S tr a t egic Goal 1 BRO ADENING MEMBERSHIP T O INCL UDE EMERGING MINERS T he es tablishment of a Junior and Emer ging Miners L eadership F orum JEMLF in 20 18 c omprising 13 CEOs has int ensifed the gr o wth tr end In 20 19 the Junior and Emer ging Miners Desk c omprised 28 junior pr oducing and e xplor a tion c ompanies a f e w c ontr acting c ompanies and tw o as socia tions T hese junior and emer ging mining c ompanies ar e div erse in t erms of c ommodity and siz e and ar e activ e acr os s their v arious sect ors T he Desk t ogether with the JEMLF has been v ery pr oactiv e in both br oadening its membership and supporting the needs of all the junior and emer ging miner members As a primary initia tiv e the Desk holds a number of public w orkshops on polic y is sues f or all junior and emer ging miners not jus t members In 20 19 the Desk held tw o w orkshops the frs t on the Mining Chart er 20 18 and the sec ond on the fndings of a major s t u d y i n t o the junior and emer ging miner sect or in South A frica which w as c ommis sioned b y the Miner als C ouncil S t emming fr om tha t the Desk and the JEMLF held int ernal discus sions and pr oduc ed a polic y document on Mining Chart er 20 18 which w as f ed b y the Miner als C ouncil int o c onsulta tions with go v ernment on the ne w Chart er T hese submis sions included les ser or mor e appr opria t e obliga tions f or junior and emer ging miners which included a c omplet e e x emption f or pr ospecting rights W hile the junior and emer ging miners w elc omed the separ a t e pr o visions f o r s maller c ompanies the y f elt tha t the r elief with r espect t o Mining Chart er 20 18 did not go f ar enough and tha t further dialogue w as r equir ed A f ollo w up meeting w as held betw een the JEMLF and the Minis t er of Miner al R esour c es and Ener gy t o w ar ds the end of 20 19 a t which specifc challenges f acing the junior and emer ging miner sect or including c onc erns ar ound Mining Chart er 20 18 w er e r aised T he Minis t er in vit ed the JEMLF t o further engagement during 20 20 In 20 17 the Desk ent er ed int o an agr eement with the DMRE t o c ooper a t e and engage on ar eas of c ommon c onc ern t o the junior and emer ging mining sect or T his r esult ed in the DMRE e xt ending in vita tions t o the Desk t o pr esent a t a public w orkshop in the Limpopo pr o vinc e on smallscale mining T he Desk in r eturn in vit ed the DMRE t o sit on the panel a t the junior and emer ging miner r esear ch out c omes w orkshop held in 20 19 T he Desk also engaged with both the Indus trial De v elopment C orpor a tion and the Public In v es tment C orpor a tion on setting up junior and emer ging miners funds Funding is a critical ar ea f or junior and emer ging mining c ompanies and the lack of pr ogr es s in the sect or in South A frica can be a ttribut ed in part t o the dearth of local funding opportunities T his r emains an important polic y objectiv e f or 20 20 T he Desk is also in the pr oc es s of fnalising a r eport on tax inc entiv es f or junior and emer ging mining c ompanies in c onjunction with the Canadian la w frm F ask en which has support ed this w ork pr o bono Based on the Canadian fo w thr ough shar e model which has been e xtr emely suc c es sful in driving the Canadian e xplor a tion sect or the r eport will frs t be endorsed b y the Miner als C ouncil bef or e being pr esent ed t o the Na tional T r easury f or c onsider a tion Minis t er Mantashe has been made a w ar e of the Miner als C ouncil s int entions in this r egar d Las tly but b y no means leas t the Desk and the JEMLF ha v e also signifcantly r aised the pr ofle of the junior mining sect or thr ough media int ervie w s and briefngs and participa tion in v arious c onf er enc es including the annual Mining Indaba held in Cape T o wn T he Desk r ec eiv es a signifcant number of queries pr edominantly fr om nonmembers T hese oft en r ela t e t o r aising of funds f or pot ential pr ojects challenges with the r egula t ory en vir onment and queries about wher e support can be f ound In some cases these queries ar e r ef err ed t o ment ors who support the Desk s ef orts T he es tablishment in 20 14 of the Junior and Emer ging Miners Desk has had a signifcant impact on the ability of the Miner als C ouncil t o servic e this section of its membership which has been gr o wing s t eadily sinc e 20 14 L edjadja C oal Boik ar abelo P age 64