Africa's mineral industry: what's changed over the last decade?

by Ina King (Potgieter)

The mining environment of today is a vastly different ball game to what it was 10 years ago. The commodities boom of the 2000s is over, and companies need to be more proactive and resourceful in how they go about finding new business. No longer can they just sit back and expect to enjoy business leads to flow in.

Apart from the worldwide drop in commodity prices since at least 2014, a range of factors have evolved in the mining business:

• Technology has changed, and so the demand for products and services has changed.
• The way companies trade has changed, and service providers and manufacturers can’t utilise the same methods of sale they used a decade ago.
• Mining intelligence is not disseminated through the same exact channels it was previously.

Just like the industry, mining services companies and manufacturers need to evolve. They need to keep abreast of these changes and adapt their business accordingly.

Africa Mining IQ, as the continent’s largest information service with over 1 850 mining projects on record, reflects many of these changes and is a good barometer of how the industry is shifting.

With 250 currently operational mines, Africa remains the most successful continent for mining. Projects currently in development have increased from 600 in 2008 to 998 in 2016 – an increase just short of 400 additional projects – although this is slightly lower than the high of 1 164 in 2013.

While this year is the first since 2013 that the number of African mines currently under development has dropped below 1 000, with the number of dormant mines increasing to 508, the number of new projects have increased, helping to balance the value of the continent’s mining industry.

Are you keeping up to date with your industry?

Africa Mining IQ currently helps over Close to 170 companies expand their business operations in Africa by providing comprehensive, up-to-date mining intelligence.

We help these companies through:

• Detailed project intelligence, including scope, project value, start and completion dates, mining type, plant and mineral
• Comprehensive project commentary that keeps track of progress with updates and important notifications
• Key contacts. We supply contacts for Mine Owners and list Project Engineers on each project.
• A usable, intelligent dashboard, that allows you to input your own reminders and projects you follow.
• Important networking opportunities, which companies has used to build important strategic partnerships that have helped them secure big contracts

Read more about the Africa Mining IQ advantage here.

*Ina Potgieter is Managing Director of Projects IQ (Pty) Ltd, and manages the Africa Mining IQ Information Service