It is true that there is corruption in the world and Africa is part of that world. It is also true that the AU and African leaders have identified corruption as a problem that needs to be dealt with…We believe that there must be a culture of ethical behaviour to minimise corruption, besides catching the people who are corrupt and dealing with them decisively,” she said. Dlamini-Zuma also shared her views – in line with Agenda 2063, the African Union’s vision for an “integrated, prosperous and peaceful” continent – on how African leaders can make the most of the continent’s advantages to boost economic development. Read the full article here: http://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/africa/culture-ethical-behaviour-minimise-corruption-dlamini-zuma/ 

 

Expedite platinum fuel cells to boost  economy- Deputy Minister

Martin Creamer

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Deputy Minerals Minister Godfrey Oliphant has called for an acceleration of minerals beneficiation in general and the development of a platinum fuel cell economy in particular. Oliphant said that engagement with the platinum sector had taken place on one of its outputs, being the fuel cell, which had the ability to generate clean electricity. The fuel cell-using pilot electricity generation project in Kroonstad had already provided important lessons, said Oliphant, who was speaking to journalists during a media conference in which Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly Online participated at last week’s Junior Indaba. Read the full article here: http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/expedite-platinum-fuel-cells-to-boost-economy-deputy-minister-2016-06-06

Coal will be part of Africa’s energy mix – African Union

Martin Creamer

 JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Coal will be part of Africa’s energy mix owing to its availability, cost advantage and ability to generate much-needed electricity, says African Union (AU) chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma. Zuma, who was speaking to journalists during a media conference in which Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly Online participated at last week’s Junior Indaba, makes it clear that coal will play its part on the continent, in spite of the global trend to move to alternative sources of energy, given its cost. Read the full article here : http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/coal-will-be-part-of-africas-energy-mix-african-union-2016-06-06

No more resources supercycles, say analysts
Allan Seccombe

THE abnormal demand-driven commodity price supercycle between 2005 and 2011 was unlikely to be repeated, with the market returning to a more normal environment, analysts said on Thursday. Speaking at the Junior Indaba mining conference, Kieran Daly, the co-head of Europe, Middle East, and Africa metals & mining at UBS Investment Bank, told delegates China was unlikely to repeat its extraordinary levels of commodity demand that pushed prices higher for minerals such as iron ore, copper and coal. Read the full article here: http://www.bdlive.co.za/markets/2016/06/03/no-more-resources-supercycles-say-analysts

Synthetics pose most significant risk to natural diamonds
Prinesha Naidoo / mineweb.com

Stakeholders in the natural diamond industry must react to growing interest and marketing campaigns in synthetic diamonds, the most significant risk to the industry, says James Campbell, CEO of Rockwell Diamonds. “Do you really want to start your engagement or your wedding on the back of an artificial or a synthetic rather than something that is natural and has been born in the earth’s crust for over three million years? The industry needs to work together to get this right, to make sure that the consumer has that impression and buys according to that impression,” he said. Read the full article here: http://www.mineweb.com/news/diamonds-and-gems/synthetics-pose-significant-risk-natural-diamonds/

Entitlement, greed and extortion
Sungula Nkabinde

JOHANNESBURG: Exploration company Tranter Resources CEO Humphrey Mathe offered a scathing criticism of inherent corruption in the junior mining and exploration space at the Junior Indaba at the Johannesburg Country Club on Thursday. His stories depicted an industry held hostage to the whims of unscrupulous politicians and their associates.“The three evil monsters of entitlement, greed and extortion have taken over in Africa, and probably in South Africa as well,” said Mathe. “We had what we thought were reasonable expectations that, in our own country, it should be easy to operate, but we found it very difficult. Read the full article here: http://www.mineweb.com/news/mining-finance-and-investment/entitlement-greed-extortion/

AU commission chair calls for beneficiation of African minerals
Mpinane Senkhane

The African Union Commission Chair, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma delivered the keynote address at the Junior Indaba in Johannesburg yesterday. In her address Dlamini-Zuma urged junior miners to make concerted efforts to ensure there is beneficiation of mineral resources within the region. In her address,the AU Chair said current weakening in commodities was being felt by Africans as more effects were hitting those exporting raw minerals and not value added goods. Read the full articles here: http://www.miningne.ws/2016/06/02/au-commission-chair-calls-for-beneficiation-of-african-minerals/

