Mining industry. UNDERMINING PROGRESS.

(From Financial Mail)

Byline: Brendan Ryan

Mining industry UNDERMINING PROGRESS Executives are becoming more outspoken about the poor implementation of new laws Mining executives are finally speaking out over their long-simmering unhappiness about the implementation of new mining regulations.

Executive after executive interviewed at last week's Cape Town mining indaba acknowledged that black economic empowerment (BEE) was crucial but objected to the way the department of minerals & energy (DME) was implementing the new rules.

The sector that is being hit particularly hard is the one government wants to most promote: exploration and the development of junior mining companies. The exploration sector in SA remains moribund compared with other African countries such as Botswana, Tanzania, Gabon and even the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), not to mention more developed states like Australia and Canada. The reasons given by mining entrepreneurs concern mainly the delay and complications involved in getting …