South Africa urges investors to back exploration of critical minerals at Indaba

South Africa is calling on investors to boost funding for exploration of its vast mineral resources, as the government moves to unlock untapped deposits and strengthen the country’s mining sector. Speaking at the South Africa Exploration Investment Forum in Cape Town, South Africa at the Investing African Mining Indaba, Deputy Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Phumzile Mgcina said the country’s renewed exploration drive was supported by deliberate state interventions and managed through the Council for Geoscience (CGS), which is tasked with quantifying the value of strategic mineral commodities. South Africa is already seeing early results.

A project in Bothaville, Free State, has entered an intensive drilling phase targeting rare earth elements, while two Northern Cape projects are scheduled to begin drilling this year. At least four other projects are at the mapping and geophysical survey stage. “The response to the Junior Mining Exploration Fund has been strong, with commitments rising to over R2 billion, up from an initial R400 million contributed by the Department and the Industrial Development Corporation,” Mgcina said.

The second round of the fund attracted 80 applications targeting a range of minerals, including tin, tungsten, titanium, uranium, gold, antimony, arsenic, fluorspar, copper, and lithium. Mgcina also highlighted the launch of the Virtual Core Library, a national initiative to digitally preserve and analyse historical drill core. She said the platform was designed to reduce exploration costs, fast-track decision-making, and lower barriers to entry for junior and emerging miners, while stimulating new activity in underexplored regions.

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“The Virtual Core Library will transform how South Africa extracts value from its geological assets, while safeguarding our geological heritage,” she said. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express permission from ZAMBIA MONITOR.

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