The Zambia Chamber of Mines is backing the aggressive development in mining of ‘green metals’ in the Southern African region.
In an interview conducted at the ZCCM IH stand with China Global Television Network at the recently ended Cape Town Mining Indaba in South Africa, the CEO of Zambia’s Chamber of Mines stated that Zambia and the Southern African region were well positioned to play a major role in the supply of metals essential to drive the development of green energy.
“Zambia and Democratic Republic Congo are well endowed with a lot of copper,” said the Mining Chamber CEO. “It comes with a lot of miner mineral credits. Among those metals include cobalt and nickel (which is a better mineral). This suite of minerals makes the region prime and the majority holder of minerals that will power the battery revolution”.
Sokwani also indicated that favorable policy was also key to a stable and sustainable mining environment. This was evident from the various speeches that came from the various heads of state that spoke at the indaba. “The Indaba has helped as there is now clarity on the policy direction going forward”.
The Southern African region is well positioned in terms of availability of green metals. “The spread of materials is not just in the two countries as Malawi has recently announced one of the largest graphite finds in history. We have lithium in Zimbabwe with similar geological structures in Zambia. Obviously the PGM endowment in South Africa which is key for the hydrogen fuel cell production.”
On Benefits to the Mining Communities
During the interview, China Global Television Network raised the issue of rhetoric on the benefits that communities would get from the mining industry. Sokwani’s response indicated that it was an area of interest that the wider mining community through the various chambers was looking into.
“As chambers of mines in the region, we work together. We have an association called mining industry association of southern Africa. Chairmanship is currently with Zambia after taking over from South Africa. At that forum, the leave no one behind issue has become a topical for all associations. The association is well aware of the enclave in terms of perceptions about mining and this can not be allowed to continue”.
On the Importance of Value Chains
The chamber would also like to see improvements in the mining community value chains. “The development of value chains within our buy structures is very important it is something the association intends to give a lot of focus. This will also include getting more involved in the downstream discussions in the mining sector. It is an integrated ecosystem that has to be created in the region with a view of attracting the players that exist in all the relevant areas including automotive industry”.
Pace of implementing mining indaba initiatives key
Another issue raised by the news agency was that of the pace of implementing mining Indaba initiatives. “The super cycle will help with adoption of initiatives. If the price is good, the return is good then there will be more headroom to make huge capital investments. If you have the headroom and commensurate policies, you can accelerate the rate of investment and move quicker. If you have a healthy industry it becomes easier for the 5th estate (civil society) to hold a heather industry accountable”.
–Article updated in second paragraph to reflect China Global Television Network