B20 SA: Mining leaders say energy transition must be pragmatic, policy-stable to unlock our mineral wealth

The B20 Summit has kicked off in Joburg ahead of the much-anticipated G20 Summit taking place this weekend, from 22-23 November.

The Leaders' Summit has been preceded by months of work by various engagement groups to collectively shape the G20’s approach to issues requiring international cooperation.

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The B20 is taking on important issues like the energy transition and how South Africa and the rest of the continent can make sure they're able to benefit optimally from the critical minerals they have in abundance.

Stephen Grootes gets input from Mzila Mthenjane, CEO of Minerals Council South Africa.

This has been a reverberating question under the microscope all week, starting with side events running up to the B20, says Mthenjane.

"How does SA, and the continent, leverage its mineral resources at a time of significant demand, which I think is foreseen to last for a long time."

What comes up first, he says, is the question of policy.

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From a country perspective, Mthenjane is positive about the Mineral Resources Development (MRD) Bill and says the conversations they've been having with the
Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources (DMPR) have been encouraging in terms of what will finally turn out to be an investor-friendly policy.

There's also been talk of potentially harmonising policy across the countries of at least the SADC region, he says.

What is also important when it comes to leveraging our mineral wealth is the issue of skills and infrastructure development, which starts with electricity.

"That would obviously take you into the conversation about beneficiation, but also logistics and telecoms... to be able to produce minerals, beneficiate them, and get them to market. This is how we'll begin to see the continent and South Africa benefiting significantly from these minerals."

For more detail, listen to the interview audio at the top of the article