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Few bits from Fortune and Bernie Strydom (IDC) http://www.miningweekly.com/article/battery-metals-industry-dependent-on-flavour-of-the-month-johannesburg-miningweeklycom---with-nearly-every-forecast-predicting-higher-battery-use-in-the-years-ahead-especially-lithium-ion-batteries-to-power-new-and-existing-technologies-demand-for-its-com Bernie Strydom During a panel discussion at this year�s Junior Indaba, held in Johannesburg, on Wednesday, Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa senior project development manager Bertie Strydom explained that the dynamics around the different mineral resources are dependent on what the market wants. This has, in turn, led to a market segregation between power type solutions, which provide energy for up to about four hours, versus energy type solutions, which provide energy storage for up to ten hours. In simpler terms, this could mean lithium, for power type solutions, versus vanadium, for energy storage solutions. �What we [the IDC] currently see is that, as the demand for a certain battery metal grows, so does the price for these metals. This is, however, a contradiction to what we see at the end product in terms of these battery solutions, where prices are continuously decreasing�. Effectively, Strydom notes, the �middle man�, who will be adding value to the mineral and end product, will be sitting in a bottleneck squeeze as the raw material prices will be increasing, while product prices are decreasing. This means that margins are coming under threat, he warned, adding that the market tendency has been to see end product manufacturers positioning themselves in securing mineral resources through capital investments. This is a trend that South Africa should not lose out on, Strydom averred, as the country is �rich in minerals and we need to make sure that we benefit from these opportunities� Fortune In terms of vanadium, local producer Bushveld Minerals CEO Fortune Mojapelo noted that the company is riding the wave of an increased vanadium demand from China, while hoping for an upside for the metal in the energy sector. Citing this choice of commodity as imperative, Mojapelo said on Wednesday that �everything the company looked at in that space, pointed to what was getting into a sustainable structural deficit�. Going forward, he added, Bushveld will be focusing on where the supply comes from in future, and from which environment, as well as how the company can consolidate these factors while continuing to grow. �From that point of view, we were confident that we will be fully able to meet the challenges that will present themselves when the time comes,� he added, noting that nobody can fully predict when the turn in prices comes for battery metals.

http://www.miningweekly.com/article/south-africa-scraps-plan-for-mining-community-development-levy-2018-06-06/rep_id:3650 OHANNESBURG � South Africa�s government has scrapped plans to compel mining companies to contribute 1% of their annual turnover to a new community development agency because it feared the funds could be abused, the nation�s mining minister said. The levy was proposed in a draft of the nation�s new Mining Charter that was introduced by Mosebenzi Zwane, the former mineral resources minister, and was one of a number of measures producers challenged in court, saying it would push up their costs. Zwane was fired in February when Cyril Ramaphosa replaced Jacob Zuma as President, and replaced by Gwede Mantashe, a former mineworker union leader who agreed to review the charter. There was a risk that the agency �could easily be a slush fund,� Mantashe said in a phone interview on Wednesday. �We are not going to put it in.� Zwane had proposed that the development agency would have directly accounted to the mines minister, a provision that may have been in conflict with public finance laws that give the national tax agency sole responsibility for collecting revenue on behalf of the national government. A first draft of the revised charter will be published next week and will propose that mining companies be compelled to cede a 5% stake stakes to communities where they mine and to give another 5% free stake to their workers, Mantashe said. Read more about looming clashes over the mining charter. Last month, Mantashe said another clause allowing naturalized citizens to benefit from provisions aimed at giving groups that were prejudiced under white minority rule, which ended in 1994, a bigger stake in the mining industry would also be omitted from the charter. Opposition parties suggested that the clause was included to benefit members of the Gupta family, who are friends with Jacob Zuma and were in business with one of his sons. The three Gupta brothers, who have been accused of using their political connections to secure business deals, moved to South Africa in the 1990s and some of them have been awarded citizenship. They deny wrongdoing. �We want to cut out anything that looks suspicious in the charter,� Mantashe said on May 22.

https://www.fin24.com/Economy/ramaphosa-sa-to-attend-g7-summit-after-seven-year-absence-20180531 President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday said South Africa has been invited to attend the upcoming G7 summit in Canada, after a seven-year absence in the economic forum of some of the most powerful nations in the world. Addressing a gathering of professional and academics in Johannesburg, Ramaphosa described the invitation as a sign of renewed confidence in the country. �Very soon we will be travelling to the G7 in Canada. We have been invited after a seven-year lull. They said to us, come and talk about South Africa,� said Ramaphosa. �We have decided that we are going where the money is, we are going there to drive investment,� he stressed. The G7 consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom and the US. The summit, which is attended by heads of state and investors, will be held on June 8 to 9 and a few guest countries are usually invited to attend. Ramaphosa said South Africa would use the opportunity in particular to invite investors to inject capital into the ailing mining sector. The sector is currently battling the effects of low demand and the policy uncertainty brought by the Mining Charter, which is currently under review. The controversial charter is aimed at addressing historic economic imbalances in the sector through increased participation of black people in the industry. Ramaphosa has voiced his support for the charter but admitted that the uncertainty brought by the proposed mining regulations is affecting business. �We are determined to improve conditions of doing business in the country, and improve policy certainty as we wrap up the Mining Charter.� Mining is one of the key pillars of the economy, and the sector has over the last few years been shedding jobs in the face of reduced output and falling commodity prices. In April Ramaphosa announced a plan to raise $100bn in investment over the next five years, in a bid to boost the economy and create jobs. Using the theme �thuma mina� or send me, Ramaphosa invited professionals to actively participate in government�s efforts aimed at unlocking investment and growth, including discussion around the contentious land debate. He said the expropriation of land policy would be used as a tool to unlock growth and create investment. �We need to unlock the value of land which has been held in minority hands since the days of coloniliasation. That alone should inject growth to the economy.� Ramaphosa also stressed the importance of the role of state-owned entities, which he said are rooted in corruption and hindering the process of building a capable state.

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