The long-awaited debut of SA’s new online mining licence system is on track to be completed in June, opening the door for more investment in exploration in the country.
Addressing this year’s Junior Indaba in Johannesburg on Tuesday, department of mineral resources deputy director-general Tseliso Maqubela said the new mining cadastral system would be implemented in a phased approach, debuting in the Western Cape.
The Western Cape is to be followed by the Eastern Cape, after which the system will be made available nationwide.
“We chose that jurisdiction because it is a manageable mining jurisdiction,” said Maqubela, adding that the Western Cape does not have an appreciable backlog, and there are a limited number of outstanding appeals in the region.
The Western Cape also has the greatest number of operational mines in any province, making it an ideal case study to test the efficacy of the new system.
“We are currently doing data migration for the Western Cape, including validation of that data. Come July 1, you won’t be able to use Samrad (SA Mineral Resources Administration System) to apply in the Western Cape. You will have to apply using the new cadastral system,” said Maqubela.
The new system is an important step in attracting exploration, as it aims to make the management of mineral rights more efficient and transparent while clearing the backlog of mining and prospecting licences.
This is “a critical component of the consideration investors give to a mining jurisdiction”, Minerals Council SA spokesperson Allan Seccombe said.
Seccombe was encouraged that the department was on track to meet its June deadline, saying: “A system that prevents overlapping applications and grants of prospecting and mining rights will address concerns and negative experiences that companies have had in SA.
“Ideally, a transparent, user-friendly, efficient cadastre will make it easy, timely and cost-effective for local and foreign investors to find and apply for exploration targets.”
Business Day reported earlier this year that the department had chosen the PMG Consortium in February last year to install the new cadastral system after more than a decade of delays that had constrained new mining exploration and caused huge backlogs in applications for mining licences.
According to market research organisation BMI, a Fitch Solutions company, an electronic cadastre system could streamline the processing of mineral rights applications, spur greater investment and promote the sector’s expansion.
Last year, the Minerals Council estimated that clearing a backlog of more than 3,000 mining rights could unlock about R30bn in investments, creating much-needed jobs.
Additionally, SA’s failure to boost exploration spending comes while the global demand for critical minerals is rising, imposing opportunity costs on the local sector.
Weak investment in exploration remains a constraint on SA mining, with outlays on mineral exploration falling from a peak of more than R6bn in 2006 to R1bn in recent years.
For the past five years, SA has lagged well behind its mineral-rich peers in terms of investment in exploration, with the value of SA’s exploration spending stuck at R1.1bn-R1.2bn in real terms, the council says.
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