GRACELIN BASKARAN: SA should be making better use of its mineral resources to create jobs
The country needs to get better at attracting investment to build processing and manufacturing capacity to process the minerals it has
SA is at a critical juncture. Despite being the wealthiest mining jurisdiction in the world with a non-energy mineral reserved value upwards of $2.4-trillion, the country continues to mainly export raw ores, losing job creation potential, domestic energy generation capacity and substantial export value.
Let’s look at some numbers. In 2018 SA exported $3.5bn of manganese, amounting to 76.6% of the world’s exports. In 2020 the country exported 76.1% of the world’s chromium ore, which is used in a range of clean energy technologies. Manganese and chromium are used for wind, hydro, geothermal, energy storage and carbon capture and storage...
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