While the global recession’s decline in commodity prices and the grim outlook for global demand deflated interest in mining exploration and caused the closure of some mines for almost all com- modities across Africa, an interest in certain commodities is being rekindled with exploration and mining operations once again being reinitiated.
South African Council for Geoscience manager for mineral resources development and engineering geology Dr Stewart Foya reports that the decline in the exploration of commodities in Africa was in line with worldwide declines in capital spent on exploration. However, there is currently a general interest in exploration activities for various commodities, including gold, uranium, chrome, base metals, manganese and coal.
“Further, through South Africa’s demand for coal-fired pdouble roll crusher priceower stations, as part of power utility Eskom’s drive to increase electricity generation, coal is one of the commodities that performed well during the recession,” he says.
Foya notes that metal prices are the main driver of exploration spending and he has noticed a gradual improvement in prices.
“The general consensus among industry watchers is that most metal prices will remain relatively firm and are expected to increase,” he says.
Foya explains that South Africa, Ghana, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)gold dig rock crusher for sale and Angola dominate
exploration and this mainly
covers commodities such as gold, base metals, diamonds and
platinum-group metals.
He says that, when looking at mining laws within the continent, many similarities are shared, but there are minor differences in each country, such as tax regimes, foreign exchange regulations, royalties, mining rights applications and the issue of local participation.
Legislation that has the most negative effect on mining operations in Africa includes foreign exchange controls, high tax regimhammers for rock crushinges and the control of the marketing of commodities.
“Mining laws are not set in stone. There is room for engagement between lawmakers and the private mining industry. Mining laws are always under review in many African countries and industry should always take advantage of platforms such as the Mining Indaba to raise its concerns. There are also regional bodies, such as the Southern African Development Community, which look for ways to harmonise mining laws in Southern Africa,” says Foya.
Foreign Investors
Meanwhile, he mentions that foreign investors hold the major- ity of mining rights in Africa because of their financial stability.
“Mining is a capital-intensive business and very few Africans can afford access to such funding. However, with changes and reviews in mining laws in many African countries, there has been a drive towards the participation of locals. “But this, too, is failing to address the issue. The mining rights are still being attained by the same foreign investors, as the potential local miners fail to raise the required funding for mining projects,” explains Foya.
He says that this has a negative effect, as the locals believe that their economies are being run and controlled by foreigners.
Illegal Mining
However, there are those that will do anything to benefit from mining operations. Foya says that illegal mining is a widespread problem in Africa, including in South Africa, as a result of unemployment because of economic downturns, recessions or general economic mismanagement.
He mentions that there is a possibility that syndicates control illegal mining activities.
“In South Africa, there are documented stories of people invading active operations, as well as abandoned mines, especially gold mines on the Witwatersrand, in Gauteng, and in Barberton, in Mpumalanga,” adds Foya.
In other African countries, illegal mining usually occurs as artisinal mining, especially for gold and diamonds, while there are also reported cases of people forcefully invading operational mines.
To prevent illegal mining, many African countries are encouraging partnerships between artisinal, or illegal, miners and commercial miners. This allows compromises to be reached, whereby some subcommercial sites are made available for safe artisinal mining.
“In other cases, it is best that artisinal miners find alternative, economical and sustainable liveli- hoods.
“Some of these solutions include training and education programmes focused on employment in modern mining operations. “Another solution is the facilitation of alternative, economical and sustainable livelihoods for artisinal miners – for example, working in agriculture and micro- enterprises,” explains Foya.