Mining Charter ought to take exploration sector into account

SOUTH Africa’s Mining Charter, currently being discussed by the government and Minerals Council ahead of a redraft, ought to make special provision for the exploration and junior mining sectors, said BusinessLive.

Citing Errol Smart, the recently appointed representative for the Emerging Miners Leadership Forum, BusinessLive said there was little encouragement for the exploration sector in South Africa. “We really need to foster the junior miners and exploration companies, because these are the green saplings coming up as the older, bigger trees start dying,” Smart said. The Emerging Miners Leadership Forum consists of 200 small-scale miners which sits on the Minerals Council SA board.

The most pressing problem for the sector, which has been in a state of malaise for decades, has been regulatory uncertainty. Smart said that in his experience in trying to raise capital abroad for Orion’s Prieska copper and zinc project in the Northern Cape there were deep concerns among offshore investors about sovereign risk in South Africa, said BusinessLive. Smart is the CEO of Orion Minerals.