Mining Critical Minerals is the new growth frontier

clean technologies including Electric Vehicles (EVs) is certain to boost demand for these minerals. There is increasing optimism in the mining industry that Electric Vehicles (EV) sales are on track to meet or outpace even the most ambitious net-zero timelines and could account for more than two-thirds of market share by 2030. Some of these minerals are key inputs in the manufacture of energy storage batteries and car engines just to mention a few products that we are now adopting, especially in the wake our country's transition to a Just Economy. Rising input costs of production including the logistical challenges facing companies seeking to export their mineral produce is frustrating a significant number of mining entities. Despite these challenges, we are pleased that this sector has shown such remarkable resilience in the face of adversity. The sector by far remains the single largest employer accounting for more than 323 430 employees. We have these Minerals in abundance - spread across different regions of the country. We have Manganese in the Northern Cape with some exploration still ongoing in other provinces like Mpumalanga; Cobalt, Platinum, Lithium, Iron ore and Copper among others. You can't talk of South Africa's economy without mentioning mining in the same breath, the fact is that our economy was built on the back of this sector. Admittedly, the sector has had its fair share of challenges, but we also have to accept that we operate in a constantly evolving sector whose stability is intrinsically linked to cycles and other competing challenges. Besides our focus on fostering regional economic integration, we are looking to invest in countries in the rest of the continent that have these minerals. Our investment in a Tin mining entity in the DRC called Alphamin Bisie is bearing fruit. We are looking at several graphite projects in Tanzania, and there are also some promising Lithium deposits of interest in SADC. In fact, the entire SADC and beyond is a region of interest to our prospects. As plans to achieve global climate targets gather momentum, there is likely to be an anticipated scaling of the mining industry's output of critical minerals of the future. The industry ought to move with the times. To support growth, as stakeholders we need to stay optimistic. We need creative partnerships that are responsive to any bottlenecks and these partnerships should also share the burden of risk regardless of challenges. The Industrial Development Corporation has developed a strategy called 'Critical Minerals Game Plan'. This strategy is premised on providing funding support to entities that are already or are considering mining the so-called critical minerals. The ambitious plans by many countries to deploy clean energy sources alongside Thabiso Sekano is the Head of the IDC Mining and Minerals SBU.