By President of Junior Mining Council Fred Arendse

On 12 September 2023, a significant new chapter was written in South Africa’s mining industry at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).

The launch of the Junior Mining Council (JMC) marked more than the birth of another industry body. It was a deliberate response to a long-standing gap in the sector: junior and emerging miners needed a stronger, collective voice in the national mining conversation.

At the time, junior miners faced many challenges, but one of the biggest was simply being heard. The persistent misunderstanding about what the term “junior miner” actually meant to the outsiders, is in jest, still a sideshow.  Suffice to say, junior miner does not mean being junior in status, capability or importance. The term primarily refers to the scale and stage of a mining business.

We have embraced the definition of junior miners as emerging mining companies with a market capitalisation of up to R500 million. This distinction matters because the junior mining sector is not a peripheral part of the industry. It is where much of tomorrow’s exploration, new discoveries and future mining investment can begin. 

Three years later, it is therefore fair to ask: what have we achieved, and what have we successfully advocated for?

We created a council to represent junior miners in the mainstream economy, unite emerging miners behind a common purpose and advocate for policies that enable them to grow. That voice has increasingly been heard in government, Parliament, business and the media.

From having a voice to influencing the agenda. That has been our point of departure.                                            

These challenges include access to finance, slow licensing processes, infrastructure constraints, electricity costs, logistics, regulatory uncertainty and limited market access. Junior miners do not want special treatment. They want an enabling environment in which legitimate businesses can compete, grow and create jobs.

We have had direct engagement with government and Parliament. In September 2024, the Council participated in the Portfolio Committee on Mineral and Petroleum Resources’ stakeholder engagement process, presenting the realities facing junior and small-scale miners.

For too long, mining policy discussions have often been dominated by the largest players. Junior miners must have a seat at the table because many of tomorrow’s mines will come from today’s exploration and development companies.

Exploration funding: putting money behind tomorrow’s mines

One of the most important developments during this period was the establishment of the R400 million Junior Mining Exploration Fund. The Fund supports junior mining enterprises in exploration, addressing one of the sector’s biggest structural problems: exploration is expensive, risky and difficult to finance.

We welcomed this development because exploration is the foundation of future mining. But we must also be honest: R400 million is a beginning, not the end of the conversation.

South Africa needs a much deeper pool of exploration capital if we are serious about replacing ageing mines with new discoveries. 

The principle is simple: if we stop exploring today, we will have fewer mines tomorrow.

Making it easier to mine legally

Perhaps one of the most important battles for the next phase of our work is regulatory reform.

South Africa cannot successfully fight illegal mining while legitimate mining remains unnecessarily difficult to establish.

We have welcomed the rollout of the digital mining cadastre because transparency around mineral rights and applications is essential for investor confidence. But launching a cadastre is not enough. Its success must be measured by whether it reduces licensing backlogs and makes the regulatory system work more efficiently.

The principle should be straightforward: it must be easier to mine legally than illegally.

This does not mean relaxing environmental, safety or governance requirements. It means eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy while maintaining strong standards.

Illegal mining: confronting the elephant in the room

From the onset, we recognised that illegal mining could not simply be treated as a policing problem.

The council has supported decisive law-enforcement action against illegal mining syndicates, including Operation PROSPER. We are on record emphasising this point:  “arrests alone will not solve the problem”. The criminal networks financing and organising illegal mining must be dismantled, while abandoned, derelict and ownerless mines must be rehabilitated and secured. Our message remains consistent: deal with the syndicates, fix the regulatory system and address the abandoned mine legacy.

Safety must remain non-negotiable

On mining safety. The tragedies at Lily Mine, Ekapa and elsewhere remind us that economic growth cannot come at the expense of human life.

For junior miners, this is particularly important. Smaller companies must have access to the knowledge, skills and systems necessary to operate safely and responsibly.

Tomorrow’s mines start today

Our theme for the future is clear: tomorrow’s mines start today. A mine does not begin when the first tonne of ore comes out of the ground. It begins with geological information, exploration, risk-taking entrepreneurs and investors prepared to finance uncertainty. Often, it begins with a junior miner.

This is why junior mining must be at the centre of South Africa’s industrial future. The shift towards renewable energy, mobility, battery storage and technology is increasing demand for copper, manganese, nickel, platinum group metals and vanadium.

But there are two races: securing minerals and securing the industries built around them. South Africa must compete in both.

Three years after that September morning at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the JMC can look back with pride — but not complacency.

But advocacy is not an end in itself.

The real test is whether these interventions translate into more exploration, new mines, investment, jobs, exports and meaningful economic participation.

And a lauder voice that substitutes mere complaining and shapes the national dialogue.