PERTH (miningweekly.com) – While South Africa is still committed to attracting foreign investment into its mining sector, Deputy Mineral Resources Minister Godfrey Oliphant has warned that future mining in the country will be characterised by environmentally responsible and sustainable mining.

“Long after the life-of-mine or depletion of resource, we want to not only see thriving economies, but an environment that has been faithfully rehabilitated,” Oliphant said at the second day of the Africa Downunder conference, in Perth.

“Let us not repeat the mistakes of the past, or do in other jurisdictions that which we would not be allowed or inclined to do at home. In South Africa, we are still dealing with the legacy of environmentally irresponsible mining in the form of over 6 000 derelict and ownerless mines - so to speak - and acid mine drainage, which pose real dangers to communities on a daily basis.

“The cost of closing shafts and holes left open, as well as rehabilitating land and water systems in retrospect, is exorbitant and is being borne by the public. This should be unthinkable today.”

Oliphant also raised the issue of health and safety in the industry, saying that the government was working to address legacy challenges, including the contraction of silicosis and tuberculosis.

“Some of these health issues are not emerging until 20 years or so after mining ceased, and due to the asbestos mining in the past, there are still ex-mineworkers being diagnosed with asbestosis.”

Oliphant said on Thursday that the South African government was upbeat about the future of the country’s mining sector, which in just a decade had seen the number of mines and quarries double from 800 to around 1 700, with 53 mineral commodities being mined.

“The past few years have been challenging for the sector, commodity prices have fallen sharply after a sustained boom.

“Mining is a cyclical business, however, and there are signs that we are reaching the bottom of the downturn in commodity prices and a new balance is emerging in demand and supply of minerals . . . gross domestic product growth [of 3.3%] in the last quarter in South Africa [was] driven in no small part by a 12% growth in the mining sector.”

The Deputy Minister noted that in order to prepare the country for the next century of mining, the South African government had reviewed and proposed amendments to the mining legislation currently in place.

The amendments were aimed at removing ambiguities within the current Minerals and Petroleum Resources Development Act, making provisions for associated minerals and increasing transparency.