New discoveries needed to prolong mining in South Africa, says Council for Geoscience

Although South Africa has considerable mineral resources, its long history of mining has resulted in the complete or partial depletion of reserves and resources, says Council for Geoscience (CGS) chief research scientist Dr Alazar Billay. Additionally, he notes that the increasing depths of mining operations have resulted in rising costs, which have made many mines marginal or altogether unprofitable. However, in an effort to reverse the decline in mining and mining-related investment in South Africa, government has provided the CGS with “considerable” funding to acquire high-quality geoscience data that may result in the discovery of new mineral deposits.