Minister, officials missing in action as miners deride state dysfunction
Speakers at Junior Indaba hit out at regulator as dysfunctional
Speaker after speaker at a junior mining conference told of their frustration with the Department of Mineral Resources, but it was an industry talking to itself as no one from the department was there to listen or respond to allegations of how a dysfunctional and ineffective regulator was crippling investment and existing mining operations. Speakers at the Junior Indaba, attended by 320 delegates ranging from senior management and fund managers to bankers and lawyers, might not have agreed on which minerals offered the best investment opportunity but there was an almost unanimously expressed thread running through two days of presentations: the department is dysfunctional, legal recourse is the best option to resolve differences with the department or to force it into action, and it is incredibly tough to raise capital for junior companies operating in SA. The ministry was invited to attend, but it responded that the minister and his senior officials were away, said conference chair...
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