High on the list of the steps that must be taken to stop South African mining from fading further into sunset mode is free access to geological information from State institutions such as the Council for Geoscience.

Next is the provision of a modern, functional, and transparent mineral cadastre system that must include access to historical holdings to ensure transparency of historical and new mineral data. A functioning cadastre system would allow explorers to see what licences are available and speedily facilitate the processing of applications for available licences.

In addition, a well-trained and functional Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) is essential to enable the quick turnaround of licence applications and enforcement of the ‘use it or lose it’ principle.

A tax advantage to investors in exploration companies is the missing investment spur that must be put in place.

A simplified legislative framework must be put in place and kept in place, and access to finance and capital flows must include revision of Johannesburg Stock Exchange requirements for junior exploration and mining.

These and many other pointers were provided by successful explorer James Campbell, the CEO of Botswana Diamonds, the London- and Botswana-listed development company that has been able to work with the challenging systems that the South African government has put in place, even though it requires a great deal of work.

The absence of a central repository of information for new exploration entrants into South Africa is a large barrier to entry for newcomers, says Campbell, who spoke to Mining Weekly in a Zoom interview. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Mining Weekly: The lack of exploration in South Africa is worrying, yet Botswana Diamonds seems to be going great guns in South Africa at Thorny River and Marsfontein.

Campbell: We are able to work with the DMRE. We are able to work with the systems that the government has in place, but it does take a great deal of work to get things done. I think what was published last week was that the telephone systems for DMRE don't work. But be that as it may, we just make sure that we have people on the ground to go and visit the DMRE to make sure our licenses progress. But I think what is important to mention is that we're a junior, and juniors go to places which are highly prospective, but are difficult places to work. We've operated across the whole of Africa. I ran a company called West Africa Diamonds in Sierra Leone just after the war there. We go to places and we know and acknowledge that it's hard work to get things done, whether it's the bureaucracy, whether it's the deep sand of the Kalahari in Botswana, whether it's just coming out of a war in Sierra Leone. We see these as opportunities, and that's why we believe South Africa, which has got fantastic infrastructure, although it is crumbling a little bit, is a great place to be because of its high prospectivity.

Do you foresee your exploration in South Africa transitioning to mining?

We absolutely hope so. We've applied for two mining permits on the Thorny River project already, and we're in the process of applying for a water use licence. We've done considerable geological work, bulk sampling, micro diamond work, drilling, mineral chemistry, and we believe that the kimberlites ,which are east of Marsfontein, and what we call the Thorny River project, are commercial, and there we’ve applied for a mining permit, which is almost a unique form of legislation, when I look at the different regulations throughout Africa. In most of Africa, it's a mining licence or nothing, and a mining permit is designed for small scale miners, and it's a really neat piece of legislation, which allows companies like ours to commercially exploit small deposits over a shorter period of time.

In your concluding remarks during a recent presentation, you spoke of the need to be able to access geological information in South Africa at zero cost. How ...