http://www.miningweekly.com/page/home
The Mineral Beneficiation Action Plan (MBAP), which is currently in draft form, should be finalised by the end of March 2015, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has confirmed. The department is leading the drafting process, which also involves the National Treasury, the Economic Development Department, the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) and the Department of Science and Technology.
The Economic Sectors, Employment and Infrastructure Development Cluster announced this week that the MBAP would seek to advance “local value-addition across five mineral value-chains, namely, iron-ore and steel, platinum-group metals, polymers, titanium and mining inputs”.
In response to questions posed by Engineering News Online, DTI deputy DG Garth Strachan reported that the main objective of the MBAP was to break down the objectives of the ‘Beneficiation Strategy’ into incremental and achievable targets.
It would also seek to identify specific policies and projects to enable South Africa to leverage its “comparative resource advantage to build a dynamic industrial economy”.
Some elements of the plan would be incorporated into the mineral beneficiation section of the 2015/16 version of the rolling Industrial Policy Action Plan (Ipap), which is overseen by the DTI. But the other departments would also play a role in implementation, with the Ipap mainly focusing on the project components.
Strachan could not be drawn on whether the MBAP would incorporate the designation of certain minerals as strategic, saying only that the subject of possible designation (or any other measure) resided with the DMR and was also subject to the signing of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill.
He confirmed, however, that the MBAP did not specifically define what government termed “developmental prices” for inputs such as steel and polymers. However, it would address access to and pricing of inputs into the selected value chains.
For the rest of this article, click here: http://www.miningweekly.com/article/five-mineral-value-chains-prioritised-in-south-africas-draft-beneficiation-plan-2014-11-21