By Estea Rademeyer.
Africa’s ability to capitalise on its estimated $29.5 trillion in mineral wealth will depend on stronger partnerships between junior miners, major mining houses, investors and governments, with industry leaders warning that exploration risk cannot be eliminated but can be shared.
The message emerged during a recent webinar hosted by Investing in African Mining Indaba, where industry experts discussed how new approaches to exploration partnerships, funding and geological data could help bring more mining projects into production across the continent.
With the global race for critical minerals intensifying, participants highlighted the need for greater collaboration across the mining value chain, alongside fresh investment from private equity and venture capital and sustained government support for geological information.
Laura Nicholson, industry director for Mining Indaba 2027, said exploration risk was an unavoidable part of mining, making it important for stakeholders to identify partners best equipped to manage different aspects of that exposure.
“Exploration can never be completely de-risked. It’s unreasonable to expect one stakeholder to take on that risk – it must be shared. Partners must identify who is best equipped to share different types of risk,” Nicholson said.
She warned that building a pipeline of new mining projects capable of supporting Africa’s economic growth would require partnerships that recognise and distribute risk more effectively.
Junior miners need the right partners to bridge the funding gap
The challenges facing junior miners were highlighted by Marcus Birch, Executive: Sustainability & Business Support at Orion Minerals, which has taken its Prieska Copper Zinc project from exploration into development, with production expected to begin next year.
Birch said the project’s progress had reinforced three important lessons: establishing technical confidence early, completing bankable compliance and feasibility work, and building a network of partners suited to the different stages of project development.
“We had three major lessons from Prieska,” he said. “Prove the technical risk up front. Do bankable compliance and feasibility work early. But ultimately, build a stack of partners who are each well matched to a particular stage of the risks.”
Africa’s mineral potential is considerable, with the continent estimated to hold approximately $29.5 trillion in mineral value, equivalent to around one-fifth of global mineral wealth.
However, turning discoveries into commercially viable mines remains complex and capital-intensive. With many major mining companies having withdrawn from exploration, junior miners are increasingly challenged to secure the funding needed to advance promising deposits.
Grant Mitchell, head of the junior and emerging miners desk at the Minerals Council South Africa, pointed to opportunities arising from improved government-industry engagement.
He expressed optimism about the rollout of the mining cadastre and Exploration Implementation Plan, while also highlighting the importance of ensuring that the emerging Minerals Act creates an investor-friendly environment.
“Business-government engagement has produced exciting developments. Mining’s importance has been elevated right up to presidency level. It’s now a far more positive environment – because we’re working together,” Mitchell said.
He identified private equity and venture capital as potential additional sources of funding and supported initiatives that would see established mining companies mentor junior explorers.
Birch also stressed the importance of transparency in relationships with investors, arguing that realistic targets and consistent communication were essential to maintaining confidence.
“Investors can handle bad news. But they don’t like surprises. The key is to set realistic targets and then meet them,” he said.
Geological data seen as critical investment
Beyond funding and partnerships, access to reliable geological information was identified as another important factor in making African exploration more attractive to investors.
Mosa Mabuza, CEO of the Council for Geoscience, said governments needed to maintain investment in geological data, while all stakeholders shared responsibility for managing and developing that resource.
“Good data for geological exploration is excellent currency,” Mabuza said.
He noted that geological information could reveal new opportunities over time, including through the reinterpretation of historical data using modern exploration techniques.
“Over time, data reveals its value, triggering exploration and unleashing productive development. Even with historical data, a modern miner looks at it with a different set of eyes,” he said.
Nicholson similarly argued that collaboration and faster access to accurate information were essential in an industry characterised by long development timelines.
She said mining stakeholders needed to move away from working in silos and place greater emphasis on sharing knowledge to improve predictability.
Investors want evidence, not ambitious promises
Geological consultant Dr Nicolaas Steenkamp said successful exploration required companies to convert geological uncertainty into credible evidence that investors could assess.
He cautioned against exploration strategies built around proving an overly optimistic investment narrative rather than objectively establishing whether a project could become a viable mine.
“Too often, exploration projects start with a story painted for investors, and then all exploration becomes geared to proving that story,” Steenkamp said. “It’s more effective to ask what needs to be proved for a project to become a viable mine.”
He added that factors such as water availability, energy supply, permitting and community considerations needed to be addressed during the exploration phase rather than left until later stages, when they could introduce costly delays.
Steenkamp also advocated a milestone-based approach to building investor confidence, with smaller, measurable achievements providing evidence of progress.
“Several small successes build investor confidence. It’s not about one flamboyant announcement. Moving from design to metallurgy, to processing and infrastructure, tell a concise, evidence-based story,” he said.
From the investment sector, Thapelo Moamogoe, Executive Head of Metals & Mining at Standard Bank Corporate and Investment Banking, said junior miners needed to do more to demonstrate how risks could be managed across the entire project value chain.
He said investors needed a clear understanding of how their capital could be recovered and how a project could ultimately develop into a sustainable business that contributes to broader economic and social value.
“Help investors understand the risks all along the value chain. Help them see how they can recover their investment, and ultimately create a thriving business that adds value to society,” Moamogoe said.
Nicholson concluded that partnerships between junior explorers, established mining companies and investors would be essential to developing Africa’s mining industry over the long term.
“What creates investable opportunities is looking at risk and how it’s shared. It must be an honest process, undertaken as equal partners. Once these partnerships are put into practice, all become stakeholders in their success,” she said.
The discussion reinforces the importance of collaboration in converting Africa’s considerable mineral endowment into viable projects, with access to capital, reliable geological data and stronger industry-government relationships emerging as key requirements.
Investing in African Mining Indaba 2027 will take place in Cape Town from 8–11 February 2027, bringing together the global mining community to develop partnerships, attract investment and advance projects across the sector.