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IOL News
23-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Investor uncertainty looms over South Africa's mining sector despite new regulations
Minister of Minerals ad Petroleum Resources, Gwede Mantashe, on Wednesday welcomed Cabinet's approval of South Africa's Critical Minerals & Metals Strategy, as well as the approval for the publication of the Mineral Resources Development Bill (MRDB) of 2025 for public comments. Image: GCIS South Africa's mining sector remains engulfed in investor uncertainty despite the recent gazetting of the Draft Minerals Resources Development Bill of 2025. The government aims to enhance mineral exploration and bolster international investment through this initiative, but experts have voiced concerns about the existing complexity and lack of clarity that may hinder progress. South Africa, a major mining hub in the region, has identified platinum, manganese, iron ore, coal, and chrome ore as 'high-critical minerals' under the new Critical Minerals and Metals Strategy. It has also classified commodities such as gold, vanadium, palladium, rhodium, and rare earth elements as minerals with moderate to high criticality while copper, cobalt, lithium, graphite, nickel, titanium, phosphate, fluorspar, zirconium, uranium, and aluminium were identified as minerals with moderate criticality. While the Minerals Council on Wednesday said it was in the process of reviewing the new Bill and the new Critical Minerals Strategy, South African mining experts have said there was still investor uncertainty pervading the industry. 'There's still a lot of investor uncertainty, which will only likely be cleared when the actual regulations come,' independent mining policy expert, Sandra Gore, told Business Report on Thursday. 'The mines are highly burdened with obtaining multiple permits across the board and, you know, are often duplicate the approvals needed from separate departments.' Under the proposed Bill, local beneficiation will be spearheaded by the Minister of Minerals and Petroleum Resources. This was likely to cause some tension with some investors given the large amounts of capital required to set up local beneficiation facilities. Gore said the issue of local beneficiation was a double edged sword as there was also need for local empowerment and upliftment of communities. 'You don't want the government hauling you in a free markets as to how much you must beneficiate locally,' said Gore. 'But at the same time, you don't want your minerals going overseas to international smelters and this has been also just delegated to regulation levels, so there's no answers on that yet.' Other experts explained that the new amendments included provisions that aimed to promote local beneficiation by requiring mineral producers to make minerals available for local beneficiation, which in the current state 'is vague and provides too much administrative discretion'. Partners and consultants at Webber Wentzel said Minister Gwede Mantashe's proposed amendments had dropped references to petroleum and the regulation of the exploration and production of petroleum products. This was in alignment with the Upstream Resources Development Act 23 of 2024, which, although not yet in force, aims to provide separate regulation of the petroleum industry. 'The Bill includes a somewhat unhelpful definition of 'controlling interest', requiring ministerial consent in terms of section 11 for a change of control in listed and unlisted companies,' said Jonathan Veeran and other experts at Webber Wentzel in a note. 'This requirement could prove impractical for listed companies as stock market transactions are fluid and subject to their own rules and regulations, potentially leading to compliance conflicts.' They further noted that to address tailing dumps and associated issues that had resulted in the Jagersfontein disaster the new mining Bill was introducing the concept of 'historic residue stockpiles'. Under this, transitional provisions give mine owners two years to either include the dump/stockpile in its mine works programme by way of an amendment in terms of section 102 or apply for a right insofar as the material is situated outside an existing mining area. Failure to apply for a right will result in the dump/stockpile reverting to the State. To close the regulatory loopholes associated with old mine dumps, similar amendments have been proposed to the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA). Visit:
The Star
22-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
South Africa's mining sector hails new critical minerals strategy as key to investment, growth
JOHANNESBURG, May 22 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's mining industry has welcomed the government's newly launched Critical Minerals Strategy and the Cabinet's approval of the Mineral Resources Development Bill (MRDB), calling them major steps toward boosting investment, enhancing local value addition, and strengthening regional industrialization. South African Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe announced the approval of the two policy documents on Tuesday, noting that they are critical for ensuring policy certainty and unlocking South Africa's potential in the global minerals market. "The approval of these two policy documents marks a major milestone in our concerted efforts that are aimed at ensuring policy and regulatory certainty, as well as maximizing the country's potential in the global market for minerals," Mantashe said. He noted that while the term "critical minerals" is widely used internationally, definitions vary based on each country's strategic priorities -- including economic growth, technological development, supply chain security, and geopolitical interests. For South Africa, the strategy prioritizes minerals such as platinum, manganese, iron ore, coal, and chrome ore, which are identified for their potential to drive economic and industrial development. At the heart of the new strategy is a push to "foster" regional cooperation, promote local beneficiation, build resilient value chains, and attract investment in exploration and research. Mantashe emphasized that the aim is not just national growth but broader regional industrialization through a more strategic and localized approach to mineral resources. The strategy has been positively received by the mining industry. The Minerals Council South Africa, the sector's main representative body, confirmed that it was consulted during the drafting process and welcomed the government's inclusive approach. Independent analyst and businessman Sandile Swana described the policy shift as a "game changer" for the mining sector. "These new strategies and policies that have been issued by Gwede Mantashe and the Cabinet do change the game," he told Xinhua in a phone interview on Thursday. Swana highlighted the significance of this shift for both economic and geopolitical security, particularly in an era of increasing global trade tensions. "We've seen with the international trade wars that are in progress at the moment that during times of sensitivity, critical minerals are weaponized," he said. "That means that even in considering your security, you need to know what strategic minerals come out of your country, even your region." "I think South Africa wants to lead the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region into knowing how to manage the strategic minerals. It means that when these strategic minerals are sold, they are more likely in the future to be sold in a value-added form," he added. The new MRDB, expected to be published for public comment soon, is seen as an essential complement to the Critical Minerals Strategy, aimed at streamlining regulatory frameworks and encouraging sustainable development in the sector.
