TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Webber Wentzel mining partner Peter Leon, a regular critic of South Africa's mining regulations and officials, was uncharacteristically upbeat on Tuesday, in an interview in Toronto.

Leon is participating in deliberations by new Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu's mining sector tripartite task team, and is “cautiously optimistic” about the outcomes of the process, which was designed to develop a strategy for growth and transformation in the industry and will culminate in a summit later this month.

Representatives from government, business and organised labour are holding discussions under two broad themes: 'competitiveness', which is being chaired by Chamber of Mines (CoM) chief economist Roger Baxter, and 'transformation', chaired by former Department of Minerals and Energy official Nchaka Moloi.

Leon is part of the competitiveness group, but declined to comment further because the participants have agreed to keep the talks under wraps until they are concluded.

He also said he was pleased to see Shabangu had agreed to consult the mining industry, through the Chamber of Mines, on the results of a review of the Mining Charter.

When government, labour and business in South Africa created the Charter in 2004 as a blueprint to transform the industry, it was agreed that its provisions of social and labour plans, skills development, employment equity, beneficiation and preferential procurement would be 
reviewed five years later.

There was initial concern when the government announced last year that the review had been conducted, apparently without input from the mining industry, but the Minister said in November that the Chamber of Mines must be consulted, and that the review would not be released until that happened.

Shabangu appears “much more open to an inclusive process” than some of her predecessors may have been, Leon noted.

NEAR-MINE COMMUNITIES

Leon coheads law firm Webber Wentzel's mining, energy and natural resources practice group and is also chairperson of the International Bar Association's (IBA's) mining law committee.

He is in Toronto this week as part of the IBA's initiative to create and promote a best-practice investment framework for developing countries.

The idea is to create a system that strives for a fair balance between the rights of investors and the host governments, he said.

“I'm very interested in this; I think it could make a real difference to mining in Africa, both for mining companies and host governments” Leon said.

Consultations were held this week with mining industry representatives, and the IBA plans a detailed consultation session next month with nongovernmental organisations, academics and other civil society parties.

The document will then be fleshed out in the months leading up to October, when the IBA has its annual meeting in Vancouver.

BILL 'OFFENSIVE'

Although he is not familiar with the details of Canada's federal private member's Bill C-300, Leon said the general idea of the legislation is “offensive”.

The controversial bill, which has Canadian mining companies up in arms, proposes to allow the government to investigate complaints about Canadian resources firms operating in foreign countries and withhold taxpayer-funded financing, such as from Export Development Canada, from transgressors.

“It purports to operate extra-territorially, and that's wrong.

“The issue of what mining companies do in other countries should be regulated by those other countries,” Leon said.