As the prospects for South Africa’s minerals sector start to brighten, there was considerable mention of the Northern Cape's mining potential during the Joburg Indaba mining conference.
“It was encouraging to hear a similar message from major mining companies and juniors alike – that there is still considerable scope for exploration and mineral development in the Northern Cape province,” said Joseph Mainama, principal mining engineer at SRK Consulting.
Mainama noted that Anglo American chief executive officer Mark Cutifani mentioned in his conference address that the Northern Cape was considered to be under-explored, and that his company was interested in exploration opportunities for base metals like copper – within South Africa and in the rest of Africa.
“Kumba Iron Ore’s executive head of technical and projects, Glen Mc Gavigan, also spoke of the Northern Cape being under-explored in the Kolomela and Sishen areas,” said Mainama. At the same time, Mc Gavigan pointed to the Northern Cape’s potential for solar-generated electricity, as the region is the second most intense solar area in the world after the Nevada desert.
