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One of the countries South Africa can learn from when it comes to beneficiation is Finland, Minerals Council South Africa acting chief economist Bongani Motsa outlined on day-three of the Investing in African Mining Indaba on Wednesday.

Speaking on a panel with Minerals Council senior executive environment, health, and legacies Shamini Harrington and Minerals Council senior executive public affairs and transformation Tebello Chabana, Motsa noted that Finland had pursued a deliberate strategy of mineral value addition, anchored in its National Mineral Strategy.

"Finland recognised that simply exporting raw ores would not maximise economic or technological benefits, so it invested heavily in downstream processing, research, and innovation.

"Finland's approach emphasises aligning mineral development with the EU's critical raw materials agenda, while also building domestic industrial capacity.

"This has meant fostering strong linkages between mining companies, technology developers, and universities, ensuring that minerals are not only extracted but also transformed into advanced products for batteries, clean energy systems, and high-tech manufacturing," Motsa spelt out.

Mining Weekly can report that Finland's strategy also integrates sustainability, circular economy principles, and environmental safeguards, positioning Finland as a responsible supplier in global mineral chains.

The Finnish list of priority minerals reflects both domestic geology and global demand trends. It includes nickel, cobalt, lithium, graphite, and rare earth elements, alongside traditional strengths in copper, zinc, and platinum group metals. These minerals were chosen because of their importance in battery technologies, renewable-energy systems, and digital industries.

For example, Finland has become a European hub for battery precursor production, leveraging its nickel and cobalt resources, while also investing in refining lithium and developing recycling systems for critical materials.

By focusing on value addition, Finland has moved beyond being a raw material supplier to becoming a strategic player in the clean energy and technology value chains.

Instruments used by Finland to promote the link between its priority minerals and industrialisation are a combination of policy, institutional, and financial instruments to link its priority minerals with industrialisation.

The core policy instrument is the National Mineral Strategy, coordinated by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, which sets clear objectives for value addition and integration into the EU's clean energy and digital transition.

Motsa described South Africa's critical minerals and metals strategy as a good start.

Institutionally, Finland's government has invested in research and innovation ecosystems, particularly through the Geological Survey of Finland and partnerships with universities, to ensure that mineral extraction is tied to advanced processing and technology development.

"As South Africa, we already have institutional capacity, the question is, to what extend will there be a deliberate resource injection to advance the aspirations of the critical minerals and metals strategy. In fact, this takes me to an important aspect that I need to mention. Except for a few aspects including … electricity tariff funding of between R23.8-billion to R44.2-billion and the R400-million in exploration funding made by the IDC, generally the strategy is not costed," Motsa pointed out.

Financially, Finland has used three broad instruments including public-private investment entities innovation funding, and EU-backed financing to derisk large capital projects. It has also embedded circular economy principles, encouraging recycling and secondary use of critic...

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The time has come for Africa to shift from policy intent to implementation, says Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad.

Speaking at the Investing in African Mining Indaba 2026 held in Cape Tow this week, he noted that the mining community had for many years spoken about the "incredible potential of this continent. What is different today is that the conditions for unlocking that potential are increasingly aligned."

Taking the Lobito Corridor as an example, Wanblad urged African governments "to continue engaging on developing the infrastructure required to establish cross-border value-chains, integrating power pools, harmonising customs processes and establishing governance structure that enabled action, rather than delaying".

The Lobito Corridor is a 1 300 km, multi-nation rail-based logistics axis connecting the Angolan port of Lobito to the mineral-rich Katanga province in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Copperbelt in Zambia.

Wanblad noted that developing such infrastructure required attracting "not tens, but hundreds of billions of dollars".

He emphasised that such large investments would only flow where policy environments were stable, licensing processes were predictable and risk-sharing mechanisms were credible.

"Surely, value-addition and beneficiation are crucial here, however, they must be economically viable, because it rarely makes sense to replicate each step of the value-chain everywhere.

"The opportunity lies in planning corridors intelligently, allocating activities where they make the most sense, and then investing accordingly.

"This is how Africa can unlock the full potential of its mineral endowment and turn potential into lasting prosperity."

No Change for SA in Face of Anglo, Teck Merger Anglo American and Teck Resources in September last year announced that they had reached an agreement to merge into Anglo Teck, a global critical minerals champion and top-five global copper producer.

"As CEO of Anglo American and soon to be Anglo Teck, it is deeply important to me that we are so much more than a mining company, and nowhere more so than here in South Africa," said Wanblad.

"Now, the merger with Teck does not that change that in any way at all. In fact it strengthens our long-term commitment by creating new opportunities for growth, investment and value.

