South Africans have tried to develop a junior mining exploration culture several times over but have not been able to come anywhere close to the aplomb of other mining jurisdictions that have a far... 

South Africa needs to pretend it is starting again at the bottom end of the mineral resources value curve and create a vision for exploration. Without exploration, it is just a matter of time... 

With this year marking the 150th anniversary of South Africa’s diamond business, one would imagine that the country has been completely explored and that the country should be looking to an end... 

Last week’s Joburg Indaba proved a robust conference. Emanating from it were divergent opinions about the best way to deal with an errant Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) which has caused a... 

South Africa seems hell-bent on reinventing the wheel when it comes to the funding of mine rehabilitation and mine closure. One would swear South Africa is the world’s only mining jurisdiction and... 

Mining Charter Three has probably been more heavily criticised than any piece of mining legislation. Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, who went out on a limb like no other Mineral... 

Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane makes sure he attends foreign mining conferences but fails to engage stakeholders at home on the realities of his Mining Charter Three, which is a great... 

The private sector has done well to secure legal leverage over the errant Mineral Resources Ministry, which has painted itself into a corner by trying to impose the unworkable Mining Charter Three... 

South Africa, through diamond company De Beers, invested heavily in the marketing of diamonds. The slogan ‘A Diamond is Forever’, according to Advertising Age, it is the most recognised slogan of... 

Fingers are being crossed that the new Mining Precinct, in Auckland Park, Johannesburg, will safeguard the future of South Africa’s mining industry through developing new people-centred technology... 

Mining companies have a great opportunity to implement technology that has matured in the hands of other industries. This maturation is now providing mining with a chance to slash costs, which... 

It was only a matter of time before calls would be made for the sacking of Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane, who is putting South Africa’s defining industry under more threat by the day.... 

Very telling were the comments of Deputy Minerals Minister Godfrey Oliphant during last week’s radio interview with 702 morning host Xolani Gwala. During the interview, the experienced Deputy... 

One week Minerals Minister Mosebenzi Zwane signs a written undertaking that neither he nor his Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) will apply or implement his controversial Mining Charter Three... 

In its current poor state, mining and the companies that depend on it are likely to disappoint the Treasury when it comes to next paying tax. What the Minerals Ministry and its errant Department of... 

What South Africa’s Mineral Resources Ministry and the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) has come up with for mining so far is simply unsustainable. It is destructive rather than constructive... 

Fourteen years ago, I attended a sod turning ceremony at a manganese project in South Africa’s Northern Cape. The project was made possible by a R1.7-billion investment by foreigners.  

Mining provides virtually half of South Africa’s foreign currency from a quarter of its exports. Without these foreign currency earnings, South Africa’s participation in global trade stands to be... 

With Botswana's diamond secor going ex-growth, a storng call has been made for the country to consider adopting Canada's flow-through tax incentive as a way of boosting investment in diamond... 

The vagaries of platinum price determination – particularly in futures markets – remain somewhat mysterious and disappointingly opaque, with a futures market record pointing to negligible near-term... 

Four small diamond mines have closed in as many months, Soouth Africa's diamond cuting and polishing industry is being put at risk by a bewildering Ministerial decision and hopes rising for trhe... 

The 128-year-old Chamber of South Africa dropped a bombshell last week when it announced that it will be changing its name and identify and staging a new beginning. It also revealed that in doing... 

The decision of the Royal Mint in the UK to launch its first ever platinum bullion products has rekindled hopes that the South African Mint will wipe the dust off its plans for a Mandela coin in... 

Platinum has special South African significance, which presents an ideal opportunity for business, government and labour to work together to revive the falling fortunes of platinum group metals... 

The platinum price has fallen through the floor and as I write this column, it remains in the doldrums. Last week’s platinum price collapse to $893/oz had warning bells ringing loudly and what is... 

South Africa is going through a dangerous period, with recent political developments putting into sharp focus the urgent need to reverse this country’s decline. At no time since the transition to... 

The platinum price is still too low to keep the industry from inflicting damage to itself; a new rock crushing technology has been launched that is said to cut costs by 10% and increase uptime by... 

Listed South African companies are having a torrid time explaining to their foreign investors the implications of South Africa’s rapidly slumping political landscape. The CEOs of JSE-listed... 

It is difficult to see how some platinum-mining companies can be profitable at the current low dollar price of platinum in the $950/oz range. To continue to produce at current over-supplied levels... 

It does the economies of countries serious harm when government departments go off at administrative tangents, as the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) is doing currently. This is a serious... 

Water use has been growing at more than twice the rate of population increase in the last century. By 2025, 1 800-million people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity... 

For the past century, the view of mining by the governments of Africa has been deficient as it prioritised rent maximisation and ignored mining's innate ability to function as a powerful lever for... 

South Africa’s economic growth remains inadequate to drive the changes required for the country’s socioeconomic challenges and the continued delay in the promulgation of key minerals legislation is... 

The Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) is failing to act in the best economic interests of the people of South Africa by continually trying to organise a separate kingdom for itself. Those...