South Africa willing to develop mining cooperation with Iran

South African Ambassador to Iran, William Max Whitehead, said on Tuesday that South African government is willing to develop mining cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran, AVA Diplomatic reports.He made the remarks in the 3rd Annual Iran Mines and Mining Industries Exhibition and the 5th Conference on Mining Engineering.

Dear Ladies, Gentleman and dignitaries of Iranian Mining Engineering Organization:

South Africa welcomes the current negotiations between P5+1 and is optimistic that an agreement shall open up opportunities for cooperation between the two countries once it is finalized. South Africa also believes that it shall usher in a period in which the energies of Iranian will be unleashed especially in Mining sector which it is got tremendous potential.

South Africa is renowned for an abundance of mineral resources, accounting for a significant proportion of both world production and reserves, and South African mining companies dominate many sectors in the global industry. This sector contributes around 5% to total GDP.

South Africa is the world’s biggest producer of gold and platinum and one of the leading producers of base metals and coal. The country’s diamond industry is the fourth-largest in the world, with only Botswana, Canada and Russia producing more diamonds each year. South Africa has also considerable potential for the discovery of other world-class deposits in areas yet to be exhaustively explored.

The sector spans the full spectrum of the five major mineral categories – namely precious metals and minerals, energy minerals, non-ferrous metals and minerals, ferrous minerals and industrial minerals.

Apart from its prolific mineral reserves, South Africa’s strengths include a high level of technical and production expertise, and comprehensive research and development activities.

Mintek is South Africa’s national mineral research organization and it is one of the world’s leading technology organizations specializing in mineral processing, extractive metallurgy and related areas. Working closely with industry and other R&D institutions, Mintek provides service test-work, process development and optimization, consulting and innovative products to clients worldwide.

The country has world-scale primary processing facilities covering carbon steel, stainless steel and aluminum – in addition to gold and platinum.

With the growth of South Africa’s secondary and tertiary industries, as well as a decline in gold production, mining’s contribution to South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) has declined over the past 10 years. However, this may be offset by an increase in the downstream or beneficiated minerals industry, which the government has targeted as a growth sector.

Lucrative opportunities exist for downstream processing and adding value locally to iron, carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, platinum group metals and gold.

A wide range of materials is available for jewelry – including gold, platinum, diamonds, tiger’s eye and a variety of other semi-precious stones. The sector is regulated by the South African Diamond and Precious Metals Regulator.

South Africa’s total reserves remain some of the world’s most valuable, with an estimated worth of R20.3-trillion ($2.5-trillion). Overall, the country is estimated to have the world’s fifth-largest mining sector in terms of GDP value.

The mining industry is also the third largest sector in the South African economy after the agriculture and industrial manufacturing sectors. It accounts for approximately 8% of GDP1and creates approximately one million jobs (500 000 direct and 500 000 indirect)

The importance of the sector to the South African economy necessitates that its various role players within their respective mandates, enhance its competitiveness.

The development of new technologies benefits every major component of the mineral industry, including exploration, mining, mineral processing, beneficiation, associated health and safety issues, and environmental issues. Therefore, technology development needs to be focused on those areas that are critical to the entire value chain.

Mining involves the full life cycle from exploration through to production (mining and minerals

Processing) up to closure and rehabilitation. Mining remains a controversial subject, because while it creates jobs and spurs economic activity, it inherently has an adverse impact on the Environment.

It is thus acknowledged that South Africa’s future economic growth will continue to be closely linked to the mining industry.

The global position of South Africa’s mining equipment industry is indicated by the extent of exports. The sector dominates the export of capital equipment, constituting 8.5% of South African exports (2005– 2009) and 55% of total capital equipment exports.

These exports are increasing by 20% per year. South Africa has a dense network of supplier industries, raw materials, and skills; the local value addition of these specialist mining services is estimated at 90%.

In mining equipment South Africa is a net exporter, and the country has a strong positive trade balance with sub- Saharan Africa fueled by the increases in exports. The fastest-growing market for South African mining equipment exports is Latin America.

Mining & Minerals in Iran:

Mining in Iran has room for further development, yet the country is one of the most important mineral producers in the world, ranked among 15 major mineral-rich countries, holding some 68 types of minerals, 37 billion tons of proven reserves and more than 57 billion tons of potential reserves worth $770 billion in 2014.

Areas for mutual Cooperation in the Mining Sector between Iran and South Africa:

1. 1. Project management
2. 2. Training
3. 3. Skills transfer
4. 4. Feasibility study
5. 5. Technology transfer
6. 6. Exploration
7. 7. Beneficiation: Beneficiation involves a range of different activities including:

Large-scale, capital-intensive activities, such as smelting;

Sophisticated refining plants; and

Labor-intensive processes, such as craft jewelry, metal fabrication and ceramic pottery.

8. 8. Research and development
9. 9. Inward and outward investment

Two major mining events in South Africa:

1. 1. Mining Indaba (February of each year)

Investing in African Mining Indaba is an annual professional conference dedicated to the capitalization and development of mining interests in Africa. It is currently the worlds and Africa’s largest mining investment event and Africa’s largest mining event.

Mining Indaba has been the platform providing the catalyst for expansion. After two decades, it is a benchmark of its kind, having become much larger and more significant than simply just an event, Mining Indaba has truly become where the ‘world connects with African mining.’

2. 2. Electra Mining: (September of every other year)

A large number of visitors attend the biggest mining, industrial, machine tools and electrical trade show in southern Africa, along with that many potential customers in one place.

Electra Mining Africa is further supported by a programme of conferences and workshops running alongside the exhibition, focusing on topical issues that will be of benefit to those involved in these industry sectors.

South Africa – Iran mining cooperation:

In June 2014, DTI lead a South African business delegation visit to Iran: 13-19 June 2014. The majority of the delegates mining and mining related service industries companies.

The South African delegates travelled to Yazd where they held a meeting in Yazd Chamber of Commerce with a number of Yazd mining and mineral companies.TheYazd mining companies showed interest to receive the South African mining technology and mining services offered by South African companies.

Conclusion: All in all, there is huge range of potential for mutual cooperation in the mining sector between two countries that could be materialized by identification of those potential areas in the pre Joint Commission technical teams of the two countries session that will be held in Tehran prior to the 12th Joint Commission.

The identified areas of cooperation that will benefit the two nations, will be addressed and finalized in the upcoming 12th session of South Africa – Iran Joint Commission.