Gold will outperform, iron-ore to be avoided – Junior Indaba

Martin Creamer

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Gold will be the commodity that will outperform in the next 12 months and iron-ore is the commodity investors should avoid at all costs during that period, junior miners voted on Thursday. The 220-strong audience at the Junior Indaba, also gave a thumbs down to manganese, as the second commodity to be avoided at all costs by investors in the next 12 months. Read the full article here: http://www.polity.org.za/article/gold-will-outperform-iron-ore-to-be-avoided-junior-indaba-2016-06-02

Five pearls of wisdom Mining industry leaders share lessons with junior miners.
Mineweb / Sungula Nkabinde

With gold the only commodity seemingly immune to the perils of a price decline, miners are keen to share ideas on how to survive the storm. Junior miners, possibly feeling the most pressure, had a rare opportunity to get advice from experienced industry players on how to survive the downturn at the Junior Indaba, held at the Johannesburg Country Club, on Wednesday. Read the full article here: http://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/south-africa/five-pearls-wisdom/

Sibanye chief draws hard line on strike
Dineo Faku

Johannesburg - Sibanye Gold chief executive Neal Froneman has thrown down the gauntlet at unions, charging that the industry would no longer tolerate strikes as a means to push it into making compromises during negotiations. Froneman took a hard line against organised labour when he said Sibanye, South Africa’s biggest gold producer, would not be bullied into meeting what he called unsustainable demands. Read the full article here: http://www.iol.co.za/business/companies/sibanye-chief-draws-hard-line-on-strike-2029374

Junior miner warns of three evil monsters in the mining sector
Trust Matsilele / CNBC Africa

"The three evil monsters have taken root in South Africa and these are extortion, greed and entitlement,” said Humphrey Mathe, chief executive of Tranter Resources. Mathe made the comments addressing delegates attending the second edition of the Junior Indaba taking place in Johannesburg. Junior miners, in what has been described as one of the toughest years the industry will ever face, are exploring various opportunities. Mathe called for a more responsive action to ensure everyone receives a piece in South Africa’s bigger pie, and also in the region. “It is imperative to have inclusive institutions which create economic expansion and more widely held wealth," he said. Read the full article here: http://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/mining/2016/06/02/junior-miners-evil-monsters-mining-sector/

 

 

Are junior miners on life support?
Trust Matsilele / CNBC Africa

Junior miners are to some extent on life support - this is the analogy that was used to describe the challenges facing them, especially when it comes to funding. Funding has been muted and worsened by a slump in commodity prices and a slowdown in China. Abubekir Salim, Managing Director of Vunani Resources, said the company had evaluated over 20 projects in the recent history and had invested in only two. Salim made the comments at the Junior Indaba taking place in Johannesburg. The indaba is looking at strategic thinking and interactive conversations about the junior mining sector in Africa, with the intention of aiding the advancement and development of this sector. Read the full article here: http://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/mining/2016/06/02/junior-mining-life-support-harwood/

SA platinum sector set to cut unprofitable output
David McKay

SOUTH Africa’s platinum sector would deal more proactively with unprofitable production in the coming months as it was in a stronger position to do so, said Justin Froneman, CFO of Sibanye Gold’s platinum division. Speaking as part of a panel at the Junior Indaba, a conference being held at Johannesburg Country Club, Froneman said that in the past, the platinum sector kept production high in an effort to manage costs. “I can understand why miners kept the foot on the pedal to manage cost of supply, but it kept us back for longer than it should have. It’s the one commodity where we haven’t seen the kind of discipline that we should have seen,” he told the conference. Read the full article here: http://www.miningmx.com/top-story/27379-sa-platinum-sector-set-cut-unprofitable-output/

 

Deputy Minister calls for junior mining Migdett
Martin Creamer

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – South Africa needed to establish a Migdett – a mining industry growth, development and employment task team – for the junior mining industry, which was crucial for future exploration success, Deputy Mineral Resources Minister Godfrey Oliphant said on Wednesday. Read the full article here: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/deputy-minister-calls-for-junior-mining-migdett-2016-06-01 

Now is time for Africa to take charge of mining destiny – Dlamini-Zuma
Martin Creamer

