(Bloomberg) -- Mining executives, investors and government ministers are meeting in drought-hit Cape Town for the African Mining Indaba, the continent's biggest gathering of one of its most vital industries.
Recent multiyear highs for many commodities have the world's biggest miners swimming in cash and new demand from electric vehicles mean once-overlooked metals like lithium and cobalt are grabbing the spotlight. But it's not all blue skies, as the industry grapples with regulatory changes and uncertainty in countries including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania, as well as host South Africa.
Here are the latest developments, updated throughout the day. (Time-stamps are local time in Cape Town.)
Randgold CEO Rails Against ‘Short-Termism' (9:35a.m.)
Randgold Resources Ltd.'s Mark Bristow criticized governments and mining companies alike for a tendency towards what he called "short-termism." The push to extract as much as possible as quickly as possible means deposits aren't exploited in the most profitable way, drives up costs and doesn't generate the best value for host countries over the longer term, he said. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, it's important that foreign investors work together to find a solution to recent changes to a mining law that will financially hurt producers in the country, Bristow said.
De Beers Eyes Prospects in Zimbabwe, Congo (8a.m.)
De Beers would be interested in exploring for diamonds in Zimbabwe across the border from its $2 billion Venetia mine if it can get the necessary approvals, Phillip Barton, chief executive of the gem-producer's South African unit, said in an interview. “Why would it be just on the one side?”
The company would also consider resuming exploration in Congo, if the political situation improves. “If the situation is right in a number of criteria, then we would go back,” Barton said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Tom Wilson in London at twilson128@bloomberg.net, Felix Njini in Nairobi at fnjini@bloomberg.net, Thomas Biesheuvel in London at tbiesheuvel@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net, Liezel Hill
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