Minister Gwede Mantashe: G20 Critical Minerals Stakeholder Engagement

Programme director, Mr Mpho Makwana
Deputy Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources, Ms Phumzile Mgcina
Deputy Minister of Electricity and Energy, Ms Samantha Graham-Mare
Director-General of the DMPR, Mr Jacob Mbele
Honourable members of the Portfolio Committee of Mineral and Petroleum Resources
Captains of industry
Representatives of state-owned entities
Esteemed panellists
Distinguished guests
Members of the media

I am pleased to start by welcoming you to this crucial G20 Critical Minerals Stakeholder Engagement.

With a history spanning over a century, mining has transitioned from its gold mining roots to underpin modern industrialisation and digital technologies, relying heavily on a diverse range of critical minerals such as, inter alia, platinum group metals (PGMs), manganese, iron ore, chrome, coal, lithium, nickel, rare earth elements, and other essential metals.

Despite this long history of mining, countries that are endowed with natural resources, such as ours, have had to contend with underdeveloped infrastructure, inadequate investment in exploration, extraction, and processing, decent work deficits as well as unequal access to downstream economic benefits largely due to the overconcentration of supply chains in a few industrialised economies.

As a result, thereof, resource-rich countries face a predicament where they not only export minerals in their raw form, but they equally export the jobs and profits that ought to accrue to them, consequently perpetuating poverty and inequality.

Given our position as G20 members responsible for the majority of global gross domestic product (GDP), trade, and industrial output, we are uniquely positioned to foster an inclusive and sustainable critical minerals ecosystem.

Hosted under the theme “Solidarity, equality, and sustainability”, South Africa’s G20 Presidency provides a timely opportunity to focus on critical minerals as a priority area for collaborative efforts. In this regard, the G20 Critical Minerals Stakeholder Engagement seeks to unite governments, industry, and knowledge institutions in translating the G20 Critical Minerals Framework into concrete partnerships and projects.

Given the strategic importance of mineral resources, G20 countries are collaboratively developing the G20 Critical Minerals Framework to promote secure, transparent, and sustainable value chains.

Although voluntary, the framework will serve as a cooperative blueprint for harnessing critical mineral resources to drive shared prosperity and sustainable development, building on and complementing existing multilateral and regional initiatives while addressing gaps where collective G20 engagements can add value.

Today’s meeting, convened under the theme “Harnessing critical minerals for inclusive growth and sustainable development”, seeks to outline the G20 Critical Minerals Framework’s vision, principles, and pillars, and facilitate a discussion on operationalising the framework through partnerships, investment, and technical cooperation.

In keeping with our recently launched Critical Minerals and Metals Strategy, the framework is centred around the following six interrelated strategic pillars for action, each tackling key challenges across the entire critical minerals value chain:

• mapping and exploration

• governance, standards and ESG

• investment, value addition and local development

• resilient and diversified supply chains

• innovation, circularity and technology

• skills, capacity and knowledge exchange

In contrast to the past, where pit-to-port approach to mining was the norm, these pillars seek to broaden opportunities for developing economies, bolster supply security for all, and incorporate sustainability at every phase.

To lay the groundwork for these pillars, at least eight principles have been identified to guide all actions under the framework, thereby ensuring solidarity, equality, and sustainability.

These principles strike a balance between ambition and pragmatism, seeking transformative change in the mining sector while ensuring that cooperation remains voluntary, inclusive, and attuned to the contexts of member countries. Accordingly, it is recommended that G20 members and partners uphold these principles in their collaborative efforts on critical minerals governance.

Noting that mining stems from exploration, the framework proposes heightened geological exploration and mapping in under-explored regions, such as Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. To stimulate greater investment in geological surveying and exploration, G20 member countries are urged to promote the alignment of existing and new exploration initiatives with the goals of expanding mapping and exploration. Intensified exploration through collaborative partnerships and alignment will help alleviate the scarcity of certain critical minerals and diversify the geographic sources of production.

An equal critical component in the mining value chain involves investing in infrastructure, processing facilities, and industrial ecosystems in producer countries to enhance the value to the raw minerals and, more importantly, drive inclusive local economic development.

This will further enable mineral-rich countries to ascend the value chain. In this regard, the G20 member countries and partners are encouraged to mobilise investment in value chains and infrastructure in close proximity to the point of production, in line with the G20 Principles for Quality Infrastructure Investment.

Essentially, the G20 Critical Minerals Framework addresses the imperative need for coordinated international cooperation to ensure responsible, transparent, and resilient critical minerals supply chains that underpin industrialisation and technological advancement.

In light of this, the World Gold Council has been invited to share expertise on addressing illegal mining and illicit trading of critical minerals worldwide, with the goal of strengthening the G20 Critical Minerals Framework.

We, therefore, look forward to the well-informed perspectives of all attendees at this stakeholder engagement on these matters, which will help forge a just, inclusive, and sustainable minerals diplomacy.

The consideration and acceptance of the framework by all stakeholders, including G20 members and partners, will signify a substantial advancement in fostering inclusive and sustainable ecosystems for critical minerals.

I thank you.