South Africa's mining legislation was holding back exploration in the country and, given the global commodities boom, it should be easier for mining companies to do prospecting work, De Beers group chairperson Nicky Oppenheimer said on Friday.

Oppenheimer, who was speaking at a media conference in Johannesburg, said that De Beers would “like to do more prospecting” in South Africa.

“There is every chance for people to find more mines in South Africa,” he said.

But Oppenheimer warned that South Africa’s current permitting processes were preventing it from expanding its prospecting work in the country.

He explained that De Beers would like to use the Zeppelin – an airship used to fly over areas to find diamond-bearing kimberlite rock – in South Africa, but that it would have to conduct environmental-impact assessment studies for all the areas that it planned to fly over.

The company was exploring in neighbouring Botswana for new diamond finds using the Zeppelin airship.

De Beers was in talks with the Minerals and Energy Department to resolve the issues, and to make it easier for companies to explore for minerals in South Africa, Oppenheimer said.

“I don’t think people are deliberately difficult…government is well aware of these problems,” he added.

Last year, the group invested about R150-million in exploration in South Africa.

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