Beyond pit-to-port – engineering South Africa’s mining beneficiation future
In a recent thought leadership article, Chris Campbell, CEO of Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA), points out that South Africa’s mining sector has long relied on a pit-to-port model – extracting raw minerals and exporting them with minimal local processing; adding: “While the argument against this method is nothing new, and while it has sustained the industry for decades, it severely limits economic multipliers, job creation and fiscal resilience.”
He continues: “we need to see a decisive shift toward beneficiation, which will include building local infrastructure, processing facilities and value chains where South African engineers lead the design, risk management and implementation to unlock sustainable growth, higher revenues and broader employment.”
He argues that the status quo is increasingly unsustainable. “Exporting raw chrome ore or other commodities at low value – often around ZAR 48 per tonne for certain ores – only to import high-value finished products squanders our natural endowment and economic potential.”
Recent data from Statistics South Africa underscores this fragility. Mining production surged 5.8% year-on-year in October 2025, driven by commodity price momentum, but then declined 2.7% year-on-year in November 2025, with coal, iron ore, platinum group metals, and gold weighing heavily. High energy costs, logistics bottlenecks, and policy uncertainty continue to threaten smelter viability and jobs.
In a recent critical development, energy regulator Nersa approved Eskom’s application to lower the tariff for Glencore-Merafe and Samancor ferrochrome smelters from 136c/kWh to 87c/kWh, effective from 1 January to 31 December 2026. Campbell: “This move is aimed at saving thousands of direct and indirect jobs in up- and downstream value chains. While this discount is a welcome boost to our economy, one can only wonder how the costs will be recovered.”
With this new push, Campbell argues that the upside is clear: “processed ferrochrome, for instance, can fetch ZAR 1,200 per tonne or more, dramatically expanding the tax base, creating skilled jobs, and supporting downstream industries if it is beneficiated on local ground. While government has repeatedly emphasised this, including through the Critical Minerals Strategy and public statements on value addition, we need to now see action, from both public and private spheres.”
He adds: “Surging precious metals prices in late 2025 are generating a potential ZAR 350 billion revenue windfall for miners, providing a narrow window to reinvest in local processing rather than raw exports. We must target high-demand minerals like manganese, vital for steel and batteries, PGMs and gold, building incrementally from primary beneficiation to refined products.”
Recent developments offer encouragement, says Campbell, such as the commissioning of Qala Shallows in October 2025, South Africa’s first new underground gold mine in over 15 years. “This demonstrates that revival is possible when investment aligns with global price tailwinds and operational readiness and further highlights the potential for renewed exploration and production if we address barriers systematically.”
He says political will is now needed to make beneficiation happen – to optimise Eskom’s performance, accelerate independent power producers (IPPs) and potentially pursue small modular nuclear reactor options that have a longer lifespan, are safe, are cost effective and are scalable to provide stable baseload power.
“We must ease exploration by sharing risks with empowerment partners, decisively tackle corruption, and prioritise national interest over short-term gains. All factors that detract from these objectives, including regulatory delays, policy uncertainty, and infrastructure gaps, must now decisively be managed out.”
Campbell cites logistics as another critical enabler. “Transnet’s Memorandum of Understanding signed on 22 January 2026 with the Port of Antwerp-Bruges and APEC is a positive step toward modernising our ports, which will ease current export constraints, but it must be viewed as a foundation, not the end goal. True beneficiation requires reliable pit-to-plant-to-market pathways, where raw materials stay in-country for processing before export.”
He says this is where CESA member firms come to the fore. “Consulting engineers excel at designing resilient infrastructure, conducting rigorous risk analysis, and delivering complex projects. At government level, our engineers partner with other specialists to enable these developments as well as plan and design supporting infrastructure that would be required for both the mining complex as well as the beneficiation plants.
“We also need to inspire the next generation. Mining and beneficiation engineering as part of a broader industrialisation strategy will be able to offer exciting career paths to retain homegrown talent and reduce overreliance on foreign skills. Events like the Mining Indaba provide the ideal platform for our country’s engineering talents to showcase these opportunities, positioning engineers at the heart of South Africa’s resource-led growth story.”
Campbell concludes: “The year has started on a positive note for our mining industry and there are signals of momentum amid these ongoing challenges, but momentum alone is not enough. By committing to beneficiation, backed by political resolve, reliable energy, modern logistics, and world-class engineering, we can transform our mining sector from raw exporter to global value-adder.”
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