Africa must create conditions that allow investment to flourish, Junior Indaba hears
Junior Indaba covered by Mining Weekly's Martin Creamer. Video: Darlene Creamer.
Junior Indaba chairperson Bernard Swanepoel.
Photo by Creamer Media
Mining’s future will not be built only by the largest companies. Even though major mining houses are economically critical, history has shown that discoveries are usually made by optimists, entrepreneurs, and explorers.
Every operating mine started as an idea, a map, a drill programme, and a group of people prepared to take a risk when success was still uncertain, Junior Indaba chairperson Bernard Swanepoel pointed out in opening the vibrant junior mining event on June 9.
“We meet at a fascinating moment. The world’s becoming more fragmented, supply chains are being redrawn, nations are competing for access to minerals, capital is becoming more selective, and yet Africa’s mineral endowment has never been more strategically important.
“So, the question is no longer whether Africa has the resources. “The question is whether we can create the conditions that allow investment, discovery, and development to flourish,” Swanepoel said amid the event’s reiteration of today’s world in all likelihood requiring significantly more mining than seen in recent decades, which is where junior mining companies have a fantastic opportunity to play increasingly catalytic roles.
Swanepoel hoped there would be a move beyond diagnosis and that the Junior Indaba would trigger partnership, project funding and new mines against the background of mining ultimately being a business of faith, patience, and perseverance that often required stepping well out of one’s comfort zone.
The event engaged in- person and online audiences with a poll asking what Africa lacks most to stimulate junior mining, offering these voting options: policy certainty, investment, more collaboration, or projects.
The lot fell overwhelmingly on policy certainty indicating that governments, in particular, have a central role to play in creating a conducive environment for mining investment.
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