Free State Business 2021
The 2021 edition of Free State Business is the 11th issue of this successful publication that, since its launch, has established itself as the premier business and investment guide for the Free State. The Free State has varied investment and business opportunities and the Free State Development Corporation describes some of these in detail in these pages. Drilling for natural gas is a new phenomenon which may spark activity in other sectors and this journal notes significant new investments and projects in the chemicals and mining sectors. The official launch of the Maluti-A-Phofung Special Economic Zone (MAP SEZ) was a significant event for the economy of South Africa’s most centrally located province. Located on the strategically significant N3 highway that links the economic heartland of South Africa to the coast, the MAP SEZ has the potential to attract new investors and spark a revival in the manufacturing sector. In addition, overviews on each of the key economic sectors provide up-to-date information on trends in the mining and tourism sectors, for example. Regular information about the size and nature of each sector is also included.
The 2021 edition of Free State Business is the 11th issue of this successful publication that, since its launch, has established itself as the premier business and investment guide for the Free State. The Free State has varied investment and business opportunities and the Free State Development Corporation describes some of these in detail in these pages. Drilling for natural gas is a new phenomenon which may spark activity in other sectors and this journal notes significant new investments and projects in the chemicals and mining sectors. The official launch of the Maluti-A-Phofung Special Economic Zone (MAP SEZ) was a significant event for the economy of South Africa’s most centrally located province. Located on the strategically significant N3 highway that links the economic heartland of South Africa to the coast, the MAP SEZ has the potential to attract new investors and spark a revival in the manufacturing sector. In addition, overviews on each of the key economic sectors provide up-to-date information on trends in the mining and tourism sectors, for example. Regular information about the size and nature of each sector is also included.
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OVERVIEW<br />
Mining<br />
Feasibility studies are exploring new gold projects.<br />
Diamonds, coal and gold are the main minerals found in the<br />
<strong>Free</strong> <strong>State</strong> but the decline of gold mining is a cause for concern.<br />
Several summits and a Mining Indaba have focussed<br />
on what kind of economic activity can replace gold mining.<br />
However, Sibanye-Stillwater is bucking the trend with the investigation<br />
of a possible new project next to its existing Beatrix mine. Gold prices<br />
rose appreciably during the Covid-19 pandemic. The mining sector<br />
makes up 11% of provincial GDP. A minerals beneficiation strategy has<br />
been developed because this is a key area for potential growth.<br />
Beatrix gold mine. Image: Sibanye Stillwater<br />
The <strong>Free</strong> <strong>State</strong> Provincial Government announced in February<br />
2020 the creation of a company that will manufacture mining<br />
equipment, to be called Newco. Small mining companies have been<br />
promised technical support and with health and safety and access to<br />
beneficiation opportunities.<br />
Sibanye-Stillwater’s Beatrix mine, with a life-of-mine projected to<br />
2025, produced 196 698 ounces of gold in 2019. Beatrix also holds<br />
26.97-million pounds of uranium resources. Mining rights to the<br />
Southern <strong>Free</strong> <strong>State</strong> project adjacent to Beatrix have been approved<br />
and a feasibility study on part of it, the Bloemhoek decline, was done<br />
in 2019. The company reported that the Southern <strong>Free</strong> <strong>State</strong> property<br />
had surface and underground gold reserves of 2.1-million oz and<br />
mineral resources of 8.2-million oz.<br />
AngloGold Ashanti has sold most of its assets to Harmony Gold.<br />
Most of the mines are in the North West Province, but the Great Noligwa<br />
and Kopanang mines are in the <strong>Free</strong> <strong>State</strong>. The complex includes one<br />
uranium plant, four gold plants and one sulphuric acid plant.<br />
Online Resources<br />
Minerals Council South Africa: www.mineralscouncil.org.za<br />
National Department of Mineral Resources: www.dmr.gov.za<br />
South African Mining Development Association: www.samda.co.za<br />
Sector Insight<br />
A new equipment<br />
manufacturer is planned<br />
for Welkom.<br />
These assets increased<br />
Harmony’s underground<br />
resource base in South Africa by<br />
nearly 40%. The mines include<br />
Tshipong and Phakisa (near<br />
Odendaalsrus), Virginia, Target<br />
(near Allanridge), Masimong<br />
(Riebeeckstad), Joel (near<br />
Theunissen) and Bambanani at<br />
Welkom. Phakisa has mineral<br />
reserves of just over five-million<br />
ounces of gold and Harmony has<br />
invested heavily in the project.<br />
Gold mines in the <strong>Free</strong><br />
<strong>State</strong> also supply a substantial<br />
portion of the total silver<br />
produced in the country, and<br />
large concentrations of uranium<br />
occurring in the gold-bearing<br />
conglomerates of the goldfields<br />
are extracted as a by-product.<br />
Petra Diamonds’ Koffiefontein<br />
mine is on the western edge of<br />
the province, about 80km from<br />
Kimberley. The Voorspoed mine<br />
of De Beers Consolidated Mines<br />
closed in 2018.<br />
Coal is mostly found in the<br />
northern part of the <strong>Free</strong> <strong>State</strong>.<br />
The Sigma-Mookraal mine is<br />
run by Sasol Mining and has<br />
the capacity to supply Sasol<br />
Infrachem in Sasolburg with<br />
two-million tons of coal per year.<br />
Seriti Resources has purchased<br />
the New Vaal Colliery from Anglo<br />
American. ■<br />
FREE STATE BUSINESS <strong>2021</strong><br />
38
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