Amid global volatility, events such as the upcoming Joburg Indaba conference – taking place on October 7 and 8, at The Inanda Club, in Sandton – shine light on South Africa’s route to resilience, says engineering and scientific consultancy SRK Consulting MD Andrew van Zyl.

He explains that the conference will address key challenges to converting mining opportunity into investment in local mining projects such as that attained through regulatory certainty, infrastructure improvements, responsible mining practices and stronger collaboration across the sector.

“There are encouraging signs of reform, including the draft Mineral Resources Development Bill, the Critical Minerals Strategy and improvements to the mining cadastre system,” says Van Zyl. While this can strengthen the investment environment, the real test lies in implementation.

“For investors, policy intent matters less than what happens in practice, while licensing and permitting need to be predictable and streamlined.”

Further, Van Zyl also notes that processes that are uncertain or unnecessarily drawn out will raise the risk attached to projects and therefore deter capital.

“Mining is particularly complex” because projects interact directly with land, water, biodiversity and livelihoods in local communities, he adds.

Therefore, efficient permitting must be accompanied by sound technical studies, environmental and social assessment, and early engagement with affected communities, advises Van Zyl.

Determiners of Distinction

Van Zyl stresses that rail, ports, electricity and water are fundamental determinants of whether projects are competitive.

Relatedly, he says the mining industry has been an active player in recent efforts to improve rail performance in South Africa, including through closer collaboration with infrastructure partners, and will continue to support private sector participation in logistics.

The greater collaboration between the public and private sectors is playing an important role in improving export performance, says Van Zyl, adding that it also unlocks additional production.

However, infrastructure investment needs to “look beyond today’s bottlenecks and rather aim at meeting future mining demand”, says Van Zyl. In this regard, he says that because new mines take many years to develop, investors can only plan ahead confidently when appropriate infrastructure is in place.

“In the infrastructure conversation, electricity availability and cost are increasingly central to project economics.”

Mines, he points out, are also operating in an environment where demand for electricity from other sectors is growing rapidly.

Van Zyl stresses that AI and data centres are a particularly visible example of companies competing for power generation capacity, grid connections, equipment and technical skills.

Miners have genuine opportunities to deploy AI and automation both sustainably and responsibly to enhance safety, efficiency and cost-effectiveness, according to Van Zyl.

He also notes that when discussing electricity infrastructure, energy security and competitiveness cannot be separated.

While renewable power generation, storage, hybrid systems and other distributed solutions can contribute to resilience and cost management, he says they must be assessed against the practical requirements of individual mining operations.

Water stewardship is equally important, especially as climate variability and extreme weather conditions increase the need for resilient water storage, tailings infrastructure and operational planning, says Van Zyl. Therefore, the earlier that far-sighted water management strategies can be incorporated into the design of projects, the better, he adds.