JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The  South African mining industry is diversifying from the gold mining era to an industry with a diverse range of mineral resources that include platinum group metals (PGMs), chrome, manganese, gold, vanadium, nickel, and rare earths considered critical for the cleaner world economy, Mineral Resources and Petroleum Minister Gwede Mantashe pointed out at the twenty-sixth China Mining Conference taking place in Tianjin.

Mantashe drew the attention of China Natural Resources Minister Wang Guanghua to recent studies that highlight South Africa's remaining attractiveness as a mining investment destination.

These studies, he said, pointed to the significant potential of South Africa's diverse range of resources considered critical for the cleaner world economy.

While South Africa stood to benefit from PGMs for 200-plus years to come, its manganese and chrome sectors were also poised to play a major role in the global automotive and construction industries.

To enable beneficiation at source and curb the exportation of jobs and profits, discussions were under way with local manganese and chrome producers to promote the creation of value-added products.

Being talked about were the introduction of incentives and favourable tax policies to encourage beneficiation – as well as the imposition of a tax to restrict the export of non-beneficiated minerals.

“I can assure you that South Africa is open for investment in the beneficiation of these minerals. As the biggest importer of manganese and chrome from South Africa, and with the largest ferroalloys sector, we urge the Chinese investment community not only to share your insights on the creation of value-added products, but to also invest in local value addition to the South African ferroalloys sector.

“We invite you to join us in unlocking South Africa’s mineral potential by creating a thriving, sustainable and mutually beneficial partnership. Come and introduce cutting-edge processing technologies to drive efficiency and local beneficiation,” Mantashe urged.

“We further invite you to invest in localising assembly of lithium-ion batteries as well as vanadium redox-flow batteries,” he said, while outlining that the South African government and private sector were collaboratively moving with the necessary speed to eradicate the bottlenecks that had hindered the South African mining industry in the recent past, including challenges with electricity supply and logistical constraints.

Progress in modernising the mining licensing system was also being made: “The first phase of the development of a new efficient and transparent mining licensing system has since been completed, and we are well on course to complete the migration process by June next year,” the Minister reported.

With over 100 years of experience in mining, South Africa was blessed with a skilled and capable workforce that could turn China’s investments into wealth, he added.