Junior miners are hoping that the brighter mood in South Africa’s mining sector will translate practically into more exploration and development, with government taking an active collaboration role.
This optimism underlays the generally positive sentiment at the recent Junior Mining Indaba, according to SRK Consulting principal mining engineer Joseph Mainama, although the sector was clearly impatient for change.
“Junior miners are considered as important actors by government, potentially helping to grow the economy and provide much-needed employment,” said Mainama. “Many juniors and other stakeholders, however, want to see more support from government in terms of easier access to geological data, as well as dealing with vital issues like regulatory certainty, licensing, ESG requirements and crime.”
He said the government’s intention to create a new, transparent cadastral system – cataloguing South Africa’s geological data and mining permits – was well received at the event. It was hoped that this would help to stimulate more interest in the country’s mineral opportunities, and be part of solving the backlog in applications for mining and prospecting rights. Also presenting at the conference was the Council for Geoscience, who stressed the importance of making mineral data available, to unlock the value in the country’s minerals.
Read the full article in First Mining DRC-Zambia
