Comment
It’s time for the Mexican wave
T
his year, delegates from
around the world will
attend the 25th Investing
in African Mining Indaba.
For 24 years, Cape Town,
South Africa, has hosted this premier event
on the international mining calendar. And
for 24 years, it has elicited excitement,
disappointment, and speculation — its
25th year will be no different.
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Leon Louw - Editor
@LeonLouw3
[email protected]
Indaba happens in the hot month of
February, when the south-easterly squalls
have died down, and when the shadows
of Table Mountain grow longer, way after
dessert has been served. What happens at
Indaba in February sets the scene for what
happens in mining for the rest of the year.
Indaba is African Mining’s thermometer.
I use it to gauge the temperature and the
health of the mining industry. When the
mood at Indaba is subdued, the industry is
running a fever. When the atmosphere at
the Cape Town International Convention
Centre (ICC) matches the vibrancy of a
cricket match at nearby Newlands Stadium
on a Sunday afternoon, and the beers at the
main sponsors’ beer garden flow as regularly
as they would at Castle Corner at Newlands,
then I know it is going to be a bumper year
for mining.
After a splendid three or four years, mining
started running a fever in 2014. Day one
of Indaba 2014 felt like watching English
opener Michael Atherton bat for five days
on a slow Newlands pitch. In 2015, the
industry started shivering and broke out in
a cold sweat, and the beers dried up across
the road from the Table Bay docks. A year
later, mining was in real trouble, and all was
quiet at the ICC, south-west of the V&A
Waterfront. Things got even worse in 2017.
Infamous South African Minister of
Mineral Resources Mosebenzi Zwane
caused a stir at the start of 2018 and
www.africanmining.co.za
subsequently, breathed new life into what
we thought would be another dreary
affair. We were wrong. Indaba 2018 was
abuzz with the same verve that South
African opener Herschelle Gibbs, at his
best, once, years before, unleashed on a
yawning Newlands. At the start of a long
hot summer, commodity prices bounced
back, and despite water restrictions in the
Mother City, mining was out of intensive
care. It felt as if Africa was rising again.
Two or three dictators got stumped after
refusing to step down for many years, and
Zumafication was relegated to the South
African history books. All was good in
Cape Town. The smiles grew, the revolving
doors at the ICC didn’t stop rotating, and
the beer garden was in business again.
The build-up to Indaba 2019 has been
electrifying. Exploration is back on the
map, and despite its challenges, Africa is
the topic of many high-level discussions.
Alex Grose, managing director of
Investing in African Mining Indaba,
tells African Mining that this year’s
event promises to be even bigger and
better than 2018, with a greater focus on
luring investors to Cape Town. Indaba
has returned to its roots. Investors and
junior mining companies are its bread
and butter, and this year, says Harry
Chapman, director of content of Investing
in African Mining Indaba, there will be
more than enough decision-makers to
rub shoulders with. Mining Indaba is a
massive economic injection for the Cape
of Storms, and #Indaba is set to dominate
social media for a week, as Gibbs once
dominated the English bowlers. This year,
it might just be time for the Mexican
wave. May the beers flow!
Leon
Editor
JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2019 AFRICAN MINING
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