Mining sector must go green

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He said its competitiveness will be reliant on its adoption and implementation of green technologies and sound labour practices going forward.

The deputy minister said this during the first day of the debate of President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the National Assembly on Tuesday.

“It is safe to argue that one thing common across all mining operations is the fact that the business operations and corporate structures need to respond to the new and prevailing order in the sector. Business as usual can no longer be sustained.

“Going forward, the competitiveness of our mining industry will to a large extent depend on the degree to which it adopts green technologies, sound environmental practices, humane labour practices and effective health and safety standards,” he said.

In his State of the Nation Address on 11 February, the president said after the mining industry experienced turbulence, especially along the platinum belt, the situation has since improved.

One of the positive developments the president cited included the signing of the Leaders’ Declaration to Save Jobs by mining industry stakeholders in August 2015. The president urged all parties to implement the agreement and to continue seeking ways of saving jobs.

He also appealed to business to consider that retrenchments should not be the first resort when they face difficulties.

During Tuesday’s debate, the deputy minister said the global financial imbalances continue to cause material and sustained volatility. Growing complexities in the geopolitical arena further increase the uncertainty within the key regions of the globe, complicating investment and business parameters worldwide.

“One key manifestation of this evolving and unsettling global order is the ongoing currency volatility with massive swings particularly in the currencies of the emerging economies like ours.

“Our currency has not been immune from such dynamics either.

“While the rand depreciation entails a number of undesirable effects on financial and business aspects of our economy, it nonetheless assists our struggling mining industry. Given the down cycle of commodity and the fall in resource prices, many of our mining operations would face much tougher conditions had it not been substantial rand depreciation.

“Many more thousands of jobs would have been at real risk,” he said.

SA wins bid to host major geology conference

Meanwhile, the deputy minister said South Africa has the most beautiful geology and endowment of various mineral resources.

He said after 100 years of formal mining, the country was assured of another 100 plus years of continuous mining, given the country’s estimated R50tn of untapped petroleum resources.

The deputy minister said despite the current global economic challenges, there is still a great deal of investors who see the economic potential in South Africa and the continent.

He said this was evident during the recent Mining Indaba held in Cape Town, where over 6,000 participants gathered from across the world.

“But we are not resting on our laurels. Through the Council for Geoscience, an institution which is over 100 years old with a massive reservoir of information about our geology, we have successfully bid and have been awarded the privilege of hosting the World Cup of Geology right here in Cape Town in August this year.”