South Africa, which has some of the world’s largest mineral resources, has set a goal of attracting $900 million in annual mining exploration investment by 2025.
The goal, which is equal to 5% of worldwide exploration spending, is anticipated to jump-start a mining industry that has been stagnant in recent years despite being one of the world’s largest.
The Department of Minerals and Energy’s exploration strategy, released Tuesday, intends to take use of South Africa’s fairly mature infrastructure and mining experience. It also intends to move away from the country’s historical reliance on gold in favour of metals needed in electric cars, battery storage, and hydrogen generation.
“With gold resources dwindling, the South African mining industry’s attraction rests in future minerals,” the agency wrote in the study.
For decades, South Africa was the world’s largest gold producer, but output has slowed as the country’s resources get deeper and more difficult to extract.
Despite this, the nation contains the largest resources of platinum group metals, battery metal vanadium, chromium, and manganese in the world.
According to the study, challenges include inadequate policy execution, poor geoscientific data, insufficient electrical generation, frequent strikes, and community discontent.
The nation wants to update data on its mineral reserves and provide greater technical help to small mining enterprises as part of its efforts to increase exploration.
While the Department of Minerals and Energy did not specify how much exploration is now conducted in the nation, News24, a South African news site, said that it accounts for less than 1% of yearly expenditure on mineral exploration.
Despite the fact that the paper was made public on Tuesday, it is from August 2021.
South Africa is home to Glencore Plc, Anglo American Plc, and Rio Tinto Group.