South African Business 2020 edition
A unique guide to business and investment in South Africa. Welcome to the eighth edition of the South African Business journal. First published in 2011, the publication has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to South Africa. Regular pages cover all the main economic sectors of the South African economy and give a snapshot of each of the country’s provincial economies. A special feature focusses on the huge potential for growth and job creation which the tourism industry holds. The possibilities presented by the age of renewable energy for the mining industry is the topic of another special feature and the CEO of Minerals Council South Africa responds to a set of questions on the state of mining in the country. South African Business is complemented by nine regional publications covering the business and investment environment in each of South Africa’s provinces.
A unique guide to business and investment in South Africa.
Welcome to the eighth edition of the South African Business journal. First published in 2011, the publication has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to South Africa. Regular pages cover all the main economic sectors of the South African economy and give a snapshot of each of the country’s provincial economies. A special feature focusses on the huge potential for growth and job creation which the tourism industry holds. The possibilities presented by the age of renewable energy for the mining industry is the topic of another special feature and the CEO of Minerals Council South Africa responds to a set of questions on the state of mining in the country. South African Business is complemented by nine regional publications covering the business and investment environment in each of South Africa’s provinces.
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SPECIAL FEATURE<br />
Mining for the future<br />
<strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> miners are finding new uses for platinum and gearing up for the age of<br />
renewable energy.<br />
New national strategies are being developed for platinum. Implats’ Marula Mine in Limpopo produced 85 100<br />
ounces of platinum in concentrate in FY2018.<br />
The head office of the Minerals Council <strong>South</strong> Africa is powered<br />
by 40 ounces of platinum and natural gas. A fuel cell at the<br />
Johannesburg site of the national mine owners’ association<br />
is <strong>South</strong> Africa and Africa’s first base load installation.<br />
Finding new uses for platinum is one of the new priorities exercising<br />
the minds of the leaders of the <strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> mining industry as it<br />
moves to adapt to a world which is moving away from fossil fuels.<br />
While there is broad agreement that the world needs to steer away<br />
from minerals that pollute the environment, the supply of minerals used<br />
in electric car manufacture (such as nickel and cobalt) is also finite.<br />
Speaking at the 2019 Investing in <strong>African</strong> Mining Indaba, Ford’s<br />
head of Energy Storage Strategy and Research, Ted J Miller, said that<br />
the motor industry was “uncomfortable driving these commodities”. He<br />
noted that Ford has already reduced cobalt production by two-thirds,<br />
but the challenge is scale.<br />
In 2012 Anglo Platinum launched an underground locomotive powered<br />
by a fuel cell. Platinum coating greatly enhances the hydrogen<br />
absorption capacity of fuel cells. In 2016 Impala Platinum Refinery unveiled<br />
a fuel cell forklift and a hydrogen refuelling station in Springs.<br />
The editor of the Mining Weekly publication, Martin Creamer, has<br />
published a series of articles and editorials extolling the virtues of what<br />
he calls the “best of two new carbon-reducing technology worlds”.<br />
Creamer notes that <strong>South</strong> Africa’s abundant supplies of platinum<br />
group metals (PGMs) and manganese ore can make the country a<br />
leader in battery electric vehicles<br />
(BEV) and fuel cell electric vehicles<br />
(FCEV). He further points to the<br />
work being done by Hydrogen<br />
<strong>South</strong> Africa (HySA) at three<br />
universities and the Council for<br />
Scientific and Industrial Research<br />
(CSIR). <strong>South</strong> Africa’s good supplies<br />
of sunshine and wind make<br />
it ideally suited to generate hydrogen<br />
and if the country could<br />
capture 25% of the world market,<br />
it would be worth $600-million<br />
(Mining Weekly)<br />
Coal<br />
Several large players in the<br />
<strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> market have sold<br />
or intend selling their coal assets.<br />
These include <strong>South</strong>32, Anglo<br />
American and BHP Billiton. Seriti<br />
Resources has purchased the<br />
SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS <strong>2020</strong><br />
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