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Now is the time for Africa to take charge of its mining destiny, African Union (AU) Commission chairperson Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma told junior miners on Wednesday. Speaking at the Junior Indaba, the AU head drew repeated attention to the need for a new win-win approach to ensure that Africans benefited from the exploitation of natural resources by the private sector. Read the full article here: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/now-is-time-for-africa-to-take-charge-of-mining-destiny-dlamini-zuma-2016-06-01

Nigeria targeting 30% coal-based electricity
Martin Creamer

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Nigeria is targeting 30% of its electricity generation to be coal based. Speaking at the Junior Indaba in Johannesburg, Nigeria’s Solid Minerals Development Minister Dr Kayode Fayemi, represented by stand-in Alex Nwengbu, invited South African companies to invest in Nigeria to help the country achieve its coal-based power generation target. Read the full article here: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/nigeria-targeting-30-coal-based-electricity-2016-06-01

DMR satisfied with charter talks as industry meetings close
www.miningmx.com

SOUTH African deputy mines minister, Godfrey Oliphant, said it was unlikely the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) would extend the consultation period with the country’s mining sector regarding proposals for a new mining charter. The mining sector, led by the Chamber of Mines (CoM), met with the DMR for about a from the beginning of this month to discuss changes to the mining charter gazetted in South Africa’s parliament on April 14. The consultation period was set for a month. Read the full article here: http://www.miningmx.com/top-story/27368-dmr-satisfied-charter-talks-industry-meetings-close/

Junior mining needs innovation
www.miningreview.com

Sibanye hunting 300,000 oz/year African gold miner

David McKay

 

SIBANYE Gold was targeting a 200,000 ounce to 300,000 oz/year African (non-South African) gold mine or producing company as it sought to bolster its dividends first strategy.“If you are going to move into a new region it can’t be small,” said Neal Froneman, CEO of Sibanye Gold regarding his firm’s growth by acquisition strategy. “We can’t buy projects,” he said. Read the full article here: http://www.miningmx.com/top-story/27371-sibanye-hunting-300000-ozyear-african-gold-producer/

Burden of compliance hurting juniors: Petra’s Dippenaar
David McKay 

PETRA Diamonds CEO, Johan Dippenaar, said it would be “very difficult” to develop a junior mining firm like his in the current regulatory environment in South Africa. “These days there is no flexibility in applying the regulations,” said Dippenaar. “I don’t think there is much chance for companies like Petra to operate small assets and then get the expertise and grow into a larger company,” he said. Read the full article here: http://www.miningmx.com/top-story/27376-27376/

Wind of change in govt – Froneman

Martin Creamer

A positive wind of change was blowing through government in South Africa, Sibanye Gold CEO Neal Froneman said on Wednesday. Sibanye, which is mining gold and platinum and taking steps to generate its own coal-fired power at prices below the going rate, is showing faith in platinum while looking to benefit from a broader revival of commodities. Read the full article here: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/wind-of-change-in-govt-froneman-2016-06-01/rep_id:3650

Vital documents to mining industry will be finalised by November, Oliphant says

Allan Seccombe

TWO key documents for the South African mining industry are nearing completion, bringing certainty to the sector, Deputy Mineral Resources Minister Godfrey Oliphant says.The long-awaited amendments to the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act will be finalised by November, Oliphant said at the Junior Indaba mining conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday.The draft amendments were returned to Parliament early in 2015 by President Jacob Zuma, highlighting a number of areas of concern that were unlikely to pass constitutional muster. Read the full article here: http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/mining/2016/06/01/vital-documents-to-mining-industry-will-be-finalised-by-november-oliphant-says

AU commission chair calls for beneficiation of African minerals
Trust Matsilele

The African Union Commission Chair, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma urged miners attending the Junior Indaba in Johannesburg, to make concerted efforts to ensure there is beneficiation of mineral resources within the region.She said the current weakening in commodities was being felt by Africans as more effects were hitting those exporting raw minerals and not value added goods. Read the full article here: http://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/mining/2016/06/01/au-commission-beneficiation-african-minerals/

 

