The South African mining industry needed much more regulatory certainty, greater efficiencies and improved safety, Gold Fields nonexecutive chairperson Cheryl Carolus said last week.

In a wide-ranging interview with Mining Weekly, Carolus noted the strong emphasis that had been placed on improving the conditions under which people mined, the impact that the mining industry had on the environment, the industry’s dealings with near-mine communities and how it went about adding value.

But regulatory uncertainty remained.

“I think that we really need to settle down and just create much more regulatory certainty.

“We can’t carry on like this, because the kind of investment we’re expected to make as mining companies is very significant,” Carolus told Mining Weekly.

For example, Gold Fields’ South Deep gold mine had required an investment of R31-billion.

“It’s a huge investment”, and once confidence was lost to make that level of investment, it took time for investment to return, with the consequent loss of jobs.

“We really need to get better certainty around the regulatory environment so that the whole notion of the Mining Charter versus the other charters and the codes is firmed up,” Carolus added.

The two important sets of partners were the workforce and government.

As far as the workforce was concerned, it was a question of how the production process could be improved to increase efficiencies and safety.

Government needed to create the enabling environment and mining companies needed be good corporate citizens that helped the government to carry out what it had been elected to do.

Other concerns were working conditions and the cost of labour.

A strong labour union, in her view, was an important partner because of the due process and transparency that followed.

“That’s why it is helpful that the unions also run themselves and their affairs well, so that we have reliable partners who genuinely represent the interests of their members,” Carolus said.

Gold Fields’ approach of not mining at all if it could not mine safely, more often than not meant that the company was getting ever closer to being on the same page as the Department of Mineral Resources when it came to safety.