A Beneficiation Strategy for the Minerals Industry of South Africa

Country / jurisdiction: South Africa · Year: 2011 · Status: In force · Level: National · Type: Voluntary

The Beneficiation Strategy was enacted to provide a framework to align the sector with the objectives of the New Growth Path published by the government in 2009 which identified mineral beneficiation as one of the priority areas to create jobs.

The Strategy selects 10 strategic mineral commodities from which five value chains are prioritised. These include energy minerals and Platinum Group Minerals such as coal, uranium, thorium, iron, steel, pigment and titanium metal production. The policy also seeks to address import-parity pricing especially of steel and heavy chemicals by strengthening economic relationships and expanding infrastructure to support it.

To achieve this, the policy proposes to review and strengthen the legal framework, including the Income Tax Act in regard to the Income Tax Allowance Incentive (new applications ended in March 2020), the Policy Action Plan, and Research and Development (R&D) tax incentives.

Another important item in the programme is encouraging beneficiation instead of the export of raw materials; therefore, then plan recommends reviewing the Minerals and Mining policy for South Africa (1998), and the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (MPRDA).

Official source: https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/beneficiation-strategy-june-2011-final-30.pdf