Government aims to finalise Mining Charter, MPRDA by year end – Oliphant

Prinesha Naidoo

The Department of Mineral Resources feels as though it has “sufficiently consulted” on the draft Mining Charter and is unlikely to extend the consultation period any further, says Deputy Minister of Mineral Resources Godfrey Oliphant.“We’d love to stick to the deadlines so that there is certainty because we don’t want to keep the industry guessing all the time. We haven’t discussed it internally as to whether there might be an extension. It is unlikely, but if there is a need the minister can make that determination,” Oliphant told reporters on the sidelines of the Junior Mining Indaba. Read the full article here: http://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/industry/government-aims-finalise-mining-charter-mprda-year-end-oliphant/

 

Nigeria targeting 30% coal-based electricity

Martin Creamer

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Nigeria is targeting 30% of its electricity generation to be coal based. Speaking at the Junior Indaba in Johannesburg, Nigeria’s Solid Minerals Development Minister Dr Kayode Fayemi, represented by stand-in Alex Nwengbu, invited South African companies to invest in Nigeria to help the country achieve its coal-based power generation target. Read the full article here: http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/nigeria-targeting-30-coal-based-electricity-2016-06-01/rep_id:4136

 

The African continent must industrialise to create jobs: Dlamini-Zuma

http://www.southcoastnews.co.za/

African Union Commission chair, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma says its time the African continent does things differently, with regard to enhancing its resources and taking charge of its mining destiny. Addressing the Junior Mining Indaba held in Johannesburg, Dlamini Zuma also called for more investment in what she called the continents most precious resources – its young people. Read the full article here: http://www.southcoastnews.co.za/the-african-continent-must-industrialise-to-create-jobs-dlamini-zuma.../

Junior mining needs innovation

http://www.miningreview.com/

Amendments to mineral resources act near completion
Allan Seccombe

TWO key documents for the South African mining industry were nearing completion, bringing certainty to the sector, said Deputy Mineral Resources Minister Godfrey Oliphant. The amendments to the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act would be finalised by November, Oliphant said at the Junior Indaba mining conference in Johannesburg. President Jacob Zuma returned the draft amendments to Parliament in January 2015, highlighting concerns unlikely to pass constitutional muster. Read the full article here: http://www.southcoastnews.co.za/the-african-continent-must-industrialise-to-create-jobs-dlamini-zuma.../

 

THE INSIDER: Taking the donkey work out of street cleaning
THE INSIDER / BD Live

RESIDENTS of the northeastern Kenyan town of Wajir are so proud of their new tarred road that they want donkeys, an important component of the town’s transport economy, to wear nappies so they don’t defecate on it. The BBC reported that the town’s faeces-management project was explained in a letter to donkey-cart owners aimed at "avoiding poop all over the tarmac road, creating nuisance". Wajir’s donkeys will henceforth wear nappies — not the Huggies or Pampers varieties made for human babies, but a much bigger sort which, judging from a picture, the owners themselves make from plastic sheeting. Read the full article here:http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/columnists/2016/06/02/the-insider-taking-the-donkey-work-out-of-street-cleaning

Junior mining indaba: Jumping through hoops
Financial Mail

THE regulatory and funding environment for junior mining and exploration companies operating in SA should be changed to encourage the development of minerals to ensure the country’s mining future. Speaker after speaker at the Junior Mining Indaba last week spoke of the difficulties not only in the global environment of mineral exploration and running a small mining company but of how these difficulties are compounded in SA. Read the full article here: http://www.financialmail.co.za/moneyinvesting/2015/06/18/junior-mining-indaba-jumping-through-hoops

Junior miners should find strength in numbers – consultant
Mining Weekly

JOHANNESBURG – Emerging miners should join associations, share information and facilities and jointly procure the services they needed to enable them to remain competitive and sustainable, a Chamber of Mines (CoM) consultant suggests. During a presentation at the University of the Witwatersrand School of Mining’s Centre for Sustainability in Mining and Industry, CoM techno-economics consultant Dick Kruger said the chamber engaged in a number of projects to assist junior miners, including an emerging miner mentorship programme that provided financial and marketing support. Read the full article here: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/junior-miners-should-find-strength-in-numbers-consultant-2015-06-11

