The upcoming Investing in African Mining Indaba, to be held from 3-6 February at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, will be the 26th in the series and the organisers are promising that it will be bigger than previous Mining Indabas, with 7 000 or more delegates expected to attend. This year’s event, which will have an emphasis on the digitised mining economy, has been designed to make networking and deal making easier than ever, with an expanded investor relations service and an enhanced business matchmaking system in operation.
The Main Stage presentations are always a great drawcard and speakers this year will include Gwede Mantashe, South Africa’s Minister of Mineral Resources & Energy, who will give the welcoming address; Dr Samuel Urkato, Minister of Mines and Petroleum of Ethiopia; Robert Friedland of Ivanhoe Mines, who always attracts a huge audience; Mark Bristow of Barrick, one of the leading personalities of the African mining scene; Sébastien de Montessus, who heads the highly successful West African gold miner, Endeavour Mining; and Mark Cutifani of Anglo American, who has enjoyed huge success in reshaping one of the world’s most iconic mining companies.
The exhibition forming part of the Mining Indaba is expected to attract over 200 exhibitors this year.
According to the official event brochure, top discussion topics will include:
- The brand of mining: reconnecting the fundamentals of the mining industry with next generation values.
- Price volatility and the impact on mining investment – 2020 and beyond.
- Resource nationalism and investor risk: analysing and assessing exposure in current African markets and strategies to mitigate risk.
- Leveraging precious metals and battery metals to create economic stability and thriving communities.
- Winning back the millennial generation: how should mining companies position themselves to attract millennial investors?
- Tackling the youth challenge: how can the mining sector be an engine for development across Africa?
- President Ramaphosa’s YES initiative: how can South African mining leverage youth employment using this and how is it working?
A new addition to the programme at this year’s Mining Indaba will be a General Counsel Forum. The organisers say this new ‘stream’ will tackle legal issues unique to those working in the mining sector and provide a platform for law firms and in-house legal teams to connect and widen their industry knowledge. Discussion topics will include land rights issues, environmental and employment law, regulatory uncertainty and the legal framework of liability, insurance and sustainability surrounding climate change. The forum will take place on 6 February, in partnership with Africa Legal.
This year will also see an extended Mining 2050 programme. The impact of technology on the future of mining operations will now be discussed over two days instead of one, under the theme ‘Optimising growth in the fourth industrial revolution’. Key topics include green and sustainable technology, waterless mines, artificial intelligence, robotics and job creation, using blockchain technology for sustainability, and mitigating digital risk. Among the speakers who will participate are Denver Dreyer, Senior Vice President, MM&M, EMEA of the Worley Group, and Larisha Naidoo, MD of Anglo Zimele.
Climate change and the industry’s role in decarbonisation are frontline issues for investors and the topics will be discussed during main stage sessions and the dedicated Sustainable Development Day. Among the issues to be addressed during the Sustainable Development Day are ‘Climate smart mining’, ‘Innovative tech and data management solutions for sustainable mining’ and ‘Rethinking mine rehabilitation’.
A Battery Metals Day on 4 February will look at innovative solutions to increase the sustainable supply of battery materials and will bring together mining companies, investors and end-users to provide a clear understanding of the challenges and opportunities in the li-ion supply change. Among the speakers lined up are Colin Hamilton of BMO Capital Markets and Harry Greaves of Prospect Resources, the company that is developing the Arcadia lithium project near Harare in Zimbabwe.
An intergovernmental summit will be held on 5 February and speakers confirmed are South Africa’s Minister Mantashe, Tyler Gillard of the OECD, Gesler E. Murray, Liberia’s Minister of Mines & Energy, Roger Baxter, CEO of the Minerals Council South Africa, Mohamed Abdel Vettah, Mauritania’s Minister of Petroleum Energy & Mines, and Lelenta Hawa Baba Ba, Mali’s Minister of Mines & Petroleum.
The organisers of the Mining Indaba have made a determined attempt in recent years to take the event back to its roots by making it more welcoming to the junior miners who were the mainstays of early events. They say that they remain committed to connecting junior miners with capital. To this end, the Mining Indaba will again feature the Junior Mining Showcase, which is a dedicated exhibition space for junior and mid-tier mining companies, and also the Junior Mining Forum, a dedicated stage exploring the factors driving investment within the mining market.
Also aimed at juniors is the Investment Battlefield, first launched in 2017 and highly popular ever since. The Battlefield provides a platform for junior mining companies with a market cap below US$50 million to pitch their projects to a panel of high-profile investors. Each pitch lasts no longer than five minutes with 20 minutes of feedback from the judges.
Winning the Investment Battlefield competition can have a marked impact on a company’s fortunes, as Thor Explorations and its CEO, Segun Lawson, can attest. Thor won the 2018 Investment Battlefield and just 14 months later secured a US$78 million financial package for its Segilola open-pit gold project in Nigeria, which is now ‘shovel ready’ with all approvals in place. It is projected to have a production of 80 000 ounces per annum and will rank as Nigeria’s first modern, large-scale gold mine.
Commenting on the impact of winning the Investment Battlefield, Lawson says it was ground-breaking in terms of “getting out from under the radar” and increasing the company’s exposure. “It was the first time getting the story out to a more global investing audience. We had investors from Australia, North America, the UK and South Africa all there to listen.”
According to the organisers, 900 plus mining executives, 250 plus executives from junior mining companies and 600 plus global investors attended the show in 2019. In addition, over 200 organisations exhibited at the event.
The Mining Indaba is organised by the UK-based, LSE-listed Hyve Group (previously ITE Group), which recorded revenues of £220,7 million in the year to 30 September 2019 and which describes itself as a “next generation global events business”. It acquired the Mining Indaba from Euromoney Institutional Investor in a deal worth £30 million announced in October 2018.
Photos courtesy of Mining Indaba