Gauteng Business 2022/23
The 2022/23 edition of Gauteng Business is the 13th issue of this highly successful publication that has established itself as the premier business and investment guide for the Gauteng Province. In addition to the regular articles providing insight into each of the key economic sectors of the province, a special feature on the growth and significance of the green economy is included in this edition. Every sector from agriculture to transport and logistics is referenced, with several Gauteng companies taking the lead in the field of creating a more sustainable future for themselves and for their clients. The fact that mining companies and others are starting to build facilities to generate power is significant for the country as a whole. Gold Fields’ 40MW solar project at its South Deep mine is one of the first of its kind and it is certainly a precursor of what we can expect to see a lot more of in the future. The unexpected fall from power in the province’s three big metropolitan municipalities in 2021 of the political party that is in charge at provincial and national level, the African National Congress, is noted in the Regional Overview. Whether this presages a change beyond the borders of Gauteng in elections to come remains to be seen, but the huge budgets which now fall under the control of coalition governments in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni will certainly serve to sharpen the focus of ANC election planners for national elections in 2024.
The 2022/23 edition of Gauteng Business is the 13th issue of this highly successful publication that has established itself as the premier business and investment guide for the Gauteng Province.
In addition to the regular articles providing insight into each of the key economic sectors of the province, a special feature on the growth and significance of the green economy is included in this edition. Every sector from agriculture to transport and logistics is referenced, with several Gauteng companies taking the lead in the field of creating a more sustainable future for themselves and for their clients. The fact that mining companies and others are starting to build facilities to generate power is significant for the country as a whole. Gold Fields’ 40MW solar project at its South Deep mine is one of the first of its kind and it is certainly a precursor of what we can expect to see a lot more of in the future.
The unexpected fall from power in the province’s three big metropolitan municipalities in 2021 of the political party that is in charge at provincial and national level, the African National Congress, is noted in the Regional Overview. Whether this presages a change beyond the borders of Gauteng in elections to come remains to be seen, but the huge budgets which now fall under the control of coalition governments in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni will certainly serve to sharpen the focus of ANC election planners for national elections in 2024.
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Mining<br />
Tailings are proving lucrative in <strong>Gauteng</strong>.<br />
OVERVIEW<br />
SECTOR INSIGHT<br />
Harmony’s purchase of<br />
Mine Waste Solutions is<br />
paying off.<br />
<strong>Gauteng</strong> is home to many old mines which means that<br />
the province has to guard against many of the aftereffects<br />
of deep mining such as acid mine water and<br />
subsidence. The Council for Geoscience is actively<br />
engaged in research projects into such issues but the high prices<br />
that gold is attracting globally means that another byproduct of<br />
mining, tailings, has become more lucrative.<br />
Mine Waste Solutions, a tailings retreatment operation bought<br />
by Harmony from AngloGold Ashanti in 2020 and operated by<br />
subsidiary Chemwes, has performed well for the group. Production of<br />
2 057kg (66 133oz) of gold in the nine months to June 2021 reflected<br />
high productivity at a healthy average gold price of R729 882/kg.<br />
Harmony Gold’s acquisition strategy, including the purchase from<br />
AngloGold of Moab Khotsong, will result in it being the country’s<br />
biggest gold producer. With 350 000 new ounces coming from<br />
Mponeng, it could produce an annual total of 1.7-million ounces.<br />
A new company, Shallow Reefs Gold, has been created to pursue<br />
projects in the shallow reefs of the Witwatersrand Gold Basin. The<br />
company believes that the grade of the deposits makes for a good<br />
economic proposition, especially as the infrastructure required for<br />
shallow mining is much cheaper than for the deep mining that has<br />
characterised the sector in the past.<br />
Cullinan diamond mine is engaged in an expansion programme called<br />
the C-Cut Phase 1 project. Cullinan is famous for its rare blue diamonds.<br />
The University of Witwatersrand started life as the South African School<br />
of Mines. The School of Mining Engineering at Wits is the highest-ranked<br />
school at the university in terms of the QS World University Rankings.<br />
ONLINE RESOURCES<br />
Council for Geoscience: www.geoscience.org.za<br />
Minerals Council South Africa: www.mineralscouncil.org.za<br />
National Department of Mineral Resources: www.dmr.gov.za<br />
Credit: Harmony<br />
<strong>Gauteng</strong> is home to most of<br />
the research and training bodies<br />
associated with mining. Sibanye-<br />
Stillwater supports the Wits<br />
Mining Institute’s Digital Mining<br />
Laboratory (Digimine). AECI,<br />
the explosives and chemicals<br />
company, sponsors the Virtual<br />
Reality Mine Design Centre at<br />
the University of Pretoria.<br />
The Mandela Mining Precinct<br />
is a joint venture between three<br />
government departments and<br />
the Minerals Council South Africa<br />
which aims to develop research<br />
into mining and showcase the<br />
country’s manufacturing abilities.<br />
Mintek is an autonomous<br />
body based in Randburg which<br />
receives about 30% of its budget<br />
from the Department of Mineral<br />
Resources. The balance comes<br />
from joint ventures with private<br />
sector partners, or is earned<br />
in research and development<br />
income, the sale of services or<br />
products and from technology<br />
licensing agreements.<br />
Pretoria University has a<br />
Department of Mining Engineering,<br />
the University of South Africa offers<br />
three national diplomas in minerelated<br />
fields, the University of<br />
Johannesburg has mine-surveying<br />
courses and the Vaal and Tshwane<br />
Universities of Technology have<br />
engineering faculties. ■<br />
21<br />
GAUTENG BUSINESS <strong>2022</strong>
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