THE INSIDER: Questions and answers all in a spin
The Insider / BD Live

The recent Junior Indaba focusing on junior mining and exploration companies delivered some notable gems under the chairmanship of Bernard Swanepoel, the well-known funny man of mining. Peter Major, the outspoken fund manager from Cadiz, asked Swanepoel to rephrase his question of "where the juniors screw up". Without missing a beat, Swanepoel said, "Why don’t you rephrase it for me and then I’ll rephrase your answer." Read the full article here: http://www.bdlive.co.za/opinion/columnists/2015/06/10/the-insider-questions-and-answers-all-in-a-spin

What South Africa can copy to stimulate junior mining
Mineweb

A few examples, from other nations, of how regulations can be improved to secure the future of the country’s mining sector. South Africa could learn a thing or two from other countries when it comes to creating an enabling environment for junior miners. This was one of the themes that emerged from the Junior Mining Indaba, held last week. Read the full article here: http://www.mineweb.com/regions/africa/south-african-junior-miners-hamstrung-by-red-tape/

Jobless mining engineering graduates plead for look in
Mining Weekly

JOHANNESBURG – Jobless mining engineering graduates are pleading for inclusion in South Africa’s mining industry in preparation for the sector’s inevitable upturn in the future. Speaking to Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly Online in a video interview on the sidelines of the Junior Indaba in Johannesburg, Society of Mining Engineering Students independent presidential adviser Smangaliso Musawenkosi outlined the current difficulty mining engineering graduates have in finding employment in mining. Read more here: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/jobless-mining-engineering-graduates-plead-for-look-in-2015-06-08

Room for junior miners in the SA mining space
Chantelle Kotze / Mining Review

“We need to be aggressive in developing a junior mining sector in South Africa,” Chamber of Mines of South Africa (CoM) president Mike Teke told mining industry delegates on the first day of the Junior Indaba in Johannesburg. In his keynote address on the importance and future of the exploration and junior sectors in the mining industry, he said there is sufficient room for juniors among the majors in South Africa’s mining industry. Read the full article here: http://www.miningreview.com/room-for-junior-miners-in-the-sa-mining-space/

Lack of Capital for all Junior Mining Companies
Business Day TV

Keith Scott, MD of MSA Group and co-founder of The Junior Indaba, discusses the outlook for smaller mining companies in the face of weak commodity prices and changing regulations. Watch the video here: http://www.businessdaytv.co.za/shows/newsleader/2015/06/04/lack-of-capital-for-all-junior-mining-companies

The Junior Indaba
Engineering News

Creamer Media's Shannon de Ryhove speaks to Mining Weekly editor Martin Creamer about the Junior Mining Indaba. Watch the video here: http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/the-junior-mining-indaba-2015-06-04

South Africa's geoscience 'desperately' underfunded - Nedbank Capital
Mining Weekly

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Government geoscientists are desperately underfunded, which is depriving South Africa of the geological potential that is essential for minerals exploration. There is an absence of investment in large, regional geological exercises and masters students are not being trained in the countercyclical times, when the industry is not doing well. Read the full article here: http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/south-africas-geoscience-desperately-underfunded-nedbank-capital-2015-06-05

Ibhubesi gas supply deal with Eskom expected before year-end
Mining Weekly

JOHANNESBURG – ASX-listed Sunbird Energy, which is developing the Ibhubesi natural gas project offshore of the Western Cape, expects to sign a gas supply agreement with State power utility Eskom before the end of this year and to bring on a volume of gas earlier than originally planned. Read the full article here: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/ibhubesi-gas-supply-deal-with-eskom-expected-before-year-end-2015-06-04

Junior miners ruined funding prospects during the boom
Mineweb

Money wasn’t put to good use when it was readily available. The last resources boom covered up the frailties of South Africa’s junior mining and exploration sector. This was a recurring theme at the inaugural Junior Mining Indaba held at Turbine Hall in Newton, Johannesburg, on Wednesday. Keith Scott, managing director of The MSA Group, said that as a result of the peak of the commodities cycle, which saw commodity prices rising rapidly, the market turned a blind eye to the quality of the project and the quality of management. Read the full article here: http://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/industry/junior-miners-ruined-funding-prospects-during-the-boom/

Dishonest DMR view "regrettable", says Govt
David McKay / Mining Mx

South Africa's chief inspector of mines, said it was "regrettable" junior mining companies operating in the country thought honest discussions with the government were not possible, at least some of the time. Msiza was responding to a live poll at The Junior Indaba conference in Johannesburg today in which 31% of some 200 delegates said they could not do "honest business" with the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR).

