Now in its third year, the Junior Mining & Exploration Conference & Exhibition, which will be held in Johannesburg between November 4 and 6, has firmly established itself as an important industry gathering for junior miners in South Africa.
The theme of this year’s event, Shaping the Future of the Industry, can be facilitated by an understanding of the opportunities available to junior miners that face numerous and often harsh challenges when operating within this diverse landscape.
“More than 80% of foreign investments are threatened by mismatched investor and regulator expectations, coupled with a lack of a code of governance,” says mining consulting company Mining & Energy Advisors International partner Ted Blom.
He notes that the list of foreign investor casualties is long and will continue to grow unless attention is paid to the mismatch between investor and regulator expectations.
Although many African governments wish to attract foreign investment, he says, they find it difficult to distinguish between investments and handouts.