This edition of the Journal is dedicated to papers covering many aspects of the exploration, mining, processing, and beneficiation of diamonds: a commodity of great significance to the economy of South Africa for more than a hundred years.  Diamonds provide a unique source of interesting history in South Africa, and learnings from the early days of diamond mining are still…

I recently visited the Eastern Cape for the occasion of my eldest son’s wedding. It is the first time I had visited beautiful Morgan Bay, and we ventured up the coast into the former Transkei for some sightseeing. At one point we deviated onto a very small dirt track (fortunately we had a 4x4 vehicle) and arrived at a small…

Oh my goodness, it’s nearly Christmas! How the time flies when you are enjoying yourself. It’s year end and time to reflect, as well as to look forward to the New Year. 2018 has been a tumultuous year for the mining industry in South Africa, what with the appointment of a new President of South Africa, a new Minister of…

This edition of the Journal is dedicated to the Diamonds: Source-to-Use conference held during June 2018 at the Birchwood Conference Centre in Johannesburg. It was attended by 107 delegates, some of whom came from as far away as Botswana, Namibia, Canada, the UK, and Belgium. It was the seventh conference in the series, which targets the full spectrum of the diamond pipeline from exploration…

Here is some useful information to get 2019 and our Journal off to a good start. The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) published Research Output Policy (2015) in the Government Gazette (vol. 597 of 11 March 2015, no. 38552), to be implemented from 1 January 2016, which was a revised version of the Policy and Procedures for Measurement…

2019 is a seminal year for investor confidence in South Africa’s mining sector, and international investors will be closely watching a variety of important issues as they seek the clarity they will need to commit to investments in the country. With crucial national elections due in May, a debt crisis at state electricity utility Eskom and the country’s new mining…

By Manus Booysen and Rita Spalding, Partners and mining sector experts at Webber Wentzel Achieving Mining Charter III’s requirements for structuring broad-based ownership, local procurement and social and labour plans is likely to present serious challenges for small scale miners in particular. It may be time to move away from a “one size fits all” approach in setting charter targets.…