Modern Mining February 2016

EVENTS

Mining’s global downturn casts

Reflecting the impact of the commodities downturn, this year’s Mining Indaba was noticeably quieter than its recent predecessors, with the number of delegates and exhibitors down on previous years. The ingredients which have made the Mining Indaba the premier mining confer- ence in Africa were nevertheless still present, with indus- try leaders expressing their views in a variety of forums, including main stage presentations, ministerial forums, workshops and panel discussions, and with networking opportunities almost as strong as ever. In this review of the event, Modern Mining’s Arthur Tassell looks at just some of the highlights of the formal presentations.

A s one would expect, the speech by Mosebenzi Joseph Zwane, Minister of Mineral Resources, attracted keen interest, particu- larly as he is something of an unknown in the mining community (having only been appointed in September last year with one of his recent previous positions hav- ing been MEC for Agriculture and Rural Devel- opment in the Free State). He said the Mining indaba “comes at a time when the mining in-

Centre: Mosebenzi Zwane, Minister of Mineral Resources, gives his keynote address. Below: Alan Davies, Chief Executive, Diamonds & Minerals, Rio Tinto, addresses delegates.

dustry is in its winter season, a season which some have characterised as a crisis.” He add- ed, “After much reflection, I am convinced that during our summer season, as an industry, we have failed ourselves in not preparing bet- ter for this winter.” Addressing a key industry concern, Zwane told delegates that he appreciated the problems posed by regulatory and policy uncertainty. “I assure you that the democratic government as led by the ANC has prioritised the processing and finalisation of the MPRD Amendment Bill as a matter of urgency in order to entrench the necessary certainty,” he said. “We are also in the process of reviewing the Mining Charter. It is an important transfor- mation tool and its targets remain applicable beyond 2014. The social and labour plan com- mitments constitute a critical component of restoring and sustaining the dignity of mine- workers and communities.” The response to the Minister’s address was on the lukewarm side. Jacques Barradas of Grant Thornton, for example, said it was the speech of a person still finding his feet and described it as “non-committal and non-spe- cific”. This view was echoed by Peter Leon of international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills who commented that the Minister had “made all the right noises” on issues such as regulatory

30  MODERN MINING  February 2016