Mining Indaba focus on African minerals critical for a greener future

By Oke Peter
Focusing on the ways Africa can optimise the opportunity to increase the supply of green metals for global energy demands while creating meaningful value for communities will be the emphasis of Investing in African Mining Indaba 2023 which takes place at the CTICC, Cape Town, 6 – 9 February 2023. Green Metals Day, running over two mornings of the event will cover the impact of COP27 outcomes on green metal demand and supply; battery metals and carbon neutrality; green metals outlooks; Africa’s hydrogen potential; as well as ways to build domestic manufacturing industries as part of mineral value addition.

African mining and metals are critical to tackling the global climate emergency. Home to 30% of the world’s mineral deposits, including the critical minerals needed in green technologies and renewable energy, the continent is positioning itself to benefit from the green energy transition.

Simon Ford, Portfolio Director for Investing in African Mining Indaba, said “Mining Indaba provides the perfect platform to explore the balance between opportunity and value creation, particularly in the African context where the social licence to operate is as fundamental to success as the commodity being produced.”

A Minerals for Climate Action report released by the World Bank in mid-2022 estimates that demand for green metals could increase five-fold by 2050 to meet the growing demand for clean energy technologies. This massive boost in demand for minerals and metals will mean that mineral-rich developing countries, like those in Africa, can drive a net-zero future. “Attracting a share of the investment to low and middle-income countries could contribute to economic growth, jobs and local development,” the bank stated.

“Mining Indaba 2023 theme is ‘Unlocking African Mining Investment: Stability, Security, and Supply’, which explores African mining’s opportunities to tap into the global rush for the raw materials needed to ensure a cleaner future, while at the same time considering responsible sourcing and sustained, ethical supplies of these critical minerals.”, adds Ford.

This view is supported by the International Council of Metals and Mining (ICMM), a foundational partner to Mining Indaba. ICMM President & CEO, Rohitesh Dhawan notes that “Critical minerals are the backbone of the energy transition, but how we source and produce them is just as important as how much we need,”

Supporting the Paris Peace Forum’s call for responsible sourcing and production of critical minerals, the ICMM warned that we are walking on a tightrope between an exponential increase in demand for these minerals, rising geopolitical tensions and urgent action on global issues such as climate change.

Simply put, the ‘green’ version of almost anything means the use of more metals but the ICMM doesn’t see this as as a license for industry to mine them at all costs, added Dhawan.