The purpose of the Mineral Economics Directorate is to promote mineral exploration, exploitation and beneficiation. The functions of Minerals Economics are to co-ordinate and promote national policy and to engage in supportive research regarding mineral development. It is also responsible for advising local and international development and trends in the field of:

• Energy minerals;
• Ferrous metals;
• Industrial minerals;
• Non-ferrous metals and minerals;
• Precious metals and minerals; and
• Render a mineral statistical service.

Publications

The directorate produces a range of publications.

Fortnightly bulletin

These articles serve to inform on latest developments in the minerals and mining sector and are used as a medium of improving the writing skills of junior mineral economists. As the name states, these are produced fortnightly and have a restricted circulation.

MB Bulletin

This is a four-monthly bulletin, which is a collection of articles written by mineral economists on topical issues of the mining industry. It carries provisional figures of production and export sales of minerals.

South Africa's Mineral Industry (SAMI)

The South African Mineral Industry booklet is a flagship document of the directorate that is produced annually. It gives an overview of South Africa's mineral industry and covers all aspects ranging from legislative, production export to market-related issues of all minerals produced in South Africa. It also gives a forecast of trends that are expected in the different mineral commodities. This publication is used by some institutions of higher learning as prescribed material.

Directories

Various directories are published by the DME, including an up-to-date list of all mining stakeholders in South Africa that indicates company names, contact persons and addresses.

Contact a mine on this website Full list of downloadable directories

Commodity-specific reports

These reports inform DME's decision-makers on the status of the mining industry and act as early warning bells where it is envisaged that the department might have to intervene. A recent example is a special report on job losses in the mining sector that can be used as basis of discussion in the alliance job losses meetings.

The directorate also participates in various international exhibitions and mining conferences.

International obligations

The directorate also undertakes many international obligations.

Kimberley Process

In 2000, a small group of African mining ministers embarked on an initiative to curb the trade in conflict diamonds that was fuelling wars in some African countries. Currently, more than 40 producing and trading countries have successfully implemented the Kimberley Certification Scheme. Already, some of those previously conflict-ridden countries have reported increased revenues from diamonds since the starting of the process. Through all the negotiation stages, South Africa was at the driving seat as chair and secretariat. Russia and Botswana have both served as chairs.

African Mining Partnership

The African Mining Partnership (AMP), whose main function is to drive the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) mining initiatives, was established during the African Mining Minister's meeting held in Cape Town in February 2004. South Africa is an important roleplayer in this body.

Intergovernmental forum on mining minerals metals and sustainable development

This is a TYPE II governmental forum that stems from the WSSD. The aim of this global mining organisation is to take forward mining issues as per the WSSD Johannesburg Plan of Action. Its programme is similar to that of the AMP except that it is global.

Bilaterals

The directorate participates in all bilateral meetings on behalf of the DME on all mining-related issues.

REACH

In October 2003, the European Commission (EC) presented a proposal for a new EU regulatory framework for chemicals, at the nucleus of which is REACH, a single, integrated system for Registration, Evaluation, and Authorisation of Chemicals. REACH would require EU companies that produce or import more than one ton/year of a chemical substance to assess the risks arising from their use and to take the necessary measures to manage any risks they identify. Because REACH generally classifies minerals as chemical substances, the proposal will have the potential to seriously affect market access and increase the production costs for certain metals and metals compounds, from South Africa and other countries exporting to the EU. From South Africa all inputs from the mining stakeholders are co-ordinated by the Chamber of Mines, though the South African Ambassador to Belgium plays a significant role. DME plays a supporting role to the Chamber of Mines.