Host SA the bridesmaid at Mining Indaba

For a country once rated as a global mining titan, SA has slipped a long way: from 60th on the Fraser Index in 2020 to 75th out of 84 mining jurisdictions in 2022. It now ranks alongside nations like Venezuela, Kyrgystan, China and Mali. At last week’s Mining Indaba in Cape Town, SA received some lessons in resource nationalism from the likes of Zambia, Ghana and Saudi Arabia. Moneyweb notes that those lessons may help turn around SA’s decades-long descent into investment pariah status. Mark Bristow – a product of the SA mining sector now plying his craft abroad – said ‘we’re not advocating strongly (enough) for mining’. Zambia’s Mines & Mineral Development Minister Paul Kabuswe said a precondition for mining investment was national peace. ‘Zambia is known for its peace. We’ve changed five or six Presidents (peacefully). We have a stable environment, and investors can rest assured that their investments are safe. As a government we looked at impediments to investment and complaints and addressed them,’ he said. Ghana’s Lands & National Resources, Samuel Jinapor, said it was remarkable that some of the world’s richest countries in terms of resources were also the poorest – and heavily concentrated in Africa. Daniel Litvin, MD of energy and mining group Critical Resource, advised miners to ‘mend the roof before the storm hits’ – in other words, address thorny issues with host country governments before they become more serious. ‘Companies also feel the need to stand their ground against governments, often relying on legal remedies,’ said Litvin.

Roger Baxter, CEO of the Minerals Council, said the survey results were deeply disappointing but also questioned its sampling. ‘What is interesting is that we went back to our membership to ask the members who actually completed the survey, not a single one of our members was involved in completing the survey. Not one (from the feedback received so far),’ he said. ‘It's quite interesting to see a survey about South Africa, which doesn't include South Africa.’ Fin24 reports that the council has 79 member companies, representing 90% of the South Africa's mineral production by value. Baxter said the institute has sent the survey out to 2 000 companies and had a 17% response rate. Speaking at the Indaba, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe implored global researchers looking into South African mining to speak to local mining executives and not to base their findings on ‘desktop research’. Regardless of the Fraser Institute's survey, the council said South Africa must not be blind to the reality of significant structural constraints that South Africa does face.