Modernisation of South African mining is an ‘urgent strategic priority’

This audio is brought to you by Endress and Hauser, a global leader in process and laboratory measurement technology, offering a broad portfolio of instruments, solutions and services for industrial process measurement and automation. Mining modernisation, with private and public sectors as drivers, is an urgent strategic priority for the South African economy, a study undertaken by industry leaders, researchers, government partners, and innovators from across the South African spectrum reported very forcefully this week. "We see that our competitors are investing heavily in digitisation and automation, as well as critical minerals and beneficiation. "They're moving really quickly, and because they're moving really quickly, they're able to attract a lot of investment," Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability (RIIS) consultant Ashleigh Muller reported during the Modernisation Showcase that displayed a strong partnership between Minerals Council South Africa, the Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators' specialised research unit within South Africa's Human Sciences Research Council, PwC Smart Mining, the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, and the National Advisory Council on Innovation. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.) "We know that mining is a significant contributor to our national GDP. We also have a really strong mineral wealth endowment. We have established historical markets that we can make use of, and most importantly, we have a legacy of mining experience that we can draw from. "But the problem is that the benefits that come from these advantages are increasingly being offset by … aging infrastructure, lack of skills, and slow adoption of technology really hinders our ability to be globally competitive. "I think everyone in this room understands that South Africa … has an adoption and implementation problem. South has the raw materials to lead but the regulatory, skills and technology gaps must be closed with urgency and coordination," Muller pointed out. The purpose of the global benchmarking of South African mining was to understand the best practices being undertaken by other mining jurisdictions across the globe and to see what lessons South Africa could learn and implement from them. "Not necessarily because we're looking for a copy-paste solution. We understand that each mining jurisdiction is unique, but there are lessons to be learned from each of the nine", which were classified under the categories of 'visionaries' – Australia and Sweden – 'competitors' – Canada, China and Chile – and 'contemporaries' – US, India, Brazil and Saudi Arabia. The only 'green' achieved by South Africa was in markets and value chains. South Africa's 'reds' were under the headings of 'enabling environment' and 'advanced technology' and 'yellows' in the categories of human capital, sustainability, health, safety and security and exposed were the critical gaps of technology adoption, enabling environment and governance. INNOVATION PRIORITIES Drawing on work published by South Africa's State-owned CSIR and public research initiative Mandela Mining Precinct, seven innovation priorities for the uplifting of South Africa's mining sector were identified, namely: diigital transformation and automation,;exploration and mineral intelligence; research and development intellectual property; decarbonisation and energy modernisation; inclusive and responsible innovation; andvalue addition and beneficiation. These priorities align closely with South Africa's Cabinet-approved Critical Minerals & Metals Strategy, which is designed to create 2.3-million jobs and boost mining's contribution to GDP to 12% by 2030 through local beneficiation, but with success dependent on the resolution of energy, logistics, skills and regulatory issues. South Africa's innovation priorities were described as being well-defined but in need of implementation speed, funding, and cross-sector coordination to eradicate...