The Minerals Council South Africa is the leading champion of the junior and exploration sector in South Africa and as such it tirelessly advocates policies and regulations that will encourage investment in prospecting and the development of new mines.

The Minerals Council has a dedicated desk for its exploration, emerging and junior mining members which account for about half of its membership. 

Given the abundance of mineral resources in South Africa, the level of exploration is inadequate to ensure the long-term sustainability of the mining industry, entrance by new companies, job creation and the country realising its full potential in supplying the metals and minerals needed to transition the local and global economy to a low carbon future.

In the past two decades, South Africa’s share of global exploration expenditure has dropped to below 1% from more than 5%.  For the longevity of the country’s mining industry, mined out reserves must be replaced with a pipeline of resources.

To establish a thriving junior mining sector, which broadens the base of participants in the industry, it is critical that South Africa establish a vibrant exploration environment, with clear, pragmatic regulations, and transparent, efficient and timely administration of prospecting and mining rights with a modern, functional mining cadastre.

Easy and cost-effective access to South Africa’s geological data is equally as essential and the Minerals Council acknowledges the work done by the Council for Geoscience in collating data and making it digitally available so that any prospective exploration company or investor can quickly and easily source opportunities.

The vital work the Council is doing must dovetail with the new cadastre, which the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources has said will be introduced in the Western and Eastern Cape provinces in June this year to iron out the system and ensure it will manage the processes in more mining-intense provinces.

Access to historical and current geological data presents an opportunity for explorers to decide whether new technologies to search for mineral deposits and interpret data will yield a financially viable deposit. 

The use of a globally competitive cadastre and the timely administration of right applications will reduce the financial burden during the exploration stage when it is essential every rand or dollar that the prospecting company has raised from investors is put into drilling and data interpretation.

The Minerals Council strongly advocates for regulations that are fit for purpose compared to the prevailing clauses in the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, which effectively apply to exploration, junior and large mining companies, making the 

financial and legal compliance with the Act by prospecting and junior companies onerous and have the effect of stifling new entrants into the sector.

The shifting goal posts in the Mining Charter are an example of the uncertainty that deters long-term investment decisions. Likewise, clear and consistent regulations and policies between government departments regarding mining rights, environmental and agricultural laws will contribute to simplifying and streamlining permitting and licensing processes for exploration activities, including efficient approval timelines and transparent procedures.

The Minerals Council has long advocated incentives such as tax breaks, exploration grants, or subsidies to mitigate financial risks for exploration companies, especially in early-stage exploration to bring South Africa in line with other mining jurisdictions, such as Canada which has a thriving exploration industry.

Without a pragmatic regulatory environment, a functional cadastre, efficient and transparent administration of the sector, and a cohesive, encouraging inter-departmental approach to mining, it will be difficult to persuade tax authorities to provide incentives to investors and to attract investment in the fundamentally important stages of exploration and mine development in South Africa.

The Minerals Council pursues the goal of growing South Africa’s mining industry for the benefit of all the country’s citizens and its economy by unlocking our mineral potential. We strive to make #MiningMatter.