Gwede to face grilling at mines indaba

Queries likely on why mines aren’t allowed to generate power

● Mining investors and executives are likely to ask some tough questions of mineral resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe when he opens the annual Investing in African Mining Indaba in Cape Town tomorrow. Energy supply, regulatory issues and safety are high on the list of concerns.

The indaba expects to host about 6,500 international and local participants, among them the presidents of Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as 41 African cabinet ministers, at least 900 global investors and about 1,600 mining industry operators.

CEOs or senior executives of most of the world’s major mining houses will be there, as will many smaller, junior miners competing for investor dollars at daily “investment battlefields”.

The convention comes at a time that the SA mining industry’s No 1 issue is Eskom and electricity supply. The indaba has so far failed to bag Eskom CEO André de Ruyter, but Tom Quinn, who is head of content at indaba organiser Hyve, said he was still trying. “I can create the space for him if he can give a keynote,” he said.

Mantashe, who will be on stage several times during the week, could again face questions about why he refuses to sign off on allowing South African miners to generate their own power — as miners do in many other countries in Africa.

The Mining Charter is still an area of legal dispute between business and the government, despite Mantashe having brought a degree of regulatory certainty.

Safety on and around mines is also a concern, amid a growing number of criminal attacks and violent community protests.

Law firm Webber Wentzel’s mining team noted in a statement ahead of the indaba that SA still ranked in the bottom half of favoured mining destinations in the annual Fraser Institute survey. It wants to see Mantashe continue to commit to partnering with the industry to achieve “zero harm” as well as to speak to a clear, decisive plan of action to address illegal mining, the safety of mining operations and the increase in community-related violence impacting mining operations.

But SA’s own idiosyncratic issues may take a bit of a back seat, and the critics may be more muted, at a gathering that targets international investors and mining houses and focuses on mining across the continent. This is in contrast to the SA-specific Joburg Indaba, which hosts about 400 people each year and is deliberately a platform for “honest and blunt conversation”, according to Joburg Indaba chair Bernard Swanepoel

Among the hot topics on this week’s Mining Indaba programme is investors’ growing focus on climate change and environmental, social and governance issues. “It’s reached the stage where it’s a main stage topic,” says Quinn.

So, too, are the platinum group metals that are attracting record attention from investors thanks to the metals’ “green” qualities in reducing emissions and their potential in hydrogen fuel cell batteries.

There is also an extensive “outdaba” of sideline meetings, events and parties.

A hotel down the road from the indaba venue hosts the annual Alternative Mining Indaba that will focus on community, social and environmental issues. The alternative indaba attracts NGOs and community and labour leaders rather than the corporates at the main event, although last year Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani addressed the alternative event as well as the Mining Indaba itself, an outing he will repeat this year.

Quinn says the indaba is keen to bring at least some of the outdaba in and this year has a new legal counsel programme for the legal folk who need to navigate the often complex regulatory issues around mining in Africa.

The indaba runs from tomorrow until Thursday.

It’s reached the stage where it’s a main stage topic

Tom Quinn

Head of content at Mining Indaba organiser Hyve