"We have been a true partner for progress, contributing to nation-building and standing alongside communities through moments of both growth and challenge.

"We certainly believe that a bigger, stronger Anglo America is not only good for our business, but that it is good for South Africa and everywhere else we operate," noted Wanblad.

"It strengthens our capacity to invest, to grow and to contribute meaningfully to inclusive development. Anglo Teck is good for South Africa, and it is good for Africa."

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The Minerals Council South Africa will renew its focus on key safety interventions, particularly on eliminating falls-of-ground incidents, which have increased in the past year despite 2025's record low number of fatalities

The Minerals Council noted in a briefing on day-two of the Investing in African Mining Indaba that there was a worrying 25% regression in fatalities related to falls of ground, which increased to 15 deaths in 2025 from 12 the year before.

In 2022, a CEO-approved fall-of-ground action plan contributed to fall-of-ground fatalities being lowered to six. Now fatalities the Minerals Council will work with its members to understand why there has been a setback.

In the 2016 to 2020 five-year period, the number of fall-of-ground fatalities fell by 78% to an average of 24 a year from an average of 111 a year in 2001 to 2005.

The key interventions were the implementation of entry examinations and actively making working areas safe daily since 2009.

In 2012, netting and bolting of tunnel roofs and walls were introduced and the use of steel nets has become a common feature in South Africa's deep-level mines.

The mining industry closed year 2025 on 41 known fatalities, an all-time low and one fatality fewer than the 42 in 2024.

While pointing out that this was the second successive year of the lowest number of mining sector fatalities, Minerals Council CEO Zero Harm Forum chairperson Japie Fullard made a strong point of acknowledging that 41 families have lost their loved ones, as have friends and colleagues, and extend the industry's heartfelt condolences to them.

"As mining CEOs, we believe that zero harm is possible. If you consider the significant reduction in fatalities, injuries and illnesses in the sector over the past three decades you will understand why we hold this belief," Fullard added.

In the coal industry, for example, there were eight months up to end August 2025 without a fatality..

Indications that safety interventions and programmes delivering the outcomes the sector expects to see as it strives for Zero Harm is that the number of 2025 fatalities in 2025 is marginally down on 2024 fatalities and there has also been a 12% reduction in serious injuries to 1 693 from 1 925,

The mining industry has reduced fatalities in three decades by 91% to 41 in 2025 from 484 in 1994. Serious injuries have fallen by 80% to 1 693 from 8 347 in that period, with specific sector focus on leading causes of fatalities such as falls of ground as well as transportation and mining contributing to the reduction. Increased attention at CEO level to lead safety and health initiatives and the sector's adoption of leading practices have contributed positively.

The Minerals Council's most important partnership is with the Mines Inspectorate in the Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources and organised labour as we strive to achieve Zero Harm at South Africa's mines. This is the partnership most highly valued by the Minerals Council because of the significant interventions the sector has made in fatalities, injuries, and occupational diseases to return all employees home in safely after every shift.

At the Minerals Council, member CEOs meet on the first working day of each month to share their learnings about safety incidents, the root causes and the actions they have implemented to ensure these incidents are not repeated again.

"It's only through sharing like this that we grow our knowledge base and not repeat the mistakes that have hurt or killed our colleagues. It is a very powerful platform and I'm encouraged by the seriousness with which these sessions are treated and the level of engagement we have. I have no doubt this a major contributor towards the advances we are making in health and ...

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A strong sustained positive commodity cycle is on the way, and South Africa should go all out to take full benefit from it for the benefit of the South African people.

To make the best of what is seen as a major new opportunity for South Africa, government should ensure a regulatory environment that is enabling, electricity competitiveness should be assured and the way should be opened for exploration to take place in the near term.

These were among the points made by Minerals Council South Africa president Paul Dunne, who is leading the mining industry through regulatory shifts that will promote investment in exploration and mining. Dunne, who is also the CEO of Northam Platinum and who served as caretaker president in 2024, was officially elected at the council's 135th annual general meeting in May 2025.

"It's a personal view, but I do think South Africa is in for a strong multi-year commodity cycle and not, as you might say, a flash in the pan," Dunne outlined during a key media briefing on day-one of this year's well-attended Investing in African Mining Indaba in Cape Town, which is being covered by Mining Weekly.

"The question, of course, that's certainly in our minds is, will we be able to take full advantage of a commodity cycle such as this? We're certainly going to be advantaged, but will we be able to take full advantage?"

"There are still hurdles and obstacles that we're working on to improve our lot. The team at Minerals Council South Africa is a very dedicated bunch of quite quiet people.

