Chart er 20 18 T he JEMLF can v as sed its members and pr oduc ed a position paper tha t w as f ed int o the o v er all Chart er negotia tion pr oc es s W hile it w as f elt b y the sect or tha t the Chart er did not go f ar enough with r espect t o junior mining c onc es sions w er e r eached on pr ospecting o wnership and emplo yment equity T he JEMLF also acts as an important c onduit f or inf orma tion t o its members T he Miner als C ouncil brief ed the f o r u m on the Mining Chart er 20 18 pr oc es s on the Human Rights Fr ame w ork being adopt ed b y the Miner als C ouncil and on c ommunity engagement Its members ha v e also c ommunica t ed some of their c ollectiv e challenges such as ne w legisla tiv e r equir ements an e x ample being ne w qualifca tion r equir ements f or managing a mine T his type of engagement helps fnetune and support the polic y pr oc es s Junior mining sect or s tudy In Oct ober 20 18 the Junior and Emer ging Miners Desk c ommis sioned a s tudy int o the s ta t e of South A frica s junior mining sect or T he r esultant tw opart r eport which w as c omplet ed in 20 19 pr o vided some k e y insights int o the sect or A c c or ding t o S ta tis tics South A frica 20 18 fgur es the ec onomic impact tha t these c ompanies ha v e within the mining sect or is as f ollo w s R e v enue per annum R544 billion 7 8 of the t otal mining indus try Expenditur e per annum R555 billion 84 of the t otal mining indus try Expenditur e on capital goods R28 billion 4 of capital spend in the mining indus try T ax es junior and emer ging miner members c ontribut e 3 5 of t otal tax es paid in the mining indus try Emplo yment curr ently betw een 33500 and 40 300 people dir ectly with a similar number thr ough fx edt erm c ontr acts T his is betw een 7 5 and 9 of permanent jobs in the br oader South A frican mining indus try T he sec ond part of the s tudy in v olv ed a surv e y in which 17 junior and emer ging miner members of the Miner als C ouncil participa t ed Of these participants 4 7 w er e small c ompanies with r e v enues belo w R5 million per annum and salary bills of belo w R1 million per annum A c c or ding t o r esults fr om the surv e y 5 3 of these junior and emer ging miners aspir e t o oper a t e a t leas t one mine while 68 r esponded tha t the y ar e f ocused on supplying their pr oducts int o the South A frican ec onom y W ith r egar d t o c ommodity a ttr activ enes s r espondents indica t ed tha t c oal pr ecious metals and indus trial miner als ar e mos t a ttr activ e t o junior and emer ging miners T he mos t signifcant impediment c onfr ont ed b y the junior and emer ging miners ac c or ding t o 68 of the r espondents w as the South A frican r egula t ory en vir onment which the y ar gue w as not c onduciv e t o suc c es sful oper a tions R espondents indica t ed tha t obtaining a mining lic enc e w as the single bigges t obs tacle t o pr ogr es s while also being the mos t timec onsuming aspect Ho w e v er it is unclear if the dela y s ar e caused b y junior and emer ging miners inability t o c omply with the DMRE r equir ements or due t o inefciencies a t the DMRE Another challenge cit ed b y 23 of r espondents w as the lack of in v es t or funding In t erms of their pr ef err ed busines s partner 7 1 of r espondents pr ef err ed funding partners who e xit ed aft er a mutually det ermined fx ed period while 5 9 of r espondents indica t ed tha t the y did not w ant t o sell an equity s tak e in their pr oject as a funding option T he o v er all fnding of the s tudy sugges ts tha t while the c ontribution of the junior and emer ging miners sect or is r ela tiv ely small it r emains an important emplo y er of labour and has the pot ential if adequa t ely support ed and pr omot ed t o gr o w and c ontribut e t o the gr o wth and de v elopment of rur al ec onomies Orion Miner als Priesk a P age 51 MINERALS C OUNCIL SOUTH AFRICA INTEGRA TED ANNU AL REVIEW 20 19