The Investing in African Mining Indaba has evolved over the last quarter century into an event that has promoted inclusive growth on the continent.

A promising axis between South Africa and Ghana was enhanced when President Cyril Ramaphosa challenged mining to take ten value-adding steps to spread benefits to all stakeholders and Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo emphasised that the people of Africa did not have to be poor for others to be rich.

In addition, Ivanhoe Mines executive cochairperson Robert Friedland pointed out that mining could deliver massive benefits if all stakeholders worked together.

Because of the rapidly expanding rate of urbanisation the world over, demand is building up for mined products. The world needs mining and mining needs the world.

Decried universally is the pursuit of mineral riches in a manner that degrades land, rivers and air, and smart lawyers, accountants and engineers are there to strike fair deals and put a stop to the illicit outflows of billions of dollars a year from the continent.

Ramaphosa challenged companies to have the courage to include workers in their shareholdings and to create worker representation at board level and Akufo-Addo drew applause when he said that Ghana was incentivising companies to list in Ghana.

In South Africa, mineral exploration is desperately needed. South Africa attracts only one per cent of world investment in exploration, compared with the likes of other mineral investment destinations attracting ten times more. Of that one per cent, the bulk goes to brownfield exploration

It thus came as a breath of fresh air that De Beers Consolidated Mines (DBCM) will be spending R30-million on greenfield diamond exploration in South Africa this year.

This follows DBCM being granted 32 exploration licences across a number of South African provinces by the Department of Mineral Resources.

DBCM has always been very clear that it believes that South Africa still has a lot of diamonds in the ground. It also has a wealth of historical geological information that new technology can embellish.

Following the gazetting of Mining Charter III, the DBCM board has approved the 2019 exploration programme, for which considerable preparatory work has been under way for some time. (A full video interview can be accessed on page 8 of this edition of Mining Weekly.)

Also at the Investing in African Mining Indaba was the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA). It was there to highlight the launch of a new LBMA standard that addresses environmental as well as sustainability issues in the gold and silver markets.

For precious metals refiners to be listed by the LBMA and get the benefit of its marketing muscle, they now need to demonstrate that they comply with the new guidance under a third-party audit.

“The reality on the ground for a mining company is that, if they’re not doing the right thing by the environment and meeting the sustainability agenda, refiners can’t take that material,” LBMA CE Ruth Crowell told Mining Weekly.