The Junior Indaba will be held virtually on June 1 and 2, owing to the continuing impact of Covid-19, with Joburg Indaba organisers Resources 4 Africa CEO Paula Munsie stating that the transition to the online platform has been “surprisingly smooth”.

The format and content of the event are well suited to an online platform, which, in turn, allows for the inclusion of several international speakers, who would, ordinarily, have found it difficult to attend in person.

“We are delighted to have 11 showcase presentations featuring a variety of junior projects across Africa from countries such as Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal,” says Munsie.

Providers of specialised forms of capital to the mining sector on behalf of institutional investors Sprott Private Resource Streaming and Royalty managing partner Caroline Donally will provide an international investors’ perspective on funding for the junior mining sector.

Current trends, challenges and opportunities for juniors will also be discussed – a panel will debate the new commodities boom, which is being spurred by the pandemic economic recovery plans and the transition to green energy.

Resources 4 Africa has noted the commodities boom in its research and has identified that this boom can be largely attributed to demand for certain strategic metals to support this low carbon/hydrogen economy, which is expected to increase over the next few years, she adds.

This panel discussion will be held on the second day and will include input from juniors that are mining some of these strategic metals such as vanadium, nickel and rare-earth elements, which are of vital importance.

The discussion will also include the true evaluation of this boom and its possible impact on junior miners, as well as the potential positive impact of commodity prices on junior mining.

Munsie encourages junior mining companies to attend if they want to discover where new opportunities lie, particularly as the South African government, represented by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy director-general Advocate Thabo Mokoena is expected to announce its exploration strategy, part of which will provide information on incentives to boost the junior mining and exploration sector.

Resources 4 Africa hopes to resume physical events in the near future, but notes that no decision has been made on whether events will be purely physical or hybrid in 2022.