Plan to process rare metals

South Africa planned to establish a R15 billion rare metals industry complex in the Western Cape, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies announced yesterday.

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South Africa planned to establish a R15 billion rare metals industry complex in the Western Cape, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies announced yesterday.

Davies said the beneficiation complex would be a prime example of how South Africa could extract the maximum value from its world-class reserves of minerals.

He said most of the minerals South African companies took out of the ground, particularly iron ore and titanium, were exported in their raw state without any value being added by beneficiation.

“Our iron ore resources will be depleted in 30 years’ time unless we develop a policy instrument that will ensure we export not only unprocessed minerals, but we begin to maximise benefits of our rich mineral reserves,” he said.

“We export titanium sands for $400 (R2 690) a ton, when we can receive $1 000 a ton through beneficiation. This is why Africa needs to get beneficiation off the ground.”

He said the Departments of Trade and Industry and Mineral Resources would work together to develop a policy to ensure that mining beneficiation became a priority.

The National Empowerment Fund would explore the potential of co-financing a rare metals beneficiation complex worth R15bn in Saldhanha with local and foreign investors.

The National Empowerment Fund, whose role is to promote and facilitate black empowerment, would be used to drive this project. The plant would produce high-value industrial metals, including titanium, zirconium, hafnium, and silicon. An estimated 7 000 jobs would be open at the plant.

Davies was briefing the press in Johannesburg on the revised Industrial Policy Action Plan (Ipap2), an ambitious four-year plan that intends to create a total of 129 000 jobs, including 43 000 direct and 86 000 indirect jobs.

He said the key to the policy was creating a diversified economy by giving attention to a range of sectors including the forestry, business process services, clothing, iron and steel, and green industries.

“There are some sectors, like forestry, where job creation is easier; there are no longer constraints like delays in issuing water licences, especially in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.”

The department was expected to table legislation in Parliament later this year in which it would expand the definitions of industrial development zones (IDZs), Davies said.

“We have four IDZs, but we don’t have an overarching framework. We will develop special economy zones, or industrial parks in which we can build an industrial base so we don’t depend on one industry.”

The updated industrial policy blueprint, first introduced last year, was expected to be tabled in Parliament this week.

Joan Fubbs, the chairwoman for the portfolio committee on trade and industry, gave Ipap2 a stamp of approval, saying it was the first time the department had established a plan that would be a catalyst for job creation and beneficiation.

“You cannot divorce macro- and micro-economic development, this is why the plan will work, because it will create jobs,” she said

. - Dineo Matomela

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/plan-to-process-rare-metals-1.1053314

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