South African mining has already lost one decade and may be in danger of losing a second if it fails to adopt new ways. Read on page 44 of this edition of Mining Weekly of the need for intervention by all stakeholders in order to attract investment that will ensure a positive future for South Africa’s battered mining industry. Professional services company KPMG believes that a crisis point has been reached. The market capitalisation of listed mining companies has fallen by nearly a third in the past ten years, which is putting the sector’s level of competitiveness into question. While South Africa contributed 39% to the world’s mining value chain 25 years ago, it contributes only 5% today. South Africa, which competes with about 180 global democracies for investment, is losing out badly. KPMG suggests that new ways of redeeming the sector and attracting investment into the country have to be evaluated.

As the latest statistics show, labour productivity in the mining sector fell nearly 7% last year, which has prompted consulting engineering firm SRK Consulting head Roger Dixon to call for a long-term vision that will improve worker output. Read on page 14 of this edition of Mining Weekly of mining production falling nearly 6% in the June quarter, compared with last year, and the industry shedding more than 4% of its jobs. Cited as a reason for the poor performance is expecting a better result without modernisation. There is growing concern about research and development initia- tives remaining uncoordinated and underfunded. South Africa this year slipped again in the World Economic Forum’s global competitiveness index, falling three places to 56 out of 144 countries. Dixon emphasises the importance of steady and long-term implementation of innovation in working practices and technology and says better logistics could improve productivity substantially as the distances from surface to the working faces of South Africa’s deep-level mines have increased significantly without sufficient adaptation.

Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources has expressed concern about the scale of illegal coal mining at a derelict mine in Osizweni, outside Newcastle, in KwaZulu-Natal. Committee chairperson Sahlulele Luzipo has told a meeting with representation from the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), Mintek, the Council for Geoscience and the Mine Health Council that holistic intervention is needed to prevent illegal coal mining, in general, and illegal coal mining in Osizweni, in particular. Mintek has been asked to build partnerships with relevant stakeholders, including the DMR, to combat illegal mining, given that illegal miners are putting the safety of learners and teachers at risk by digging under a community school.

De Beers Consolidated Mines CEO Phillip Barton updates Mining Weekly’s Martin Creamer on the company’s exploration programme.