JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – South Africa can reach the goals set out in Vision 2026, which aims to promote the diamond beneficiation industry in South Africa, by implementing a “couple of simple steps”, De Beers senior sightholder sales VP Mpumi Zikalala said on Monday.
Addressing delegates during a panel discussion at the South African Diamond Indaba, she pointed out that investments, such as De Beers’ planned R34-billion capital expenditure over the next ten years, will keep the industry alive and create the opportunity for further downstream activities.
“We also need to explore for future resources,” she said, adding that the country was highly prospective.
She hinted, however, that obtaining prospecting licences remained challenging.
She highlighted that regional integration was imperative to grow the diamond industry and its auxiliary industries. “We cannot be fighting for that small piece of pie; as a Southern African Development Community region, we need to pool together and make the pie a little bigger and then compete internationally,” Zikalala said.