South Africa’s president admits power crisis is hurting mining

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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says the county’s electricity crisis has severely damaged its mining industry, a key pillar of the economy. Ramaphosa made the comment while addressing Investing in African Mining Indaba, the world’s largest mining investment conference.

The Minerals Council South Africa, which represents mining companies, estimates that total mining volumes were down by 6%, or $1.8 billion last year.

In his address, Ramaphosa admitted that the ongoing power cuts implemented on 200 days in 2022 contributed to the slump.

“The electricity crisis on its own has had a huge impact on the mining industry as it has had on other industries,” he said. “Six months ago, we announced the national Energy Action Plan to improve the performance of our existing power stations and to add new generation capacity to the grid as quickly as possible.”

Ramaphosa said the fact that government is now allowing mining companies to generate their own electricity without any restrictions is going to make a huge difference.

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“According to the Minerals Council of South Africa, since the licensing threshold was lifted, approximately 89 embedded projects have been developed with a focus on renewable solutions like solar, wind and battery storage,” he said. “Not only will these projects support mining operations themselves and bring down operation costs, but they will also add much needed power to the country’s overall supply and support South Africa’s decarbonization process.”

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