Read the full article here: http://www.miningmx.com/page/news/markets/1652067-Dishonest-DMR-view-regrettable-says-Govt#.VXB-R42JhYd 

Chamber president calls for junior consolidation
Engineering News

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The fragmentation of junior mining in South Africa should be brought to an end through consolidation, Chamber of Mines of South Africa president Mike Teke urged on Wednesday.  Addressing the Junior Indaba conference on the strategic importance of exploration and the junior sectors of the mining industry, Teke encouraged junior miners to become members of the chamber. Read the full article here: http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/chamber-president-calls-for-junior-consolidation-2015-06-03

Survey reveals distrust between miners and department
Allan Seccombe / BD Live

AN ANONYMOUS survey done among 200 delegates attending a junior mining conference on Wednesday showed that a third thought they could not do “honest business” with the Department of Mineral Resources. Another 45% of delegates from junior mining and exploration companies, financiers and service providers thought it was possible “sometimes” to do honest business with the department that regulates the industry and issues mining and prospecting rights. Read the full article here: http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/mining/2015/06/03/survey-reveals-distrust-between-miners-and-department

Junior miners perceive Botswana as best investment destination
Mining Weekly

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Botswana is the easiest country in which to carry out junior mining activities, a digital vote declared on the first day of the Junior Indaba here on Wednesday. Botswana received the highest vote from the 160 people attending the conference. Botswana at 42% of the digital vote had double South Africa’s 21%, with Namibia coming in at 16%. Read full article here: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/junior-miners-perceive-botswana-as-best-investment-destination-2015-06-03

Investment conference organiser Resources 4 Africa’s inaugural Junior Indaba aims to serve as a platform to highlight all the crucial issues faced by junior mining companies in Africa.
Mining Weekly

The conference will take place at the Turbine Hall, in Newtown,Johannesburg, from June 3 to 4 and bookings for the event have already opened. Resources 4 Africa says the strategic importance of exploration and junior mining in Africa will be given centre stage at the Junior Indaba. “High on the agenda will be the global capital crisis and the much-needed new and innovative global solutions.” Read full article here: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/inaugural-junior-indaba-set-for-june-2015-03-20

Seize opportunity to improve mining tax, pleads KPMG’s Saloojee

Mining Weekly

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa should seize the current timely opportunity to amend its mining taxation in a manner that encourages foreign investment, stimulates prospecting, gets mining companies to start dealing with marginal mines and gives enough back to the fiscus for the benefit of this country's people, KPMG corporate tax head Muhammad Saloojee pleaded on Tuesday. “That’s the model we’ve got to start working on, bringing all those factors into account,” said Saloojee, who spoke to Creamer Media’s Mining Weekly Online on the sidelines of the 2015 Breakfast Conversation, which was staged as a prelude to the upcoming Junior Indaba, in Johannesburg, on June 3 and 4. He pleaded for taxation thought leadership to be expounded widely ahead of the imminent publication of the first draft report of the Davis Committee on Tax. Read full article here: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/seize-opportunity-to-improve-mining-tax-pleads-kpmgs-saloojee-2015-03-24 

Mining Indaba still 'relevant as ever' - analyst
Mineweb

Bernard Swanepoel, Village Main Reef chairman and chairman of the Johannesburg Mining Indaba, says the size of the Cape Town showcase (more than 7 000 delegates expected to attend this year) makes it “a fantastic money spinner for the owners” and for the City of Cape Town from a tourism perspective. But he maintains that very little will come of it in terms of dealing with critical issues facing the industry. Read the full article here: http://www.mineweb.com/mining-indaba-analysis/mining-indaba-still-relevant-ever-analyst/#.VNe0Sq4MNuh.linkedin

Swanepoel on BEE and lack of juniors
Giulietta Talevi

The state of the nation address and the Investing in Africa Mining Indaba, which took place in Cape Town earlier this month, have dominated headlines. Bernard Swanepoel, former Harmony Gold CEO and chairman of The Joburg Indaba, which takes place in October, shares his thoughts. Read the full article here:  http://www.timeslive.co.za/businesstimes/2015/02/22/swanepoel-on-bee-and-lack-of-juniors