"In many respects, what they do is often hidden in the sense that it's a lot of hard grind behind the scenes with government departments. In essence, what Minerals Council South Africa is doing is grinding out better outcomes on some very difficult issues.

"The issue that is foremost in our mind is the Amendment Bill," in reference to the 2025 draft Mineral Resources Development Bill, which aims to amend South Africa's Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act of 2002.

"We were disconcerted by what we saw in the Bill and we hadn't yet got access to the regulations that support the Bill, and we had about five areas of broad concern.

"In the first instance, we directly engaged with the Minister and the department to express concern, and we followed that up with a very lengthy legalistic document, pointing out the good bits and raising alarm on some of the more difficult areas," Dunne spelt out in the Minerals Council South Africa briefing covered by Mining Weekly.

Fingers are now crossed that a reformed Bill will be published in the not-too-distant future.

FERROALLOYS SHOULD BE GIVEN A CHANCE

The second crucial issue raised by Dunne is the electricity issue. "Although we've had success as a country with the security of electrical supply, the cost of electrical supply has arisen by very substantial amount of somewhere between 800% nd 900% over the last ten years or so.

"That has put pressure on the energy intensive users, such as the ferroalloy part of our sector, and beginning with the ferrochrome and then also the ferromanganese. These smelters are very heavy users of power and one of the biggest cost inputs is the cost of power.

"Many of those furnaces are now dormant because they are not profitable in the current environment. What we have done, working with the government departments, including Minister of Electricity, together with the chrome sector, is to advise government that we need to help that sector.

"The reason we worry about tariffs and quota application is it's contagious and has potentially unintended consequences, and we also think it's a misdiagnosis of the problem.

"The real issue is the cost of power, and there is movement from Eskom under the guidance of the Ministry of El...

South Africa's mining constraints need urgent attention, Minerals Council tells Indaba

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South Africa's mining sector remains constrained by regulatory and operational bottlenecks that need urgent attention to unlock full potential through the attraction of long-term and sustainable investment in exploration and mines.

Mining and its direct suppliers support nearly 900 000 jobs and the livelihoods of 3.6-million South Africans.

Mining is a powerful multiplier and growing mining grows the economy and jobs.

But the way to grow the sector is through investment, which needs a globally competitive regulatory and operating environment, Minerals Council South Africa CEO Mzila Mthenjane made clear during a crucial 2026 State of the Mining Nation media briefing on day-one of the well-attended Investing in African Mining Indaba in Cape Town.

The members of Minerals Council South Africa account for 90% of South Africa's annual mining turnover.

The mining sector cannot improve investor confidence alone. It is only through partnerships, particularly with the government and, more specifically, the Department of Minerals and Petroleum Resources (DMPR), that a collaborative approach to creating a conducive regulator and operating environment can be created and sustained, Mthenjane emphasised.

Described as "disappointing" was that the first iteration of South Africa's Mineral Resources Development Bill, which was gazetted in May 2025.

The Bill, Minerals Council pointed out, did not encourage or sustain the growth and investment that the mining industry needs to enable it to realise its full potential to create employment, stimulate the economy and fulfil its social mandate.

The lifeblood of mining is exploration. Without exploration, the mining sector has no future. In South Africa, exploration expenditure was R781-million in 2024, down from a peak of R6.2 billion in 2006, according to Stats SA data.

"This is deeply troubling for our sector and it needs urgent attention," Minerals Council South Africa pointed out.

Since May last year, the council has held talks with the DMPR on our submission regardng areas of concern for our members with the Bill. These engagements were generally constructive. We anticipate the revised Bill, which we expect to be published in coming weeks, will reflect our inputs to ensure mining attracts investment in exploration, mine development and existing operations.

"We are cautiously optimistic but if the revisions mirror the first iteration of the Bill, we will continue robust engagements with the DMPR," Mthenjane outlined.

Encouraging progress has been made in the business and government partnership in Operation Vulindlela under the Presidency to address three key crises that South Africa faced in 2020.

Railway performance has stabilised and is showing improvement, which is important for coal, chrome, iron-ore and manganese exports. Electricity generation has improved, with the last loadshedding experienced in May 2025.

Operation Vulindlela initiatives to address crime and corruption helped secure South Africa's removal from the Financial Active Task Force grey list and contributed to an S&P credit rating upgrade in the last quarter of 2025.

The underlying structural reforms, particularly in electricity around the creation of a separate transmission company to own and manage the grid, to ensure the introduction of the private sector in energy generation and participation on railways and at harbours must not be delayed or changed because it will damage the green shoots of positive sentiment emerging towards South Africa.

"South Africa's mineral endowment is extraordinary. With the right reforms, strong partnerships and policy certainty, we can attract investment, create jobs and build ...