Programme Director,
Leadership of organised labour movements from NUM and UASA
Our host, Anglo American, under the judicious leadership of Ms Cynthia
Carroll, Mr Neville Nicolau and Mr Godfrey Gomwe,
Media representatives
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Greetings to you all, on this occasion where we celebrate technological innovation. Let me begin by expressing warm thanks for the opportunity to address you. It is good, as government, to be in the company of such experienced and willing partners from the private sector as we march forward to a more prosperous and cleaner world.
As painful as it was, the global economic and financial crisis of 2008, the tremors of which we continue to feel today, came with its own ironic silver lining. The crisis provided us an opportunity to reflect on our growth and development paths, and place more emphasis on sustainability of development. In South Africa, this culminated in the adoption of the New Growth Path, which places job creation, equity and the greening of the economy at its centre. Accordingly, the growth path identifies the mining value chain as one of the key jobs drivers of the economy.
The mining industry has been the cornerstone of economic development in South Africa for well over a century. The mineral industry, driven by gold, diamonds, platinum group metals and coal production, provided the impetus for the development of an extensive physical infrastructure network and contributed greatly to the development of secondary industries. Despite considerable diversification of our economy over the past thirty years, the mining sector still remains a key driver of the country’s economy in terms of jobs, revenue generation and growth.
The mining sector accounts for over 9% of GDP, 12% to gross fixed capital investment and employs over half a million people directly and a further half a million indirectly. The pace of global population growth and the pace of economic growth required to meet the basic demands of humanity project an unprecedented demand of energy, which cannot be met through conventional sources of energy.
The limited sources of conventional energy generation that dominated the industrialisation era will be depleted in decades ahead with a faster rate of extraction of these resources. Resultantly, the need to proactively respond to energy needs in the 21st century represents one of the greatest challenges facing humanity.
Nevertheless, such challenges present a shared opportunity for forward thinking partnerships. Ultimately, an environmentally-friendly economic model will require deep consideration of the optimisation of social and economic benefits from this national heritage.
It will also require thought about the effective long-term management of environmental, social and health impacts (including dealing with the legacy of old mining sites), as well as effective beneficiation and on-going research and technological innovation. The challenges are obvious. So, too, are the potential benefits to our nation and the world of mining. South Africa is known as the country of geological miracle for its unparalleled mineral abundance.
We are mindful of the fact that mineral beneficiation does not inevitably follow from having a significant mineral endowment. Rather, that success of transforming comparative advantage into a competitive one is achievable through a framework of comprehensive interventions to create an enabling environment.
Programme Director, currently, more than 65% of South Africa’s energy needs are met through coal as a primary energy source. This is followed by crude oil at 22% and the remaining 13% is met by a combination of other sources of energy. Coal will continue to play a vital role in South Africa’s overall energy mix, especially in electricity generation, where approximately 90% of the country’s needs are met through coal-fired power stations. Yet it is initiatives such as the one for which we are gathered here today, that will give life to the transformation of the economy towards a more sustainable, low carbon economic growth path.
It is in the context of the global shift towards more sustainability that the platinum group metals have emerged as key minerals in the development of mitigating strategies and technologies against climate change. This has led to increased demand for platinum. The primary demand drivers for platinum have been the tightening of emission legislations and its application in autocatalytic converters.
The platinum fuel cell presents opportunities for a sustainable growth of the PGM mining industry as it created new demand opportunities for the metals. In the long term, the search for alternative energy sources and a new balance in the energy mix from an over-reliance on fossil fuels will lead to greater interest in fuel cell technology the world over.
Today the fuel cell technology is becoming increasingly commercial and its application in locomotives, a hallmark of industrial development, is an important turning point indeed. Globally, it is clear that partnerships among key stakeholders have been crucial for the growth of this budding industry.
My Department has developed a Mineral Beneficiation Strategy that was approved by Cabinet in July 2011. This strategy identifies the energy and the platinum autocatalytic value chains as some of its key pillars. The implementation of the strategy will require partnership within government and private sector. In government we will participate closely with amongst others, the Department of Science and Technology and Trade and Industry.
I am pleased to note that Anglo American is participating in the commercialisation drive for fuel cells because of their potential to grow and sustain demand for platinum group metals in the medium to long term. I am aware of two other fuel cell demonstrations that Anglo has thus far undertaken. One in Lephalale where a fuel cell is powered using Coal Bed Methane from Anglo Coal’s operations, and the second was the 150 kilowatt fuel cell used to power an exhibition expo at last year’s COP17 conference.
The fuel cell powered locomotive will be a third demonstration project from Anglo, intended to confirm that fuel-cell powered locomotives can provide superior efficiency and productivity as well as offer zero-emission underground transport. I am told that this locomotive will be the first one of five locomotives to be built and tested by Anglo American Platinum.
We welcome the launch of the fuel cell locomotive as a sign of commitment from industry to proactively transform and contribute to national strategic objectives. This particular case touches upon several key strategic priorities - development of the mineral sector, beneficiation, industrial development, an environmentally friendly economy, development of a knowledge economy and job creation.
Anglo American has demonstrated that it is possible for a mining company whose core business is mining, to effectively facilitate mineral beneficiation in South Africa. This is consistent with the policy provision and I am confident other mining companies will follow this example of Anglo American Platinum. A critical mass of such ground breaking initiatives as this one will certainly contribute to improve our socioeconomic landscape and secure our hard-earned democracy in which both business and the ordinary people of the country can bravely claim success from patrimony of natural resources.
I call upon you our partners to ensure that the energy solutions you present to this country and the world represent a true reduction in the carbon foot-print and that they are cost effective. The success of such initiative as the fuel cell value proposition will also lie in our collective ability to reach the poorest of poor with energy supply.
I am sure that the technology can be expanded into other sectors of our economy to have a direct and widespread impact on the people of South Africa. This could also assist both South Africa and the entire continent in ensuring that there is universal access to electricity in an efficient manner that would not require conventional energy-infrastructure. With those few words, and with a message of goodwill from government, I hand over to you, programme director.
I thank you
Anglo American Fuel Cell Loco launch Ms Susan Shabangu (MP), Minister of Mineral Resources, Republic of South Africa Khomanani 2 Mine
