Mantashe says SA can’t fall short on value addition amid growing calls for mineral beneficiation

JOHANNESBURG - Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe said South Africa cannot continue to fall short on value addition amid the government’s growing calls for mineral beneficiation in the mining sector.

Mantashe was speaking at an engagement on the G20 critical minerals framework in Sandton on Tuesday.

Although voluntary, the framework is tipped to be a blueprint for harnessing critical mineral resources to drive development.

Some resource-rich countries, like South Africa, are crippled by underdeveloped infrastructure, inadequate investment in exploration, extraction and processing, decent work deficits, as well as unequal access to downstream economic benefits, largely due to the overconcentration of supply chains in a few industrialised economies.

This means these countries not only export raw minerals, but they also export the jobs and profits they ought to accrue.

Mantashe said South Africa and the rest of the continent cannot be part of a race to the bottom, where Africa produces raw materials at low prices that are set on global markets and add little value to its economies.

“In this regard, the G20 member countries and partners are encouraged to mobilise investment in value chains and infrastructure in close proximity to the point of production.”

He said the G20 critical minerals framework needs to address this and other challenges in the critical minerals value chain.

“In keeping with our recently launched critical minerals and metals strategy, the framework is centred around the following six interrelated strategic pillars for action, each tackling key challenges across the entire critical minerals value chain: mapping and exploration, governance, standards and ESG, investment, value addition and local development, resilient and diversified supply chains, innovation, circularity and technology, skills, capacity and knowledge exchange.

“In contrast to the past, where a pit-to-port approach to mining was the norm, these pillars seek to broaden opportunities for developing economies, bolster supply security for all, and incorporate sustainability at every phase.”