South Africa aims to attract $900 million of annual investment in exploration of its substantial mineral wealth by removing bottlenecks, improving resource-mapping and diversifying its focus away from precious metals. The 2025 target, equivalent to 5% of the annual spend on exploration globally, is expected to kick-start a mining industry that has stagnated in recent years.
While South Africa was the world’s biggest producer of gold for decades, production has slumped as its deposits get deeper and more expensive to access. The country has the world’s biggest deposits of platinum-group metals, battery metal vanadium, chrome and manganese. Challenges include poor policy implementation, poor geoscientific data, insufficient electricity generation, frequent strikes and community unrest, according to the exploration strategy document.
“This is a deeply disappointing reflection of the state of mining in South Africa,” said Roger Baxter, chief executive officer of Minerals Council South Africa, which represents most companies operating in the country. “We are not gaining the traction or urgency we’d like to see in resolving these challenges.” Among initiatives to boost exploration, the country aims to improve data on its mineral deposits and give more technical support to small mining companies.
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