Minerals Council hopes there will be no nasty surprises in the revised mining legislation

A key concern of the mining industry as it awaits publication of the upcoming Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act Amendment Bill is that there should be no unexpected surprises in the new legislation.That’s according to Minerals Council South Africa CEO Mzila Mthenjane speaking at media roundtable on transformation in the mining industry held in Johannesburg.Mthenjane said he could not be specific in terms of “any particular areas” but he cited ownership of prospecting rights as one key issue.Minerals Council chief economist Hugo Pienaar stressed concerns over beneficiation commenting, “we cannot support punitive measures on the primary mining sector that government may do in an attempt to boost beneficiation.”Mthenjane commented, “we would like clarity around the level of ownership at the point of applying for prospecting rights given that it is still a high level of risk investment opportunity.“This is something that would have a huge impact in terms of a shift in sentiment towards investing in exploration in South Africa.“I would also hope that there were lessons learnt from the past.   Given where we are as a country and an economy the role that the mining industry can play in stimulating investment should be a number one priority of the DMPR (Department of Mineral and Petroleum Resources) minister.  “Mthenjane pointed out that economic growth and job creation were the priorities highlighted by President Cyril Ramaphosa when the Government of National Unity was formed.He commented, “I believe the mining industry can make a significant contribution, but it needs to be supported by an appropriate legislative environment.  That’s what we would like to see coming through from the review of the MPRDA.”Asked what sort of response the Minerals Council has had so far from government from its discussions over the MPRDA review Mthenjane replied, “to a large extent they have indicated that they have heard our views over a lot of the concerns.  They have been very specific in enquiring what we believe would be an investor-friendly environment.“Our response is that mining is a long-term investment and one of the key factors is that legislation needs to be consistent, stable and predictable. “Secondly, government needs to contribute its part and not shift some of the burden onto industry.  The industry is more than prepared to make its fair contribution towards social development but that should not be the sole role of industry, and it is not the industry’s intention to take away the duty of government.”Pienaar commented that the political rhetoric around beneficiation had “ratcheted up” over the past year and, in the last week, there had also been “weird comments” from some quarters that South Africa should restrict its platinum group metal exports in response to President Trump’s tariff actions.He added, “our view is that we support beneficiation in South Africa, but we cannot support policies that, in an attempt to boost beneficiation, have the potential to harm the primary mining sector.“The post Minerals Council hopes there will be no nasty surprises in the revised mining legislation appeared first on Miningmx.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com