MINING INDABA
Higher royalty and tax legislation will continue to be
implemented by African states in 2020. The trends seem
to indicate that the legislation tabled is aimed at using
the mining industry to cover the domestic monetary
short falls, as a short-term fix. It is also expected that
more stringent environmental legislation will be passed.
Bowline Professional Services also expect that
international companies will be put under more pressure
to partake in ethical sourcing reporting and audits,
where Bowline is ideally suited to undertake these
types of consultation services. The push for in-country
beneficiation will continue, but with infrastructure
lacking in most countries, the practical implementation
will take longer than the projected timelines. A case in
point is Guinea, that is pushing an agenda to have all
iron exports done through Guinean ports, but had to
concede that the current ports do not have the capacity
nor is the rail infrastructure developed enough to handle
the volumes and exports can continue to be handled for
now through Liberian facilities. Technology trends that
may pick-up during the coming years is the impact of the
fourth industrial revolution and the increasing impact
of circular economies. The application of satellite and
other remote sensing methods is set to increase, allowing
.
In recent years, community demands have increased and
in some instances the expectations of the benefit that
should be reaped far exceed the realistic investment a
company can make as part of its social and labour plan. In
South Africa, the impact of service delivery protests will
continue to affect operations.
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A trend that will continue affecting the mining scene in
Africa in 2020 is social licencing. The challenge will be for
mining companies to clearly communicate and manage
community expectations. The world-wide economic
slowdown has significantly affected the mining industry
and as a consequence the communities where they
operate. This, coupled with reckless political statements,
has nurtured a sense of entitlement.
Nicolaas, what trends in mining will be the most
important to look out for in 2020?
es
Nicolaas Steenkamp, independent
geologist and consultant, talks about the
most important trends to look out for going
into 2020.
Ste
en k
a m p, g e ol o g is
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for quicker assessment of large exploration areas
to delineate the main area(s) of interest for ground
truthing.
Automation of operations and the introduction
of green energy on remote sites is set to increase,
especially in regions where there is no stable supply
from the national grid. The industry will however
need to embark on campaigns to allay fears of job
losses due to the introduction of new technology.
A combination of the international trade wars and
environmental consciousness movement are the main
drivers of circular economies gaining momentum.
Where the impact of recycling was considered to be
minor in the last decade, there has been a notable shift
in sentiment in the last year. As little as three years ago,
recycling of Rare Earth Elements (REE) magnets were
not considered viable due to the cheap supply of large
volumes of material from China, the trade war between
China and the USA led to REE products becoming
weaponised in the dispute. Now major companies
are looking at constructing collection points and
reprocessing plants for REE magnets.
What minerals should we keep an eye on in 2020?
Minerals set to potentially gain in the coming year
are palladium and tin for industrial applications
and gold as a safe haven investment. In my opinion,
battery minerals, more specifically cobalt and lithium,
will remain under pressure for the remainder of the
year. REE’s hard rock deposits may see an uptick in
exploration, but due to the long development lag time,
it is highly unlikely that we will see new operations
coming into production soon. The graphite market
may also be nearing saturation levels.
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African Mining January 2020
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